The Aswan International Women Film Festival (AIWFF) has opened for film submissions for its fifth edition, taking place in 2021, when selected films will have their Egypt premier in the great ancient city.

"Selected films must have their topics revolve around women’s issues or be written or directed by women," said Andrew Mohsen, critic and artistic director of the festival, on Tuesday, calling on eligible filmmakers to apply through the festival's website.

"Long and short (less than 30 minutes) feature films will be separated into two competitions, and more categories will be announced later," he added.

In the fourth edition, three Oscar nominees were among the 31 line-up films, from 29 countries. Two films had their international premier in the Southern Egyptian city and 18 had their African premiers.

'Aga's House' by director Lendita Zeqiraj won big.

The jury members were mainly women including Egyptian actress Bushra and Menna Shalaby, Swiss actress Ronit Hasson, Nigerian film director and producer Mildred Okwo, Dutch filmmaker Mijke de Jong, Tunisian actress Souhir Bin Amara, Romanian producer Alex Theodorsko and Filipino filmmaker Khavn de la Cruz. The honourees included renowned Egyptian actresses Nelly Karim and Ragaa El-Giddawy, who passed away last month due to coronavirus.

Backed by the culture and tourism ministers as well as the National Council of Women and the cinema syndicate, the Aswan Film Festival is the first Egyptian film festival specialised in workshops for youth in Aswan, where dozens of locals are trained in various programmes.

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