For a period of six days, the ancient city of Aswan — a tourist hotspot in Upper Egypt — hosted the first Aswan International Woman Film Festival (AIWFF), showcasing various films that tackled women's issues from different parts of the world, as it aimed to support women and ensure their voices were heard.

Not only was this an artistic event, but the festival's organizers also sought to contribute to society by creating volunteer opportunities for Upper Egyptian women, raise awareness against gender-based violence and boost tourism.

Being southern Egypt’s strategic and commercial gateway since antiquity, and given that it is a land that has witnessed great periods of ancient Egyptian history where women were honored with marvelous paintings on temples and magnificent statues, Aswan was a perfect choice to be the setting for this international event.

“This city has a very ancient civilization, which women played a very important part in. That’s why we chose to have our first women's film festival here,” Hassan Abu Elela, the festival manager, told Al-Monitor.