Cairo Film Festival Director Ezzat Abu Auf's statement that there is not a single Egyptian film worth showing at the festival has, perhaps unsurprisingly, triggered controversy. Producer Ahmed el-Sobky was angry that Auf turned down his film "Adam's Farm." Auf called the film "weak." "Auf didn't watch the film in the first place," said el-Sobky. "And he apologized to me for what he said about it." "In fact, I didn't want my film to be shown in the festival," Sobky said. "I think the festival is a disgrace to Egyptian cinema because the administration is always biased toward foreign films." Sobky said the festival is poorly organized and the films are of low quality. "All the films that are shown in it later fail commercially when they get to the movie theatres," he said. "I believe the National Cinema Festival is by far better than Auf's." Meanwhile, Arab Productions announced it will not participate in the festival with its new film "Nile Birds" because it is not yet finished. Director Magdy Ahmed said he would have liked the film to be shown. Deputy festival director Soheir Abdel Qader said, "The prerequisites we have for film participation are the same applied anywhere in the world," adding that it is not the festival's fault that no Egyptian film met the evaluation committee standards this year. "The deadline is not over yet. We still have two weeks," said festival technical advisor Youssef Rizqallah. "The chance is still open for 'Nile Birds' and 'Natural Colors' if they are finished before then." Rizqallah added, "Auf's announcement was premature. He should have waited a bit before holding that press conference." Auf had announced during a press conference that there was no Egyptian film "ready" to be shown. "It is not a must for an Egyptian festival to have Egyptian films," he said. "But it's not good for our image if we don't have at least one." Translated from the Arabic Edition.
