The upcoming 45th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has been postponed indefinitely in light of the horrific ongoing Israel-Gaza war. The event was initially set to take place from Nov. 15 to 24, however, new festival dates will be announced at a later time.
“Minister of Culture Dr. Neven El-Kelany has decided to postpone the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, which was scheduled to take place from Nov. 15 to 24. The new date for the festival will be determined later,” festival organizers announced in an Instagram post just a few hours ago.
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The announcement follows the recent rescheduling of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, which has been pushed from Oct. 13-20 to Oct. 27-27.
CIFF is one of the oldest film festivals in the Arab world and Africa, having initially launched in 1976, and it is the only festival in the region to be accorded the category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations in Paris (FIAPF).
On Tuesday, a massive missile attack launched at Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital packed with wounded civilians alongside Palestinians seeking shelter, left over 500 Palestinian civilians dead. The war began on Oct. 7 after the military arm of Palestinian political organization Hamas spearheaded a surprise attack on Israel, resulting in the displacement of more than a million people from the Gaza Strip, and a total of more than 3,000 civilians dead half of which are children, according to AP News.
