The Aswan International Women Film Festival will grant the Isis Achievement Award to Egyptian actress Sawsan Badr in recognition of her long artistic career and her great contribution to Egyptian and Arab cinema.
Isis is an Egyptian goddess of motherhood, magic, healing, and rebirth. She was the divine life-giver and was honoured as the mother of one of the most powerful gods, Horus. She was said to be the mother of all pharaohs and the entirety of Egypt.
The sixth edition of the Aswan Festival will be held in Egypt between 23 and 28 February.
The Festival’s Board of Trustees said that Badr represents a wonderful example of Egyptian women’s creativity on the cinema screen.
Chairman of the Festival’s Board of Trustees Mervat Al-Talawi said that just as Badr talented actress, she is also widely popular with the Egyptian and Arab audience, perhaps due to her very Egyptian features, as she is the legitimate heir of the women the Pharaohs carved on the walls of the temples of ancient Egypt.
She was once described by the late director Shadi Abdel Salam as “a woman who ran away from the temple.”
Talawi added that Badr is a talented actress who is totally aware of the issues women face in Egyptian society, so it was not strange for her to participate in films that boldly discuss women’s issues from all social classes, including ‘Ehky ya Shahrazad’ (‘Tell Us Your Story Shahrazad’), ‘Al-Shouk’ (‘Love’), ‘678’, and ‘Qas Wi Lazk’, among others.
