EGYPTIAN Minister of Culture Emad Abu Ghazi's recent suggestion that this year's edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, may well be cancelled, has angered people working in the cinema indus- try, because this festival is considered to be ‘the only cinematic window on the world' and an important way for publicising the New Egypt after the January 25 revolution. “If the festival is held this year, it will tell the world that Egypt is secure and safe,” said Ali Abu Shadi, an Egyptian critic. “International festivals like Cannes and Venice have sometimes been cancelled in the past, for exam- ple in World War II, but I want the Cairo Festival to go ahead because there hasn't been a war here and I don't want us to fall behind other international festivals,” he told the independent daily Al-Sherouq. Cinema researcher and critic Yaqob Wahbi agrees that the Festival should not be delayed or cancelled for political or cinematic reasons. “But we can spend less, by honouring fewer people this year. That would be better than cancelling it,” he says. “Life must continue whatever happens. I think that the life will returns to normal once we start working,” stresses Mohssen Ahmed, a cinematic photographer. “For 30 years, we were afraid of confrontation under Mubarak. After the revolution, there's no need to be afraid anymore. I would like the Minister to solve the problems, so that this year's Festival can go ahead.”
