Sawsan Badr Pulls Out Of El Gouna Film Festival
The actress announced she needs “critical surgery” and will not be able to participate in this year’s festival
Just two weeks after Sawsan Badr was announced as one of the jury members at this year’s El Gouna Film Festival, the Egyptian actress took to Instagam to regrettably announce that she will not be able to take part due to an injury.
“Due to a very critical surgery in the knee joint and based on the doctors’ reports who advised me to rest, I am so sorry to announce that I am not participating as a member of El Gouna Film Festival’s judging panel for this year’s edition. I would like to thank the festival and the organisers and wish them all the best,” she wrote.
Badr recently opened up to BAZAAR about her refusal to bow down to societal pressures and growing old in the public eye. In an exclusive interview in our September issue, the 61-year-old actress said, “back in the ’80s, the concept of ‘ideal beauty’ in the Middle East revolved around curvy white women, a mould I did not really fit. So it’s a bit of surprise that, some 30 years later, people are referring to me as a beauty icon!”
“Arabs are finally starting to admire their own skin shades, and for me to be part of that awareness is something I cherish,” she adds. “I wish for all the little girls growing up now to live in a society where beauty standards are more inclusive, and for every woman to be celebrated no matter what her age or skin colour is.”
Press play to see Sawsan Badr transform into Nefertiti for Harper’s BAZAAR Arabia’s September 2019 issue.