Egypt, Colombia discuss medical support for Palestinians injured in Gaza    Egypt greenlights new public free zones to drive export growth    PM Madbouly reviews progress of 1.5 Million Feddan Project    PM Madbouly reviews progress on electricity supply for New Delta agricultural development projects    Australia to recognise Palestinian state in September, New Zealand to decide    Trump orders homeless out of DC, deploys federal agents and prepares National Guard    Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire hold political talks, sign visa deal in Cairo    Egypt's TMG H1 profit jumps as sales hit record EGP 211bn    Egyptian pound stable vs. USD at Monday's close    Egypt, Germany FMs discuss Gaza escalation, humanitarian crisis    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Global matcha market to surpass $7bn by 2030: Nutrition expert    Egypt, Huawei discuss expanding AI, digital healthcare collaboration    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Oil rises on Wednesday    Egypt, Uganda strengthen water cooperation, address Nile governance    Egypt's Sisi: Egypt is gateway for aid to Gaza, not displacement    Egypt, Malawi explore pharmaceutical cooperation, export opportunities    Egypt's Foreign Minister discusses Nile water security with Ugandan president    Egyptians vote in two-day Senate election with key list unopposed    Korean Cultural Centre in Cairo launches folk painting workshop    Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Abdel Galil Joins Golden Globe Voting Committee    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Mohamed Khan and his relationship with the city
The filmmaker discussed the depiction of the city in film in his lecture "The City, its inhabitants and cinematic practice" at the Saad Zaghloul Cultural Centre on 19 December
Published in Ahram Online on 20 - 12 - 2010

Downtown Cairo has always played a big part in Mohamed Khan's life.
A city wanderer by nature, Khan's earliest childhood memories surround the areas of Ard Sherif, Attaba, Emad El Din Street and Metro cinema and accordingly, his films have been highly influenced by the streets of Cairo.
One recurrent theme in his films is of a citizen taking a journey through the city. This goes back to his earliest attempts at making films, as seen in his three short films Daea (Lost), Al Haram (The Pyramid) and Bateekha (Watermelon).
Though at that time, in the sixties and early seventies, he still hadn't acquired his own style, subconsciously he was following a pattern that became dominant in his work. “It was obvious from the beginning that I loved scenes on the streets and in elevators,” he said.
In Daea, a man commits suicide after having an accident on Salah Salem road.
“We actually found the accident by coincidence,” he said “and I have no idea why the man committed suicide,” he continued jokingly. “My friend's late father was a police officer and had a gun so we wanted to use it.”
Yet despite the amateurish approach of his first film, his primary intention was depicting a man lost in the city.
In Bateekha, a man receives a phone call from his wife asking him to get the groceries on his way home.
The camera follows the man, observing the rise of the prices in the market. “He was complaining that a piece of meat cost 90 cents,” Khan joked and remarked that this acts as a good documentation of the prices of that era.
To delve into the ideas of his films and trigger points of discussion, some scenes of his films were shown. By screening two scenes from Darbet Shams (Shams' Blow) and Nos Arnab (1/2 million), the idea of chases in his films, also quite dominant among his work, was discussed.
In Darbet Shams, the car chase was shot from a bird's eye view, not a standard angle for shooting car chases.
In this scene, which was shot in the late seventies, Khan wanted to depict the amount of traffic and how it slows up the movement of cars, even police cars. “I didn't know that it would be ten times worse now,” he pointed out.
In Nos Arnab a chase takes place amid pipes, stumbled upon by chance. Those pipes weren't included in the storyboard, but when Khan noticed them he observed that they make a good visual image and continued the chase to there.
In an interrogation scene in Wife of an Important Person, Ahmed Zaki, the police officer, takes off his watch in the middle of the interrogation. Khan explained how little details as such make a character more human and realistic.
He also added that memory sometimes comes in when shooting a scene; he had seen the taking off of a watch fifteen years before he shot the scene while in a police station.
A discussion ensued about his characters, the way they were drawn in his films and how actors followed a more realistic and subtle acting approach in his films.
“During that era the films were all about office employees and multimillionaires,” he said. “I wanted to have characters that you find on the street.”
As for extracting sincere emotions from actors, Khan used several tricks. In order to get the desired expression on Aida Riad's face in a scene in Ahlam Hind We Camilia (Dreams of Hind and Camilia), where she was mopping the floor while being eyed by a bunch of Arab students, Khan reminded Aida of an incident from her own past. For a scene in El Hareef (Streetplayer) in which Adel Imam has to hit Fardous Abd El Hameed, he only told Imam about it catching Fardous off-guard.
“We had several takes of that scene,” Khan said. “But the first one was the best.”
Khan also mentioned the difference between producing films now and in the seventies and eighties when there was such a thing as small producers.
He relayed the story behind starting up his film Taeer Aal tareek (Bird on the Road), which he considers his first film to have a personal tone and style. While taking a break during a film editing job, a young producer approached him to ask if he has a film. This later developed into the production of the film.
“Now there are major corporations owning the Cinemas and the distribution,” he said. “And it's challenging making personal films in that environment.” He then added that when he makes films, he wants them to be seen, yet this doesn't affect adding a personal touch to them.
The lecture was held in parallel to Futuropolis, an exhibition that looks into the possible future of the city, held at the same venue.


Clic here to read the story from its source.