24 - 30 May 2001
Issue No.535
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 May 2001 Issue No.535 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Plain talk
I must say that I was greatly impressed by the contribution of the Cultural Development Fund to the Cannes Film Festival this year. A beautiful hand pack was distributed containing three booklets, one giving details of Egyptian films produced from 1991 to 2000, a second giving details of Egyptian film institutions and organisations and a third, in the form of a notebook, covering the days of the festival, with sections denoting daily screenings. On the back of every page there is a scene from a different Egyptian film.
The first booklet includes award winners from the National Festival for Egyptian Cinema from 1991 to 2000, giving details of every film. This is followed by a list of Egyptian feature films produced in 2000, and finally a section devoted to documentaries and short films made in 2000-2001. It also includes films produced by the National Centre for Cinema and the Radio and Television Union. It is a very impressive record that gives the lie to charges that Egyptian cinema is not developing.
The third publication is, however, the one I think most important. It gives details of steps to be taken when shooting a foreign film in Egypt, from the moment an application is submitted to the concerned Egyptian embassy abroad until the actual shooting takes place. The booklet goes through the formalities that have to be followed by companies that are seeking to film in Egypt.
First, the Egyptian embassy contacts the Press Centre, affiliated to the State Information Service. Upon the arrival of the film crew and artists in Egypt, a representative of the centre is attached to the delegation until they leave the country. The application for shooting should contain a list of the working team, accompanying equipment, as well as a letter requesting customs clearance.
The application should also contain precise locations where the shooting is supposed to take place, whether this be a site with ancient monuments and antiquities, a common tourist site or beauty spot, or a more modern building. Each member of the crew will be issued a press card. Certain rules are applicable should there be any aerial shoots or if the desired locations fall within natural protectorates or areas of major historic interest. Following these useful and essential details are details of all the cinema services available in Egypt, foremost among which are the services provided by the Cinema City laboratories and its state of the art sound centre.
What interested me most was the section of the third booklet giving information about Egyptian studios available for foreign use. There are five fully equipped studios, with Studio Misr at the helm. Studio Misr was founded by the great economist and financier Talaat Harb, one of his many diverse contributions to culture and business in Egypt. These days Egypt is celebrating the anniversary of that great man. The studio was the first to be built in Egypt and its first production was Widad, starring Um Kulthum and the then leading male actor Ahmed Allam. The film was directed by the German director Fritz Krump, assisted by Gamal Madkour, the pioneer Egyptian director.
Studio Misr was responsible for the production of dozens of films which are now regarded as landmarks in the history of Egyptian and Arab cinema. Studio Misr also played a vital role in training film directors, including such famous luminaries as Salah Abu Seif, Kamal Selim, Kamal El-Sheikh and others.
Together with these studios there are other facilities, such as the Cinema Plateau at the Academy of Arts, a recent addition to the list of already existing studios. This useful booklet ends with a list of production service companies, both international and local.
This is, indeed, a useful and comprehensive guide to the film industry in Egypt, and the Cultural Development Fund is to be congratulated on its publication.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page