Under public attack, Cairo film festival cancels award to French director Lelouch
The Cairo International Film Festival's decision to honor Claude Lelouch, the French-Jewish film director who called Israel his homeland, caused a stir among filmmakers and intellectuals, eventually leading the festival to backpedal.
Under condemnations and threats of boycott from Egyptian film directors and intellectuals, the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), the oldest film festival in the Middle East, has backpedaled from an earlier decision to pay homage to French film director Claude Lelouch during its 40th edition next month.
The cancellation comes after several artists and intellectuals protested the festival's decision to give the Faten Hamama Honorary Award to the French director, on the grounds that he is "a supporter of Israel" and called the country his homeland during a visit in 2016. Lelouch, whose film “A Man and A Woman” won the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1966, comes from a Jewish-Algerian family.
A source at the festival who requested anonymity told Al-Monitor that the honoring of Lelouch had been canceled, even though it has not been "officially announced" yet.
Ahmed Shawky, the assistant artistic director at CIFF, told Al-Monitor that the festival has already taken "a decision," but he gave no date for the official statement. Shawky insisted on not revealing the decision until the release of the statement. However, several newspapers quoted CIFF President Mohamed Hefzy and artistic director Youssef Cherif Rizkallah as saying that the festival would cancel the ceremony during the festival's opening Nov. 20.
