The administration of the Gaza International Women’s Film Festival—led by its founder, Dr. Izzidien Shallah—has announced the formation of the jury for the screenplay competition at its second edition. The jury comprises a distinguished group of Arab academics, writers, critics, and filmmakers representing five Arab countries, reflecting the festival’s commitment to entrusting the evaluation of submitted scripts to a diverse panel of experts with backgrounds spanning cinema, writing, criticism, and literature
The committee is chaired by Dr. Sanaa Hashem from Egypt—a professor and Head of the Screenwriting Department at the Higher Institute of Cinema, a screenwriter and academic researcher, the director of the Arab Creativity Forum (organized by the Ebdaa Foundation for Culture and Arts), and a member of the Culture and Arts Committee at the National Council for Women
The committee includes Dr. Hamid Atbato from Morocco—an academic, film critic, and professor at the Faculty of Letters (Saiss) in Fez. A specialist in Moroccan cinema and issues of identity and creativity, he has authored numerous books and publications on cinema, theater, and Amazigh film
Also serving on the committee is Jordanian director and producer Sawsan Darwaza, a documentary filmmaker and director of the Karama Human Rights Film Festival. Her cinematic work spans projects addressing figures from Arab cinema, narratives of Palestinian resistance, and various humanitarian and social issues
From Syria, the committee includes Dr. Lama Tayyara, a writer and film critic holding a PhD in Media (Cinema Department). She has served on various film festival juries and works as an instructor for screenwriting and documentary film production diplomas, in addition to writing for numerous Arab newspapers and magazines
The committee also includes Palestinian poet and novelist Nasser Rabah, a member of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Novelists. He has authored six poetry collections, two novels, and five translated poetry books, with his works having been translated into several foreign languages
Thirty-one screenplays—comprising four feature-length and twenty-seven short scripts—are competing in the screenplay category of the festival’s second edition. One winning feature-length screenplay will be selected, while the short screenplay category will award first, second, and third-place prizes
The second edition of the Gaza International Women’s Film Festival is scheduled to launch in Gaza City on October 26, 2026, and run until October 31, 2026—coinciding with Palestinian Women’s National Day. A dedicated screenplay jury will evaluate the entries, with the results and winning works announced at the festival’s closing ceremony on October 31, 2026; the festival will announce the juries for the film categories at a later date
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