SIGN THE PETITION IN SUPPORT OF OMAR SALAH MAREI'S IMMEDIATE RELEASE & MEDICAL CARE

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) calls upon film workers, organizations, institutions and individuals around the world to express their support for our colleague Omar Salah Marei, an Egyptian filmmaker and screenwriter forcibly held in pretrial detention since 11 May 2026, and denied access to the medical care he urgently needs.

—

On 11 May 2026, Omar was taken from his home in Cairo by plainclothes security officers without a warrant. During the raid, they seized his laptops, phones, and the scripts for his future projects. He was held incommunicado for six days before being brought before Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution. His detention has since been extended twice, the most recent extension of 15 days following a hearing on 25 May. He remains cut off from his lawyer and his family.

The charge against him is "deliberately spreading false news," based on his social media commentary. This is a profoundly questionable charge, widely recognised as a tool of silencing and intimidation, and one that does not, under any circumstances, justify extended detention, deprivation of legal counsel and family contact, or denial of necessary medical care.

Omar has a thyroid disorder requiring daily medication that must not be interrupted, and is still recovering from major wrist surgery he underwent three months before his arrest. There is no indication that he is receiving any medical care.

We stand with Omar and with every filmmaker's right to create and to speak freely.

>> Read more about Omar's case on the ICFR website here.

—

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED:

call upon the Egyptian authorities to immediately drop all charges against filmmaker Omar Salah Marei,

and most urgently, to grant him access to proper medical care and humane treatment during his detention, as required by Egypt's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt has ratified, and under the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Signed by:

ORGANIZATIONS

• International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) and its co-founding institutions: 
  
  • International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
  • European Film Academy (EFA)
• Société des Réalisateurs de Films (SRF) - Directors’ Guild of France
• Documentary Association of Europe (DAE)
• Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA)
• Austrian Director’s Guild
• German Film Academy
• Freemuse
• Altyazı Fasikül
• Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
• Visions du Réel - film festival
• Movies That Matter - film festival
• One World Romania - festival & association
• FIFDH - International Film Festival & Forum on Human Rights Geneva
• Human International Documentary Film Festival Oslo
• Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara)
• FreedomFilmFest, Malaysia
• International Film Festival for Human Rights Colombia (FICDEH)
• WATCH DOCS International Film Festival, Poland
• BATURU Women’s Film Festival, China/Thailand
• Human Rights Film Center, Nepal
• Naples Human Rights Film Festival, Italy
• Bergen International Film Festival, Norway
• Inconvenient Films Festival, Lithuania

INDIVIDUALS

• Emma Thompson - actor/screenwriter
• Alberto Barbera - director, Venice Film Festival
• Jean-Pierre Dardenne - filmmaker
• Catherine Breillat - filmmaker
• Jean-Michel Frodon - film critic/professor
• Joslyn Barnes - film producer/writer
• Walter Salles - filmmaker
• Mia Hansen-Løve - filmmaker
• Ossama Mohammed - filmmaker
• Mohsen Makhmalbaf - filmmaker
• Luc Dardenne - filmmaker
• Laura Poitras - filmmaker
• Aki Kaurismäki - filmmaker
• Verena Paravel - filmmaker
• Corneliu Porumboiu - filmmaker
• Basma Mostafa - human rights defender
• Karim Abdelrady - human rights lawyer
• Diana El Jeiroudi - filmmaker 
• Orwa Nyrabia - filmmaker
• Vanja Kaludjercic - director, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
• Isabel Arrate - director, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
• Kirsten Johnson - filmmaker/cinematographer
• Pedro Costa - filmmaker
• Agnieszka Holland - filmmaker
• Christoph Terhechte - festival director
• Ada Solomon - producer
• Anand Patwardhan - filmmaker
• Ina Finchman - producer
• Nicolas Philibert - filmmaker
• Mike Downey, OBE - producer
• Akram Zaatari - filmmaker
• Arnaud des Pallières - filmmaker
• Avi Mograbi - filmmaker
• Nashen Moodley - director, Sydney Film Festival
• Dominic Willsdon - International Documentary Association (IDA)
• Sylvain George - filmmaker
• Thomas Lacoste - filmmaker
• Mark Cousins - filmmaker
• Avital Barak - filmmaker
• Joseph Paris - filmmaker
• Alexandru Solomon - filmmaker
• John Gianvito - filmmaker
• Marc Isaacs - filmmaker
• Maurizio Braucci - filmmaker
• Isaki Lacuesta - filmmaker
• Adam Shapiro - activist
• Ala Eddine Slim - filmmaker
• Farahnaz Sharifi - filmmaker
• Khalid Abdalla - actor/activist
• Selin Murat - director, IDFA Bertha Fund
• Alex Gibney - filmmaker
• Serge Lalou - producer
• Kamen Kalev - filmmaker
• Pegah Ahangarani - filmmaker/actor
• Fırat Yücel - filmmaker
• Denis Gheerbrant - filmmaker
• Mohammad Rasoulof - filmmaker 
• Adoor Gopalakrishnan - filmmaker
• Marjan Safinia - filmmaker
• Ali Kazimi - filmmaker
• John Greyson - filmmaker
• PJ Raval - filmmaker
• Julie Nederkoorn - festival programmer
• Mariana Oliva - producer
• Jeanie Finlay - filmmaker
• Markus Nornes - film professor
• Anne Rethfeld - cultural producer, Documentary Association of Europe
• Ketil Magnussen - director, Human International Documentary Film Festival Oslo
• Pirjo Honkasalo - filmmaker
• Grace Lee - filmmaker
• Kellen Quinn - producer
• Niels Pagh Andersen - editor
• Laura Nix - filmmaker
• Susana de Sousa Dias - filmmaker
• Bob Moore - producer
• Vladimir Paskaljevic - filmmaker/film professor 
• Ryan Harrington - film producer/executive
• Margje de Koning - director, Movies That Matter
• Catherine Gund - director/producer
• Andrea Kuhn - director, Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival, Germany
• Diana Arias - director, International Film Festival for Human Rights Colombia (FICDEH)
• Toni Ulled Nadal - Goya Awards/Academia del Cine Español, Spain
• Samir Jamal Aldin - filmmaker/producer
• Volia Chajkouskaya - producer/director
• Jean-François Fontanel - director
• David Barker - editor/screenwriter/director
• Elhum Shakerifar - producer/curator
• Mikki Noroila - visual artist/filmmaker
•