Seven

This week the 53rd Taormina International Film Festival (16-22 June) celebrates the centenary of Egyptian cinema, screening the most recent seven films on the best-100 list put together by critics Ahmed El-Haradri, Kamal Ramzi and myself, writes Samir Farid. The initiative was taken by the festival's American director and Variety critic Deborah Young, but how -- and why -- did we come to choose these seven films?
In Oula Thanawi (First Year in Secondary School, 2000) the screenwriter, Ashraf Mohamed, one of the Cinema Institute's more talented graduates -- favours human stories presented in a realist, classical style not, however, devoid of poetry. The film tells the story of three teenage friends: Ashraf, Selim and Ghali, a Christian -- who, during their first year of secondary school, find a father figure in Hamza, a surgeon whose license was revoked when he was found responsible for the death of a small child he operated on. Oula Thanawi is unique thanks largely to its commendable treatment of the Christian character, who dies of heart disease; he is portrayed as one of the Egyptian people, not merely as a stereotype of the "minority" figure. In the film, his illness of the inflames all the other characters and his death saddens their hearts. Outstanding, too, is the film's treatment of the differences between classes and generations, emphasising possibilities of harmonious co- habitation. It also shows the average middle-class young person's dilemma at the end of the 20th century. The screenplay enabled Mohamed Abu-Seif to produce his best effort as a director, while actor Nour El-Sherif and actress Mervat Amin both gave powerful performances. Editor Adel Munir, composer Omar Khayrat and sound engineer Ahmed Gaber all excelled in their fields.
Al-Abwab Al-Mughlaqa (Closed Doors, 2001) is the first feature film by its writer and director Atef Hatata, who has not yet been able to make his second film. He had completed the screenplay of Al-Abwab Al-Mughlaqa in 1994 while Islamic fundamentalism reached a new peak of violence, recurrent since the assassination of President Sadat in 1981. The film was co-produced with France in 1999 but not released at home till 2001. Set in Cairo in 1990, it is the story of Mohamed, a secondary-school student who lives with his divorced mother Fatima, a housemaid, in a small rooftop flat in one of Cairo's poor quarters, who gradually becomes a member of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya. Mohamed spies on his mother and her lover, catches them in the act of lovemaking and kills them both. There were several Egyptian films dealing with the issue of "terrorism" in the name of Islam, but the treatment was mostly from the perspective of security, focusing on the fundamentalists' conflict with the police. In Al-Abwab Al-Mughlaqa -- to a greater extent than in any other Egyptian film -- we see the reality of the issue: Islamic fundamentalism finds in Egypt a fertile soil in which to flourish, in the absence of freedoms and especially among the impoverished classes. It involves brainwashing the minds of teenagers and young people to the point when they kill their parents in the name of honour. The scenes of the training camps of the Islamist Group are among the greatest in Egyptian cinema. The director's style evidences a mastery of the modernist trends in realism. The actors Mahmoud Hemeida and Sawsan Badr are on top form. The jury of the Thessalon�k� Film Festival, Greece, headed by veteran Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, awarded Hatata best screenplay and Badr best actress.
Dawoud Abdel-Sayyed is one of contemporary Egyptian film's major authors; he began his work in fiction with a significant contribution to the realism of the 1980s, and was one of those who moved away from realism during the 1990s. But in each new film, he presents a wholly new experience, making few concessions to the market even as he maintains the drive to expand his audience base. In his latest film, Muwatin wa Mukhbir wa Harami (A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief), he expresses a comprehensive vision of what took place in Egypt between 1981 and 2001 --under the rule of President Mubarak -- in a narrative style reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. The events of the film start in 1981: Sherif, a thief, is in jail; Selim, a novelist, is having an affair with Madiha; Fathi is an average police detective. When Selim's car is stolen, Fathi helps him find it, and introduces him to Hayat, whom he employs as his house maid. Selim starts a relationship with Hayat, but she robs the house, notably of a manuscript of a novel Selim was writing, and presents them to Sherif, who likes to read books before he burns them. After he burns the manuscript, Selim and Sherif have a fight during which the latter loses an eye; then Fathi suggests Selim should pay Sherif compensation to avoid legal charges. Eventually all three men become partners. Sherif becomes a publisher and Fathi becomes a politician. Sherif marries Madiha and Selim marries Hayat. In 2001 Sherif's son marries Selim's daughter and all participate in a masked ball. Abdel-Sayyed sees the last two decades as an era during the intellectual citizen and the least literate thief can identify with each other and with the policeman who chases them both. The film also boasts cinematography by Samir Bahzan, set designs by Onsi Abu-Seif and the inimitable music of Ragih Dawoud, who collaborated with Abdel-Sayyed on most of his films. The editing was done by Mona Rabi' and the harmonious cast featured the talented Hind Sabri.
