Khaberni - The Eid al-Fitr movie season in Egypt witnessed a dramatic and surprising development after the issuance of a censorship decision that mandated the removal of the film "The Assembly Murderer" from all cinematic showings just hours after its official release, which disrupted the cinematic competition landscape and opened a wide door for questions about the standards of prohibition and licensing in the industry.
Reasons for the official decision
The Egyptian Censorship Authority, in an official statement, revealed the reasons that led to the film’s suspension, stating that the step was due to "the producing entity's failure to adhere to the approved scenario and dialogue censorially."
The Authority clarified that the version shown in cinemas included scenes and events not present in the original version that was previously approved, in addition to containing violent shots described as "exceeding licensing conditions" and conflicting with the specified age rating (+16).
Response from the production company
In response, producer Karim El Sobky issued an official statement describing the move as "surprising and without clear reasons or legitimate justifications."
He emphasized that the film was presented to the regulatory authorities after completion, was fully reviewed, and confirmed to comply with all required observations, based on which the official screening permit was granted.
Karim El Sobky's statement affirmed that the withdrawal decision "does not comply with the legal and regulatory procedures followed," especially since no violations were detected by the inspection committees in the version shown in cinemas.
The statement warned of the danger of "ignoring legal procedures and disregarding the efforts of hundreds of workers without clear backing," considering that this raises fundamental questions about the entire regulatory system’s effectiveness.
Fierce response from the director
The author and director, Mohamed Salah El Azab, did not stray from this aggressive approach, describing the Censorship’s statement as "contrary to reality and contrary to the seal of approval granted by the Censorship itself to the film."
El Azab wondered on his Facebook page saying: "If the screening permit is genuine and not forged, and it was issued by the Censorship after the viewing, is this statement forged? Or is there something being schemed in the dark for the film?"
This crisis positions the cinema industry between two completely contradictory narratives; while El Sobky and the author assert that the film was shown in its legally approved version with the blessing of the Censorship that watched the work twice, the Censorship insists that the producer presented a different version.
It is worth mentioning that the film "The Assembly Murderer" is a type of horror and crime film, starring Ahmed El Fishawy, Nour Mahmoud, Sabreen, Cynthia Khalifeh, Intisar, Jessica Hossam El Din, Mariam El Gendy, Aya Salem, Lina Sophia, and Ghufran Mohammed, written and directed by Mohamed Salah El Azab and produced by Ahmed El Sobky.
