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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Comment Focus Special Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Bedevilled with awards
Khairiya El-Bishlawi detects new hope for Egyptian films
It would be hard to imagine another international film festival as disorganised and chaotic as the 15th Alexandria International Film Festival. Needless to say, the schedule bore no connection to the actual screening times and much time was wasted in the process. But what is surprising is that from the heart of this chaos emerged a clear and cohesive picture of the current state of Egyptian cinema on the cultural, artistic and social levels. During this year's festival Egyptian participation, in the Egyptian Film Panorama and the international competition, betrayed the cornerstones of current production.
One such stone comprises the production companies recently established by a number of businessmen. Their films surprised in terms of production values and their strong social moralistic streak. For example Oula Thanawi (Junior High), produced by the Sho'a' production company and directed by Mohamed Abu Seif, Salah Abu Seif's son, was commended by all in attendance and hailed as a return to the proud tradition of national cinema.
Junior High concerns the tribulations of a surgeon whose feelings of guilt following the death of a little girl drive him away from his profession. He becomes an art dealer and restorer. The surgeon (played by Nour El-Sherif), has a strong sense of responsibility towards his community and takes upon himself the task of caring for three delinquent teenagers. He teaches them the meaning of responsibility, honest work, friendship and love. The protagonist himself, however, who suffers from his own personal problems, finally meets true love and rushes headlong into a new life promising a better future.
The film is scripted by Ashraf Mohamed who succeeds in drawing a convincing plot with realistic characters involved in sensitive relationships. The film, besides giving Mervat Amin one of her best roles yet, also presents a set of new talents -- Maher Essam, Sherif Badawi and Ahmed Hussein as the delinquent children.
Mohamed Shaaban's Al-Sharaf (Honour), produced by the same company, tackles an era characterised by historic events still embedded in Egyptian consciousness. For the first time on screen the post 67 evacuation of Port Said is represented and the director reconstructs events with a meticulous attention to detail. His handling of crowd scenes, as much as his ability to portray the individual experiences that together constitute this tragedy, betrays his skill.
Scriptwriter Mustafa Moharram chose Gihane Fadel, herself from Port Said, as his lead actress. Her lover is lost in the war and she is forced to marry a butcher, played by Farouk El-Fishawi.
Received positively by the festival audience, Al-Sharaf is also likely to be a box-office hit, not least because of the powerful performance delivered by El-Fishawi, Magda Zaki, Mustafa Metwalli and Ahmed Ezzeddin. The only hitch is the ending, which involves a fire and much more besides..
The second new production vehicle is the Production Sector of the Radio and Television Union which boasted three films in the festival. Abna' Al-Shaitan (The Devil's Offspring) directed by Ibrahim Afifi and scripted by Beshir El-Deek is a flamboyant, melodramatic thriller burdened with much unnecessary sex and violence and relying on the hackneyed theme of drug trafficking. Hussein Fahmi plays Selim, cruel drug baron without scruples, while Farouk El-Fishawi is the no less ruthless police officer chasing him.
Al-Mohemma (The Mission) revolves around a similarly heartless character, Ahmed Khalil the arms dealer. The predictable action is split between Cairo and New York, and is hardly saved by the occasional display of technical competence.
Said Marzouq's Gonoun Al-Haya (The Madness of Life) similarly attempts to moralise, and just as unsuccessfully. A successful engineer (Elham Shahine), working on projects outside Cairo, is married to an unfaithful businessman. She falls in love with her young driver, who is also the focus of her niece's affections. The hapless driver is shot dead by an unidentified assailant as Shahine's acting becomes ever more ludicrous until finally the only mystery of the film is why on earth the Production Sector funded it in the first place.
The third source of funding comes from abroad and was represented by co-productions such as Youssri Nasrallah's Al-Madina (The City). Quirky, idiosyncratic, it remains unclear how such films will eventually fit in mainstream Egyptian cinema.
Director Ossama Fawzi's Gannet Al-Shayatin (Devils' Paradise) -- recipient of a total of seven awards at the festival, including best film, best script (Mustafa Zikri), best supporting actress (Caroline Khalil), best cinematography (Tareq El-Telmessani), best editing (Khaled Mar'ei) and the media award -- can be bracketed alongside Al-Madina. It successfully breaks with the tested formulas of commercial cinema, breaking taboos willy nilly. And in doing so, manages at least to make its audience sit up and take notice.
