Dialogues of Naguib Mahfouz:

Writing for films

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A woman writing a research paper on Naguib Mahfouz's script writing career recently asked the novelist why he spent 12 years writing for films.

Mahfouz: At that time I had stopped writing novels. After the effort I'd spent writing The Cairo Trilogy, I felt for a while incapable of starting a new novel. So I took refuge in writing scripts, a work that was quite profitable by the way. At the time, I had been appointed as general director of art production at the Culture Ministry, after which I became president of the cinema institution. Executive work doesn't leave you much time for literary creativity.

Salmawy: How did you reconcile your work as director of art production and president of the cinema institution with your career as a scriptwriter?

Mahfouz: This was a sensitive matter in a way. As soon as I was appointed in the said jobs, I submitted to the culture minister a list of all the work I had already contracted prior to my appointment, just to avoid any clash of interest. Then I stopped accepting new commissions.

Researcher: How do you view scriptwriting? Is it a creative endeavour or mostly a technical one?

Mahfouz: It's a combination of both. To write a script, you need specialised skills. And yet for the script to be good it has to be a creative work. Many of the scripts I wrote depended on a primary idea conceptualised by the director or myself. To turn the idea into a full script was an effort of considerable creativity.

Salmawy: How did you treat the novels of others? Did you feel free to rework them in your own way?

Mahfouz: Of course not. I had to remain faithful to the original text. Had I wanted to change the novel extensively, it would have been better for me to write a new one. So long that I have agreed to turn a novel to a script, I had to remain faithful to the novel, especially that much of the novels involved were the works of great writers, people like Ihsan Abdel-Quddus for example.

Salmawy: But when other people wrote the scripts for your novels they took some liberties.

Mahfouz: Everyone has his own way of working.

Researcher: And your cooperation with late director Salah Abu Seif?

Mahfouz: I used to write alone, then after finishing each part, I would read it to him and his assistants. We used to discuss together what I had written.

Researcher: Did you include technical advice to the director?

Mahfouz: No, my focus was solely on the dramatisation. I left to the director the matter of deciding on the shots and other technical aspects. This is the job of the director.

Researcher: Please tell us about the background of We are the Students.

Mahfouz: This film was based on a true story in which the brother of a big movie star at the time was involved. We all had strong feelings about the incident, due to its social and human implication. I based the script on what was published in the paper and managed, with the help of the director, to turn the incident into a full-length drama.