The children's hour

If the past four summers have been relatively buoyant at the box office this may be the result of the belated discovery by filmmakers of the power of marketing, writes Mohamed El-Assyouti
This summer some 20 films are likely to be given an airing. Quantitatively, at least, this may seem to indicate a resurgence of the local industry. Qualitatively, though, the jury remains out on whether it represents a renaissance.
This increased demand at the box office may have several explanations. What is certain, though, is that the bulk of the audience falls within the 15-25 age group, a section of the viewing public whose tastes have been influenced by the promo video, by television advertising and soap operas. And it is these very tastes to which the filmmakers are catering. If video clips can feature exotic locations -- Italy, France and Scotland, America if not Africa, India and Thailand -- so too can films. In recent years Mohamed Heneidi has been sent to Amsterdam, Adel Imam to New York. And if the glossiest production standards are expected -- the commercial success of Chahine's later films, the argument runs, is due in part due to their being printed in Europe -- then any Egyptian film worth its salt is now being printed in Prague, Athens, Brussels, Paris or London.
This season veteran superstars Ahmed Zaki, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz and Adel Imam each feature in one film, Imam, tellingly, in his son Rami's directorial debut. Yet most of this summer's films will feature aspiring stars to the extent that it seems hardly a coincidence that two films boast the word youth in their titles. At least three films were partially shot outside Egypt -- Africano, for example, headlines its South African setting. And as if any further proof were needed that the values of the video clip have insinuated themselves into mainstream cinema, at least five of the summer releases, including Chahine's Sukut Hansawar, will star singers.
Not surprisingly, the directors, writers, producers and stars of this year's biggest productions are the same people responsible for last summers' blockbusters.
Gala Gala (Abracadabra), released on 30 May, is director Mazen El-Gebali's second collaboration with Gala Fahmi, daughter of the late director Ashraf Fahmi. Fahmi plays a jinni who accidentally ends up with an ordinary family and cannot help getting involved in their personal lives, pretending to be human while she is at it. The film co-stars Faris, Yasmin Abdel-Aziz, Shams and Ahmed Aql.
Veteran actor Adel Imam's Amir Al-Zalam (Prince of Darkness) has been thoroughly hyped. Based on an idea by Hamdi Youssef and Khaled Sarhan, and written by Tamer Abdel-Moneim and Abdel-Fatah El-Beltagi, Amir Al-Zalam focuses on an October 1973 War veteran pilot who, returning victorious from the battle, loses his sight after slipping on a banana skin. The main character echoes both Sheikh Hosni in Dawoud Abdel-Sayed's Kit Kat, and Colonel Frank Spade in Martin Brest's Scent of A Woman, both of whom are blind but nonetheless endowed with the gift of a clear insight that is especially stimulated by their friendship with young people. Amir Al-Zalam co-stars Sherin Seifelnasr, Dunya, Khaled Sarhan and Tamer Abdel-Moneim.
Another much anticipated release is Ayam El-Sadat (Days of Sadat), based on Sadat's autobiography Al-Bahth 'An Al-Zat (Search for Self) and Mrs Sadat's Imraa min Misr (A Woman from Egypt). Written by Ahmed Bahgat, it is directed by Mohamed Khan and stars Ahmed Zaki as Sadat, Mervat Amin and Mona Zaki playing his wife at different periods of her life, Ahmed El-Saqa as Atef El-Sadat, and Is'ad Younis as Himat Mustafa. This biographical film spans the last 40 years of the late president's life. Produced by Ahmed Zaki in collaboration with the Radio and Television Union, which will distribute the film, it is scheduled for general release on 27 June.
Three summer films are offering a television theme, and one of them seems a thoroughly family affair. Shabab ala Al-Hawa (Youth on Air), is written by the brothers Mahmoud and Ibrahim Hamed, is directed by the late actor Mohamed Awad's son Adel, and stars Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz's son Mohamed, Farouq El-Fishawi's son Ahmed, Ilham Shahin's brother Amir, Sami El-Adl's daughter Rasha, Amin El-Heneidi's son Mahmoud, together with Hanan Turk, Nelli Karim and Amr Mahdi. Shabab ala Al-Hawa tells the story of a group of young people who, spurred on by a lack of job opportunities, decide to launch an independent TV station. Originally scheduled for summer release it will now be sometime before it hits the screen so as to avoid being in direct competition with bigger star vehicles. The other two films revolving around the world of TV, Ga'ana Al-Bayan Al-Tali and Ashab wala Biznis? have larger budgets, and were both intended to star number-one funny young man Mohamed Heneidi. In the end, though, only Ga'ana Al-Bayan Al-Tali (We Received the Following News Release) was honoured with his presence. Written by Mohamed Amin, directed by Said Hamed and co-starring Hanan Turk and Nihal Anbar alongside Heneidi, it centres on a young TV reporter, Nader Seifeddin, who covers several political events, visiting Chechnya, meeting presidents and ministers, and uncovering corruption in high places. The film involved location shooting in Lebanon and was produced by Adel Mansi.
