Exclusive:Scottish festival cancels event after Gazan filmmaker and speaker unable to leave war zone

Moayed Abu Ammouna has lost contact with the organisers of the Edinburgh festival Art27 Scotland.

A Palestinian arts festival event with a Gazan filmmaker has been cancelled next week after the artist was unable to get out of the war-torn territory.

Organisers say they fear for the safety of Moayed Abu Ammouna, who was due to arrive in Edinburgh through the University of Edinburgh's Artists at Risk Programme to speak at Art27 Scotland's Culture=Life festival on Sunday, alongside a screening of some of his short films.

Art 27 Scotland chief executive Helen Trew told The Scotsman Mr Abu Ammouna had been unable to leave Gaza as planned. She said staff had previously been able to speak to Mr Abu Ammouna through WhatsApp, but had lost contact with him in recent days as communications networks were damaged due to the conflict.

From Gaza City, where he has been living since the recent escalation in the conflict with Israel began in October 2023, Mr Abu Ammouna’s art explores “themes of land, identity, displacement, and the ongoing trauma of colonialism”, according to the festival programme.

He is the 2025 Artist at Risk Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. The programme is aimed at supporting the artistic practice of those who have faced severe threats to their lives or artistic practice and freedom of expression, or who have been forced to flee because of conflict or discrimination.

Ms Trew said the festival programming team had been in regular contact with Mr Abu Ammouna in recent weeks. It is understood a major internet cable into Gaza was damaged in recent days.

She said: “He unfortunately hasn’t been able to get out of Gaza. We hope he’s still OK. Previously, we had messaged back and forth with him on WhatsApp, but we’ve not been able to get anything through. Our thoughts are that he is well and safe and hope to meet him in the near future.”

It is understood Mr Abu Ammouna was due to leave Gaza with a group of academics also backed by the university, but the plan for them to exit had had to be abandoned.

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More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the recent escalation in conflict began, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Moayed Abu Ammouna was due to speak at Art27 Scotland's Culture=Life festival this week. | Art27

“We’re hoping they might be able to leave in August or September now, assuming they’re still all right by then, but we just don’t know,” Ms Trew said. “We’re very worried about him. The last we heard, he was moving about Gaza City.”

Mr Abu Ammouna’s short films due to be shown in Edinburgh were mainly made during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Ms Trew said: “The films show the sense of the aggression and the 24/7 threat he is facing in Gaza.”

The festival has decided to cancel the event, rather than show the films without a Q&A with Mr Abu Ammouna.

“They are very short and are more like snapshots,” said Ms Trew. “We are going to postpone the event until a time that he can join us to speak, either in person, or even if he gets to a country like Egypt or Jordan, if he can access the internet and speak remotely. We’re just hoping he’s OK.”

Art27’s Culture=Life festival includes a further five events in Edinburgh. The full programme is available here.

A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “The planned film screening with Moayed Abu Ammouna has been postponed until he can travel safely to the UK.

“We remain in contact with him despite major disruptions to the communications infrastructure in Gaza. We hope to welcome Moayed to the University for his Fellowship in the future and look forward to sharing his wonderful work with audiences in Edinburgh.”