Egyptian film critic Ahmed Shawky served as the acting director to last year’s festival
Egyptian film critic Ahmed Shawky has resigned from his role as artistic director of the Cairo International Film Festival after inflammatory social media and blog posts of his resurfaced that led to calls for his removal.
The news of Shawky’s resignation was announced by the festival’s advisory board on Wednesday, according to the AP. He was appointed to the position this year after serving as acting artistic director for 2019’s festival.
Shawky drew criticism when in 2014 he referred in a blog post to a 2012 soccer riot in Egypt that left 70 people dead. Shawky suggested that those killed, many of whom were hardcore fans of the team, were “culled” in the accident and were inferior or were selectively killed, according to AP.
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AP also cited another post in which in 2013 following the death of the daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood leader, Shawky said that “no one should feel sorry for her,” adding, “If I know someone like her… I would kill her with my own hands.