Ashab wala Biznis? (Friends or Business Partners) is written by Medhat El-Adl, directed by Ali Idris, and stars singer Mustafa Qamar, Hani Salama, Nur, Tareq Abdel-Aziz, Carol Al-Hajj and Aya Medhat El-Adl. It has scenes shot on-location in the Palestinian camps of South Lebanon, and revolves around the friendship and professional rivalry between TV presenters Karim (Qamar) and Tareq (Salama). El-Adl wrote the commercially successful Heneidi vehicles Sa'idi fil-Gamaa Al-Amrikiya (An Upper Egyptian at the American University), Hamam fi Amsterdam (Hamam in Amsterdam) and Belia wa Demaghoh Al-'Alia (Belia's Big Head), as well as the Ahmed El-Saqa vehicle Short wa Fanila wa Cap (Shorts, T-Shirt and a Cap). In the present offering the sensationalised politics of the earlier films is set against the background of a satellite channel that manipulates and controls "Arab national awareness," as El-Adl puts.
Alaa Walieddin is considered by some as Egyptian cinema's most reliable box office asset. The revenues of his films -- over LE15 million each -- do not fluctuate as much as Heneidi's. This summer he stars in Ibn Ezz (Son of Riches), written by Ahmed Abdallah and directed by Sherif Arafa. It is the trio's third consecutive collaboration and co-stars Mohamed Azab, Dina and Inaam Salousah.
Besides Heneidi and Walieddin, Ahmed El-Saqa has been promoted to the status of a superstar after the success last summer of Short wa Fanila wa Cap (Shorts, T-Shirt and a Cap). This year he plays the role of a veterinarian who, with his brother-in-law, a pet shop attendant, travels to South Africa to help their cousin (Mona Zaki) run an animal park she inherited from her father. Written by Mohamed Amin, Africano is the feature debut of advertisement director Amr Arafa, Sherif's brother and the late director Saad Arafa's son.
Magdi El-Hawari, who established his production credentials with major hits starring Walieddin and Heneidi this year directs 55 Is'aaf (Ambulance 55), starring Ahmed Helmi and Mohamed Saad.
When, in the late 1980s actor Sherif Mounir appeared in the music video Al-Millionirat (Millionaires) with singer Medhat Saleh, it became a phenomenally popular filler. This summer witnesses the reunion of the duo in Al-Labis (The Dresser). Based on an idea by Adel El-Maghrabi, it is written by Khaled Gamaleddin, directed by Ashraf Fa'iq and co-stars Amira Fathi, Intisar, Shams and Ahmed Habashi. The film revolves around the relationship between a star and his dresser.
Shaabi singer Shaban -- "I Hate Israel/I Love Amr Moussa" -- Abdel-Rehim appears as a car thief in writer-director Dawoud Abdel-Sayed's Muwatin wa Mukhbir wa Harami (A Citizen, a Police Informer and a Thief). Co-starring Hind Sabri and Khaled Abul-Naga, the film tells the story of a thief who steals a car and its owner who, while reporting the theft at the police station, befriends an informer. Together they embark on a search for the thief.
These are the films on which the local industry is pinning its fortunes this summer. The majority will be in the cinemas during the months of July and August. Which of them will outlast the hottest months to run for six months or more, though, is by no means clear. Audience taste, which has determined the shifting strategies of filmmakers and distributors over the last four years, is not quite as predictable as some would like to think. The competition has reached a peak: the only thing that is certain is that for each film that pulls in the punters, another film will crash.
Other summer releases include
Itfarag Ya Salam (Watch and Wonder) dir. Mohamed Kamel El-Qalyoubi, starring Hani Ramzi; Kaif Tata'alam Al-Hobb (How to Learn Love?) dir. Mohamed Abu Seif, starring Lebleba and Mustafa Sha'ban; Muzakirat Murahiqa (A Teenager's Diary) dir. Inas El-Deghidi, starring Hind Sabri and Ahmed Ezz; Al-Ragul Al-Abyad Al-Mutawasit (Mediterranean Man) dir. Sherif Mandour, starring Ahmed Adam and Sumaya El-Khashab; Rihlit Hobb (Journey of Love) dir. Mohmed El-Naggar, starring Mohamed Fouad and Ahmed Helmi; Al-Sahir (The Wizard) dir. Radwan El-Kashef, starring Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz and Salwa Khatab; Al-Silim wal Thu'ban (Snakes and Ladders) dir. Tariq El-Eryan, starring Hani Salama, Hala Shiha and Ahmed Helmi; Shabab Take Away (Take Away Youth); Sukout Hansawar (Silence! Ready for Shooting) dir. by Youssef Chahine, starring Latifa and Ahmed Wafiq.
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