Khaberni - In response to the barring of Sa'idi citizens from entering his new movie "Lion" at cinemas wearing their gallabiyas, Egyptian artist Mohamed Ramadan announced the launch of a new challenge titled "The Million Gallabiya Challenge", tomorrow, Friday.
This was conveyed through a video clip posted by Ramadan today, Thursday, on his official Instagram account, where he appeared wearing the traditional Sa'idi gallabiya, expressing his deep displeasure over the lack of an apology to the citizens who were denied entry to the cinema in their gallabiyas.
"The first official holiday of the Sa'idi Gallabiya"
He confirmed in his statement that he waited for an official response from the responsible authorities to restore dignity, saying: “I gave a chance for more than two or three days for an official apology to our Sa'idi brothers who were denied entry”.
He also added that "this apology is not just directed to them, but is an apology to us all and to our people in Sa'id, and since no apology has been made, a response was necessary", according to his statement.
Meanwhile, he called on the millions of his fans and followers in Egypt and the Arab world to actively participate in "The Million Gallabiya Challenge" on social media platforms tomorrow, Friday, considering May 22 as "the first official holiday of the Sa'idi Gallabiya".
Incident details
This came after the security of a cinema in a hotel in central Cairo recently created a controversy for preventing a content creator and his team from entering to watch the movie "Lion" by Mohamed Ramadan because they were wearing Sa'idi gallabiyas.
The content creator, Mohamed El-Matani, last Saturday, revealed that he and members of his team (including an elderly man named "Uncle Khreibish") were denied entry on the grounds that "gallabiyas were not allowed", which caused widespread discontent on social media.
The artist quickly addressed a plea to the Minister of Culture, Jihan Zaki, through a video on his Facebook account, saying: “Your Excellency, Minister of Culture, I speak to you as a human being.. and I ask you to offer an official apology to these people and to the people of Sa'id, as what happened offends us all”.
Content creator Mohamed El-Matani had also revealed that he and members of his team, including an elderly man named "Uncle Khreibish", were denied entry to watch the movie "Lion" on the grounds that "gallabiyas were not allowed", causing widespread discontent on social media platforms.
The film's director, Mohamed Diab, expressed his extreme anger, describing the incident as a "crime" and unacceptable discrimination against an authentic Egyptian attire.
It is worth mentioning that the movie "Lion" includes a selection of stars including Mohamed Ramadan, Majed El-Kedwany, Razan Jamal, Ali Qasem, and Kameel El-Basha.
Mohamed Diab is directing the work, which was written by the authors Sherin Diab and Khaled Diab.
