Turkish Director Pulls "Dancing Angels" From Cairo Film Festival Over Censorship Claims
Turkish director Ferit Kılıç has withdrawn his feature film "Dancing Angels" from the Cairo Film Festival, saying the decision followed alleged censorship. Variety reported the withdrawal on 11 November 2026.
The film had been picked for the Cairo Critics Week competition. The festival announced the selection at a press conference on 12 October. Later, festival management emailed the "Dancing Angels" team to say the film was being removed from the lineup.
The dispute centres on another film. Turkish producers Diloy Gülün and Beste Yamalıoğlu had co-produced "Eagles of the Republic", the political thriller by Tarik Saleh that competed at Cannes in 2025. Cairo Film Festival management described that film as against the Egyptian state and hostile to the Egyptian people and the festival's audience. Those comments are part of the reason the "Dancing Angels" team has raised concerns, according to the reporting.
The producers of "Dancing Angels" then asked three industry bodies to take action against the festival: FIAPF, which represents international film festivals, EAVE, a training and development network for European producers, and Turkey's Meetings on the Bridge, a co-production forum. They asked for sanctions against the Cairo Film Festival.
According to the film's representatives, the festival then re-invited "Dancing Angels" after pressure from the international film community. Kılıç declined the renewed invitation and withdrew the film's world premiere from the event.
The 47th Cairo Film Festival runs from 11 to 20 November. Festivals rely on their selections to draw buyers, critics and distributors, so a withdrawal of a world premiere means the film will not have its first public screening in Cairo. Neither the festival nor the film's team has announced where "Dancing Angels" will premiere instead.
Festivals decide which films get a first screening, and those choices shape which films reach cinemas and streaming services in the following year or two. This case shows how a single email and a single invitation can change a film's path before a single ticket is sold.
