Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Unfolding the flowers

By Gihan Shahine

Nader and Shadi are the same person: a 15-year-old with Down's Syndrome -- and an artist's potential. Shadi's artistic talents find expression in Nida' Al-Warda (The Flower's Summons), a yet-to-be released TV drama in which he has the lead role. Nader, the character he plays, finds an outlet for his potential in drawing.

The film, the first ever made for Egyptian television that addresses the problems of the mentally challenged and stars a person with Down's Syndrome, was shown recently at the French Cultural Centre in Mounira as part of a four-hour seminar on TV drama and mental disability. The seminar was organised by the non-governmental Association for Health and Environmental Development (AHED), in cooperation with the French Cultural Centre.

The seminar drew a large audience, including parents of disabled children, experts, media representatives and activists. Shadi looked excited as people swarmed the conference hall and he posed confidently for the eager cameramen. His excitement, however, seemed to peak when actress Dalal Abdel-Aziz (who plays Nader's mother in the film) walked in.

Nida' Al-Warda seeks to convey a message: because he has Down's Syndrome, Nader is prevented from expressing his hidden abilities. He could lead an almost normal life, but the development of his talents depends on how society perceives and treats the mentally challenged.

Nader is a well-behaved boy, and eager to learn. He gets dressed, makes his bed, goes to school, shops for his family, and knows how to give his mother first aid when she hurts her toe.

Nader is loving and sociable. He cares for his plants, caressing and talking to them, even playing music to entertain them. He likes a mentally challenged girl in his class and the two share ideas and paints in art class. Nader is also attached to his mother and aunt and likes taking his grandfather to the nearby café.

Nader, however, is constantly met with social antipathy. His sister teases him, children fear or mock him and are reluctant to play with him, his father is intolerant, his aunt's fiancé mistreats him as the cross the family must bear, and one of his teachers treats him roughly.

His mother, however, is loving and informed. She has read about Down's Syndrome and she helps him with his homework, educates him about different life experiences, and treats him as she would a child with no disability at all.

The film presents the problems parents of mentally challenged children usually encounter, with an emphasis on inadequate educational and medical services.

Nader's mother has a hard time finding an alternative facility for him after he has an accident at his own school. She tries public schools first, but is disappointed with the education and care provided there. Private schools, on the other hand, are "very expensive and have long waiting lists that sometimes extend to four years." In one important scene, parents of children with different disabilities, coming from different parts of the country, discuss the problem of where to enroll their children, and complain that information on the subject is scarce.

The film also highlights the inadequacy of medical services. At birth, Nader is misdiagnosed as suffering from hepatitis; his mother must run from one paediatrician to another before obtaining a correct assessment.

The main message of the film, however, is that Nader has skills and talents, but no one can discover them. His special treat is watching artist Sawsana drawing and teaching students pottery in her elegant villa, which Nader's house overlooks. As the film draws to an end, Nader goes to Sawsana, who discovers his talents when he paints a flower on a vase.

Out of isolation? The many faces of Shadi (right); with Dalal Abdel-Aziz (top); audience engagement (above) photos: Ayman Ibrahim

The film, while inscribed in the tradition of such works as Jaco Van Dormael's Le Huitième Jour, was criticised for a somewhat simplistic format. Stylistic concerns were not a problem for most of the audience, however, and a round of applause rang out after the final credits had rolled. Shadi stood up and greeted the cheering crowd, while children and parents swarmed around Abdel-Aziz to thank her for having helped address disability.

"I am proud to have worked on something so important, and which is likely to play a great educational role in society," Abdel-Aziz explained. "Disability is an increasingly pressing issue in society and it's our role as actors and actresses to create social awareness of how to handle it."

Abdel-Aziz has played the lead character in a TV drama about hearing and speech disabilities, titled Al-Khadima (The Maid), besides starring in Mabrouk wa Bolbol, in which Yehia El-Fakharani played a mentally challenged individual.

"What's new about this drama, however, is that it provides pivotal and detailed information on disability," Abdel-Aziz said. It also has an educational message, she added, as it underlines the role premarital medical checkups play in minimising the risk of conceiving a disabled child.

"The film also highlights the way children, parents and society at large should deal with Down's Syndrome children -- as normal and talented citizens," Abdel-Aziz maintained. "It also stresses the fact that parents should seek the advice of specialised centres that can help their children cope with their disability."

Parents and experts seemed to agree that the film accurately reflects the problems associated with Down's Syndrome, and is equally true to life when portraying widespread prejudice and ignorance.

This accuracy is no coincidence: Inas Helmi, the director, is Shadi's mother.

Azza Shalabi, the script writer, spent time with Down's Syndrome children, visited public and private schools, and talked to parents before she wrote the drama. Furthermore, Nader and his classmates in the film actually have Down's Syndrome -- no one is acting here.

"The film is my story with Shadi," Helmi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I choose to tackle social problems in my work, and disability is definitely a growing one," Helmi says. "Yet disability is rarely, if ever, addressed in TV and cinematic production."

The script, however, was rejected by the television censor in 1993. The reason, Shalabi explains, was that "Nader was shown as being almost normal, whereas they felt a typical Down's Syndrome case should be aggressive and unpredictable."

It is such misconceptions that Shalabi and Helmi have sought to overthrow. "These children have a lot of love to give, contrary to what many people believe," Helmi insists. "They can also be productive when given the chance. Even I never thought Shadi would be able to act so spontaneously."

Shalabi concurs. "I've always sympathised with mentally disabled children, but I never realised how skilled they were until I wrote the film," she says. "The children also have a great sense of humour. They were able to cheer me up when I was really depressed."

She was not entirely satisfied with the direction of the film, however; the original script presented the dilemma of a limited-income family, but the film focused on affluent social strata. More effort, she feels, should be made to address the problems of the majority -- "and that's definitely not the upper middle class." But Helmi wanted to describe "the emotional state of parents with a disabled child, regardless of social class."

Film-makers seem disinclined to address issues of disability. The reason, many critics agree, is that cinema is largely a commercial venture and producers would not risk making a film that may not bring in a large audience. "We should therefore thank Abdel-Aziz heartily for dedicating part of her time to a TV production which will make very little money," says journalist and critic Samir El-Gamal. "We should not judge the film as critics. Rather, we should praise those who took part in it."

Leila Karam, head of the Childhood Research Centre at Ain Shams University, was equally enthusiastic. "TV drama is the best and quickest means of conveying messages in our society, which still desperately lacks awareness of disability and related issues. True, it is simple and straightforward, but perhaps that's what we need for the time being: a documentary type of film that presents a condensed dose of information to a society that knows almost nothing about mental disability."

Karam further praised the film for presenting accurate medical information about Down's Syndrome.

"The drama also shows the negative attitude of the father, a very widespread phenomenon that needs to be addressed immediately," she added. "But I wish it had shown the wider strata of limited-income families, who do not have the means to educate and treat their disabled children."

Dr Abdel-Hamid Kabesh, chairman of AHED, agrees that Nida' Al-Warda successfully challenges stereotypes of mental disability. "Attitudes toward the disabled are still very negative, especially in rural areas, where the mentally challenged are often locked up and educational and medical facilities are absent."

The role of AHED, Kabesh explains, is to change those negative views through bringing the disabled and their families together with officials and NGOs and giving the disabled a chance to express themselves.

While the goal of transforming the way society treats the disabled may be a little ambitious, Nida' Al-Warda may have more profound implications. Nadia, whose 11-year-old daughter has Down's Syndrome, said the film had an unexpected impact on their family. "The day after we saw it, I found my daughter making her own bed -- just like Shadi."

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