Sahr Al-Layali (Night Vigil, 2003) was the surprise box office hit of the last few years. Ten years after completing his studies as director, Hani Khalifa made the film that speaks more than any other for his generation, a blend of American Graffiti and Sex, Lies and Video Tape, but with a unique Egyptian twist. And with mainstream commercial Egyptian cinema opting for lies with neither sex nor video, the film was a resounding success. Set in Cairo and Alexandria over three days in 2003, the film revolves around a group of young couples: Sameh is an unmarried sound engineer who lives with the divorcee Inas; Khaled owns an automobile showroom and his wife Perri is about to give birth to their second child; Omar is married to Farah and manages the factory owned by his mother in law; Ali is a businessman whose sex life with his life Mushira is disappointing. Sameh is reluctant to marry Inas. Perri suffers from Khaled's constant tendency to have extramarital affairs. Omar leaves the house after Farah insults him, pointing to his poor background. Mushira resists the temptation to cheat on her husband. Everybody tries to carry on with their lives. The film's being an expression of a new generation does not stop at Khalifa's choice of subject matter, nor his style, which frees itself from both classical and new forms of realism and benefits from a very good screenplay by Tamer Habib, cinematography by Ahmed Abdel-Aziz, set designs by Imad El-Khodary, editing by Khaled Mar'i, music by Hisham Nazih and a cast that includes the present day's most popular stars: Ahmed Helmi, Mona Zaki, Hanan Turk, Sherif Munir, Khaled Abul-Naga, Jihane Fadel, Fathi Abdel-Wahhab, Ola Ghanem and Ahmed Kamal. A millennial tour de force: it is a film that signalled the birth of a new generation of filmmakers at the beginning of the century.
Between 1997 and 2007, and for the first time since the 1920s, a relatively large number of Egyptian women directors emerged. In her debut feature film, director Hala Khalil, who had completed her studies in 1993, offered the most significant and indeed beautiful cinematic statement on the reality of her generation of Egyptian women. Ahla Al-Awqat (Best of Times, 2004) is set in present-day Cairo, where, Salma's mother having died suddenly, she continues to live with her stepfather Rabi'. One day Salma receives, by mail, photos from her childhood and adolescence. The photos remind her of her classmates Youssriya and Doha, so she goes to see them in the poor quarters where they live -- only to find Youssriya the veiled mother of two about to give birth to a third child, and working as a teacher, while Doha still dreams of becoming and actress and she has a relationship with Tareq. Salma suspects that her puppeteer neighbour Hisham is the one sending her the letters; then she suspects it might be her photographer father, who lives in Alexandria and whom she has not met since early childhood. Finally Salma finds out that the sender is her stepfather Rabi', and Hisham proposes to her. Ahla Al-Awqat was not only Khalil's debut, but also the first feature screenplay by the talented Wissam Soliman. The rest of the cast and crew belong to the same generation as well: set designer Shirin Farghali and editor Manar Hosni. The cinematography is by Ahmed Morsi, while sound and music are by Khaled Hammad, both among the most talented of their generation. The cast included three of the geneartion's greatest female talents: Hanan Turk, Hind Sabri and Menna Shalabi.
