Egyptian director fears that censors’ demands will turn gay love story into tale of friendship

The director of an Egyptian gay love story, one of the first of its kind, has expressed fear that it will be turned into a story of two male friends, as censors demanded that thirteen scenes be cut.

Creators of the first film to come out of Egypt which directly tackles gay issues were told they must delete a large chunk of scenes, despite that the film contains no sexually explicit content.

The censors demaded that thirteen scenes be cut from Family Secrets, the film directed by Hany Fawzy.

The director said deleting such a high volume of scenes would remove vital segments of the plot, and damage it artistically. One of the scenes sees the gay protagonist come out to his sister, and in another he accuses his father of “being responsible for his sexual orientation”.

“His relationship will seem like a heterosexual relationship,” said Fawzy to the Guardian. “It’ll mess up the film. You won’t be able to understand the psychological dilemma of the character, or his relationship with others.”

The film is based on a true story of a young gay man who grows up with a single mother and an elder brother who is subjected to child abuse.

The story goes on to see the gay protagonist go on to see therapists about the fact that he is gay in an attempt to “cure” himself, and after going through the therapy, he finds that he no longer feels himself.

The censorship comes after the head of the censor board Ahmed Awad, told the AFP in November that the film would not be censored just because it addresses homosexuality.

Fawzy has appealed against the decision.

• Dec 01 2023

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