Over the past few days, a number of firsthand accounts by several women accusing Egyptian filmmaker Islam El Azzazi of sexual misconduct began circulating on social media. The allegations against Azzazi were submitted anonymously to Daftar Hekayat, a feminist blog that shares the stories of sexual violence survivors in their own words. The alleged incidents recounted by Azzazi’s accusers range from harassment to assault, with one victim claiming that the director drugged and raped her when she was 21 years old and that he confessed to her that he once assaulted an unconscious woman. Another entry describes aggressive sexual advances made by Azzazi toward a temporarily disabled woman recovering from back surgery. The accounts began circulating as Azzazi was gearing up to showcase his first feature film Anha (About Her), which premiered last night at the 42nd edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). In response to social media outrage, which saw activists demand that the first-time director be disinvited from the event, CIFF announced that it was against all forms of violence against women and vowed that the film would be disqualified from its international competition if the allegations against Azzazi are confirmed….
Cairo Film Festival Responds to Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Egyptian Filmmaker Islam El Azzazi
December 9, 2020