Osama Fawzi is the most radical among his generation of directors, which is why has only managed to make three films since graduating in 1984. In Bahib Al-Sima (I Love Cinema), the auteur collaborates with screenwriter Hani Fawzi to present one of the most important films in the history of Egyptian cinema, a true classic of modernist realism. The screenplay was written in 1997, and the film was shot in 2001, but the Cairo Film Festival refused to screen it in 2002 and it was shelved until 2004. Bahib Al-Sima is set in the Christian-majority Cairo neighbourhood of Shubra in 1966, but the events are narrated 30 years later by the narrator- protagonist Na'im. As a six-year-old Na'im was in love with cinema, despite the objections and threats of his Coptic fundamentalist father Adli, a school social worker. Ni'mat, Adli wife and Na'im's mother, suffering from sexual and emotional deprivation, starts an affair with the communist artist Mamdouh who had spent time in political prison. The headmaster of the school and Adli argue, so the former frames the latter and he is subjected to extreme humiliation from the security policemen. Ni'mat regrets her affair and Adli changes, but he dies at the same time of the June 1967 defeat. President Abdel-Nasser tenders his resignation, withdrawing it when the people object. It is the first Egyptian film about the life of the Copts told by insiders: Hani Fawzi is a Copt and Osama Fawzi was a Copt who converted to Islam. Now that Egypt is under threat of Islamic fundamentalism, the film shows how fundamentalism is rather an attitude to which Copts are equally subject. And in the time when people still believe in worshiping the individual (President Gamal Abdel-Nasser who died in 1977) the film points out how the defeat of June 1967 was a consequence of the defeat of freedom since 1952. A Cinema Paradiso, but purely Egyptian: behind the camera were three masters, cinematographer Tareq El-Telmissani, set designer Salah Mar'i and editor Khaled Mar'i; while in front of the camera Layala Olwi and Mahmoud Hemeida made two of their best performances ever. Bahib Al-Sima became a public opinion story for the entire second half of 2004. The censorship permitted it after hesitation and minor cuts, then several law suits were filed against it by Coptic lawyers and clergymen, but all cases were dismissed by the end of the year. Still, Copts demonstrated and the film quickly disappeared from the movie-theatres.
Egypt did not have a best-selling novel for decades; even those written by Naguib Mahfouz after he received the Nobel prize in 1988 did not sell. Then Imarat Yacoubian (The Yacoubian Building) by the dentist author Alaa El-Aswani was published in 2002, containing all that the majority of Egyptians talk about in private. It depicted the changes that took place in Egypt since the 1930s, when a liberal peak was reached only to wither away with the July 1952 revolution. In Cairo in 1994, the downtown Yacoubian Building, after 60 years of its construction in 1934, is a place where several story lines intersect. Zaki El-Dessouqi, now in his 60s, is son of a late Pasha and has an office in the building, while Azzam, the millionaire businessman who began his career as a shoe-shiner, is preparing one of his flats for his second wife Soad. There also lives Hatim El-Rashidi, the homosexual journalist who starts a relationship with a poor policeman, Abdrabuh. On the rooftop dwells Buthaina, who works as a shopkeeper in a downtown store, and who is in love with the son of the doorman Taha; and Malak, the tailor who is the brother of Fanous, Zaki's manservant. Abdrabuh's only son dies, so he abandons Hatim who is killed by a thief. Azzam becomes a member of parliament when he pays a million pounds bribe to the minister Kamal El-Fouli. Soad becomes pregnant by Azzam so he has her beaten up to effect a miscarriage and divorces her. Taha fails to enter the police academy because his father is a doorman and in the university he joins an Islamist group and is arrested, then raped by order of a police officer. The Islamist group marries Taha off, but he has his revenge and kills the officer, dying in the fight. Zaki marries Buthaina despite the age difference between them. The ambition of El-Aswani met with the ambition of producer Emadeddin Adeeb and the experience of screenwriter Waheed Hamid. This trio were behind the directorial debut of Marwan Hamid. The film became the major cinematic event in Egypt in 2006 as it dealt with many issues considered taboo in a modern realist style. The director succeeded in working with a big cast of stars from different generations, including Adel Imam, Nour El-Sherif, Youssra, Isaad Younis, Hind Sabri, Somaya El-Khashab, Khaled Saleh, Khaled El-Sawi, Basim Samra and Mohamed Imam. Among other things, the film depicts homosexuality with an audacity unprecedented in Egyptian cinema.