Politics, religion and sexuality have alwaysย been sensitive topics in Egypt. Censorshipย authorities have proven itย over the years with their approval of very few films that tackle these issues.ย Films have been banned under claims of blasphemy and/or political defiance, and a lot of filmmakers have talked about the censorship stifling their creativity. Here’s a list of a few films whichย have been banned in Egypt:ย
1- Funny Girlย 
The film was shot in 1967 in America, with co-stars Omar Sharif, and Barbra Streisand. During the shoot, theย Israeli-Egyptian Six Day War broke out in June. This had obviously caused a lot of controversy in Egypt and within the film shoot. Omar was Egyptian and the majority of the crew, including Barbra herself, were Jews. Although it was a huge problem, Omar kept his lead role in the film, whichย Egypt wasn’t too happy about. Egypt took its stance against Omar publicly in the newspaper, condemning him for kissing and acting with a jew, and then banned the filmย when it was released.
2- The Da Vinci Code
The Minister of Culture removed all copies of the bookย from the shelves before eventually banning the film. The story isย about Jesus and how he may have married Mary Magdalene, had children and how their descendants are living in today’s society. The Coptic members of parliament objected to the screening of the film, under the claims that it is blasphemous and contradicts Christian beliefs.
3- Bruce Almightyย
According to Middle East Online: ‘The Director of Artistic Censorship, Madkour Thabet, said that the American film “Bruce Almighty” was banned because “it harms the Almighty by daring to have him incarnated by an actor.” They bannedย the film because they thought it would be an act against God to have a film personify Him.
4- Exodus: Gods and Kings
They banned the film because they thoughtย it was “Zionist” and “historically inaccurate”. They objected to the fact thatย the pyramids wereย shown to have beenย built by Moses and the Jews, and not by Egyptians.
5- Ben Hurย
So the film wasn’t actually banned. It was in cinemas but the problem is, they removed entire scenes featuring Jesus, without notifyingย the audience about the cutting prior to watching the film. They didn’t want to feature a prophet on screen. I would highly suggest censoring the whole of the film, instead of showing bits of it and ruining the whole work of art. I wouldn’t say the film does the original one justice anyway, but to remove a whole character whose role is quite important for the plot, shouldn’t be allowed.
6- Cairo Exit
The film is about a Christian girl who’s in love with a Muslim man, and all the societal constraints that come with their forbidden love. The film tackles religious and sexual taboos that inhabit Egypt. Unfortunately, it’sย obvious why such a taboo-breaking film would beย banned from our cinemas.
7- Family Secrets
The reason no one’s heard of this film, is because the film’s protagonist is a homosexualย man.ย The film plays on stereotypical gay clichรฉs and ends on a regressed note that homosexuality is a disease, so I’m glad it was banned. Although, we do need more films and literature about homosexuality, we definitely don’t need films that reinforceย hatred and misinformationย about it.
8- The Squareย
I only got to see this documentaryย in the UK when it was released. The film was not allowed in Egyptian cinemas as it depicted several truths about the Revolution and the military rule that followed, whichย the army and the government probably did not want to shed light on. The film highlights violations committed by the military, and was thus obviously banned.
Manyย more films have been banned in Egypt under the pretext ofย blasphemy and/or political defiance. Let’s hope that one day, the government wouldย stop being afraid to show the publicย works of art tackling sensitive topics.
