Egyptian actress charged over revealing dress
work, the imagery is all over the poetry,” she said.
“I have lived here for nearly 15 years, and it’s the longest that I’ve stayed anywhere,” she added.
Although Gutierrez admitted that she’s only in the country “for as long my job allows me to be here,” she emphasized how the UAE has been instrumental for her as an artist.
She has published two poetry books while living in Dubai and is soon releasing a third book, which she said would deal “a lot with the idea of home and this somehow nomadic existence.”
In 2014, Gutierrez started going to spoken word gigs, sitting in the audience. But after attending three open mic events, she finally stood up and performed her poems, which usually tackle raw A court in Cairo has fixed Jan. 12 as the date for the first hearing of the trial of a popular Egyptian actress on charges of public obscenity.
The complaint was lodged by a group of lawyers in Azbakeya court on Saturday after Rania Youssef appeared at the closing ceremony of the 40th Cairo International Film Festival in a dress that revealed the entirety of her legs.
The complaint, which was taken up by Egypt’s chief prosecutor, was filed after images of Rania Youssef in the dress on Thursday were widely shared on social media.
In a statement on Facebook late on Saturday, Youssef said she did not mean to offend anyone, adding that influenced by fashion experts, she may have misjudged the potential reaction to the dress. It was designed by Tunisian designer Soucha Mlihigue, who is based in Cairo.
“Out of respect for the feelings of every Egyptian family angered by the dress I wore at the closing ceremony of the Cairo International Film Festival, I would like to stress that I did not mean to cause anger among the many people who considered the dress inappropriate,” Youssef said.
One of the lawyers who lodged the complaint alleged that Youssef ’s dress amounted to violating public-modesty rules as laid down by Article
278 of the law. “Anyone who has publicly committed a flagrant act of indecency shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than six months and a fine not less than 3,000 pounds and not more than 5,000 pounds or one of these penalties,” he quoted the article as stating. human emotions, drawn from her own experiences.
Four years later, Gutierrez’s audience got bigger, as she was handpicked to perform at Louvre Abu Dhabi in early November, a gig she described as the best thing that happened to her career.
“It’s still not my favorite thing to do. I only do it because I want to be fair to the work that I’ve written, and poetry is meant to be read,” she said.
Gutierrez wishes to write and publish more books in the future, while also regularly attending spoken word events.