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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 September 1999 Issue No. 446 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 September 1999 Issue No. 446
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Books Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Bored to death
By Mohamed El-AssyoutiIs it true that the audience's lack of enthusiasm is responsible for the largely stagnant state of the documentary film industry? Madkour Thabet and Samir Farid agree that, unfortunately, the general Egyptian public is only familiar with minor documentaries, as they are the only ones broadcast by the local television: "The wide audience only knows the films about mosques in Cairo, but documentaries where the filmmaker's vision is that of a poet are never seen," Thabet says quoting Dawoud Abdel-Sayed's remark that the latter presents the audience with what they do not know they want, and so do not request more. "Such is the documentarist's task," he adds.
Not surprisingly, El-Leithi recounts that in a post-screening conference at the Mubarak Public Library three young people defined a documentary as "a film where the commentary has no relation whatsoever with its accompanying images." They added: "A documentary is a film that makes us change the channel or turn the TV off altogether; it is about a mosque with a presenter's explanation on the sound track." Gamal El-Sha'er adds: "One generation after another was born in the midst of the film production crisis, and so the adults and young people of today are alienated from fine arts in general."
El-Asfouri states that in developing societies like ours, there should be a conscientious effort to achieve effective development in all fields. Documentaries could serve to address the public, a large sector of which is illiterate, providing awareness, guidance or education and arousing its interest in values and ideas long forgotten in the exhausting search for daily bread. She reiterates that the core of the problem lies in the gap between society's needs and demands. "Isn't filling this gap the business of film, media, and the few parties who sponsor their documentaries?" She wonders: "Why, and for whom, are documentaries made anyway? Do they have a screening medium or a public audience?".
El-Leithi confirms that this gap is not only due to widespread illiteracy, but to a neglect of other forms of literacy. "Most people consider film a lowly and unnecessary art; even the Ministry of Education does not include it in any of its programmes, as a subject, a course, or an extra-curricular activity. I think the problem should be addressed beginning with the education of individuals." El-Sha'er approves, "especially since documentaries are concerned neither with profit nor with entertainment, but with achieving aims connected with mass communication, culture, education, heritage preservation, and historical documentation. They address the mind directly, requiring greater concentration."
Others believe a documentary can be entertaining as well as educational. El-Asfouri can understand why "after a long exhausting day at work someone changes the TV channel immediately upon finding a documentary; it is chiefly the subject matter -- typically a monument -- that provokes this response, as well as the direct and promotional approach used, similar to any TV tourist programme. Although the need to document our monuments never abates, the worn-out style of filmmakers taking the easy way repels the viewer."
Samir Farid objects ironically: "Why is the viewer not entertained while watching something difficult, dry and complex? Why does television, even more than commercial cinema, reject any ambiguity or complexity? Anything that provokes imagination and thought is not considered entertaining. The problem of documentaries is in this conception of entertainment, which determines the decisions of production and distribution sectors. But why prematurely judge the audience?"
El-Leithi notes that, besides television broadcasts of mutilated, low-quality films, documentaries are only screened for the 100 chairs at the Film Culture Centre occupied by specialised filmmakers, and on video for the public at the annual Book Fair. The Greater Cairo Library and the Mubarak Public Library rarely show documentaries and, when an attempt was made, it was very difficult to find an audience for the shows and conferences. "The only screening room at the ENFC is out of order," she adds.
As for television, Abdel-Maqsoud says that Cinema Al-Haqiqa (Reality Cinema) on Channel Seven, the only programme specialised in showing Egyptian documentaries, "merits praise, because it persisted for five years despite the obstacles raised, including the fact that its slot was moved to past midnight. Another documentary programme on Channel Five was recently launched, but even its title, Cinema Fil-Dhill (Cinema in the Shadows), is an assertion of the crisis besetting the industry."
El-Sha'er recommends implementing the Ministry of Culture's decree that a documentary be shown before any feature film in all movie theatres. "According to the decree passed by former minister of culture Mohamed Abdel-Hamid Radwan, all movie theatres must include a documentary at least 15 minutes long in all their shows. However, since there is no reference to the percentage of the revenue that the documentary should collect, this decree is not implemented," explains veteran documentarist Abdel-Qader El-Tilmissani, suggesting the addition of a clause stipulating that three to five per cent of gross box office revenue must be earned by the documentary. This would cover the cost of recording, distribution and part of production. El-Leithi approvingly remarks that the problem of sponsorship will not be solved by the public alone, but also by encouraging film production companies to produce documentaries.
Zakariya objects, recalling that in the past, when the decree was in force, "movie theatre employees sabotaged documentaries intentionally. The protesting, bored audience had paid to see the fiction film; the theatres wanted to increase the number of shows per day, and to give the cafeteria more time to tempt the public with drinks and snacks."
Recently, the turnover rate of feature films themselves has increased due to the millions invested by movie theatre owners in building and equipping or purchasing and renovating cinemas. Gabriel Khouri of Misr International Film defended himself against accusations of having removed Araq Al-Balah (Date Wine, 1998), which he co-produced, from his own company's movie theatres one week after it was first shown. "I invested in the film, but I also invested in the cinema. The amounts we spent and that of keeping the cinema running are too high; I cannot continue to show a film if it does not gross a certain minimum per day." Despite the reduction of taxes on investments in movie theatres and on tickets -- a bid to promote both the creation of new cinemas and the influx of audiences
Shadi Zend of 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers distribution in Egypt says: "the prices of tickets are still relatively more than many people can afford; if I wanted to watch four films a week, I certainly could not afford it."
Given the poor quality of documentaries, the audience's lack of interest, and the supply and demand policy that has come to dominate movie theatres, then, many do not think that the former minister's decree stands any chance of being revived. Since the public has yet to become acquainted with documentaries, the logic goes, it is best not to bore them and twist their arms at this point. Zakariya suggests that small, specialised movie theatres be opened to screen documentaries for the interested few. With publicity and promotion -- which can be very successful, as the Reading For All Programme has shown -- more people will eventually flock to see documentaries, especially if they are made to entertain and inform. Naturally, this would allow the production of documentaries of different lengths, instead of the decreed 15 minutes; maybe even foreign documentaries could then be shown.
El-Leithi ambitiously recommends increasing the funding and support for the ENFC, and equipping a truck with film and video projectors to travel to villages and towns across the country.
