Right after the premiere of The Yacoubian Building, which was held at Cairo Opera House, news agencies wrote that Alaa al-Aswani, the author of the best-selling novel of the same name, said he had been barred from attending the Cairo premiere of the book's film version because of his politics.

Alaa al-Aswani told AFP a "bunch of ministers and dignitaries of the regime were invited" to the opening at the Cairo Opera, "but I was an undesirable

"It was not the producers, but the authorities who rejected my attendance because I am a member of the opposition movement Kefaya".

In contrast, Aswani has attended screenings of the film at the Berlin and Cannes film festivals, and at the Tribeca festival in New York.