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Syrian filmmaker Mohamed Malas barred from entering Egypt, again The acclaimed director has been banned from entering Egypt twice this year - both times when he was set to participate in international film festivals
For the second time this year, Egyptian authorities on Tuesday barred prominent Syrian filmmaker Mohamed Malas from entering Egypt. Malas was due to be honoured as part of the 30th edition of the Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries, which kicks off tomorrow in the coastal city. Malas responded the same day with a letter to Egypt's Culture Minister Gaber Asfour asking why his name was on a list of people banned from entering Egypt, a list that he says "undermines his name and his stances ... which are everything I own." In June, authorities denied a visa request by Malas when he was due to head the jury of the 17th edition of the Ismailiya International Film Festival. At the time, he released a statement condemning the ban, which was signed by a large number of critics, journalists, intellectuals and audiences at the festival. In his letter to Asfour on Tuesday, Malas said: "Arab intellectuals have reached such a shameful status these days. I ask myself, does everyone in the region consider culture suspicious, dangerous and an 'Arab Ebola' that requires caution and a ban?" Malas also asked whether the ban was because he is Syrian or his films not being welcome in Egypt – or if it was a personal attack on him. In conclusion, he asked the responsible authorities to publicise the reason for the ban. In May, Malas was honoured by Cairo's art house cinema Zawya with the screening of four of his widely-acclaimed films: Dreams of the City, The Night, Passion and Ladder to Damascus. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/110332.aspx
