The 12th National Film Festival again raises the question of independent cinema, digital video and regulations. Mohamed El-Assyouti writes The 12th National Film Festival (18-25 April), which is the Egyptian Ministry of Culture's answer to the Oscar Academy Awards witnesses the competition between only 26 out of the 37 feature films produced in 2005. According to critic Ali Abu Shadi, president of the festival and head of the National Film Centre and the Censorship Authority, 11 films did not apply for the competition. "All film production companies have the right to submit their films in the festival," clarifies Abu Shadi. The feature films competition jury is head by veteran screenwriter Mahfouz Abdel-Rahman. Possible winners include the Television's Production sector's Malik wa Kitaba (Head and Tale) written by Nasser Mohamed Ali and Sami Hossam, directed by Kamla Abu Zekri and starring Mahmoud Hemeida, Hind Sabri, Khaled Abul-Naga and Aida Riad. Producer, screenwriter Wahid Hamid's Damm Al-Ghazal (Deer's Blood) directed by Mohamed Yassin and starring Youssra, Nour El-Sherif, Mona Zaki, Amr Waked and Mahmoud Abdel-Moghni, is another possible favoured entry, thanks to its main themes -- Islamic fundamentalism and corruption -- and to the lobbying powers of its writer/producer. Superstar Adel Imam's vehicle Al-Sifara fil Imara (The Embassy in the Apartment Building) written by Youssef Maati, directed by Amr Arafa and focusing on an expatriate who returns to his flat to discover that his next door neighbour is the Israeli Embassy, is another potential winner. As stars are often rewarded when they tackle serious issues, and this is the first time Imam, who was a double agent for the Egyptian Intelligence in Israel in a 1980s TV serial, tackles the Palestinian crisis and that of Arab normalisation with Israel. Director Mohamed Khan's film Banat Wist Al-Balad (Downtown Girls) written by Wissam Suleiman and starring Menna Shalabi and Hind Sabri, may be awarded for its direction, script and performances. Some of the other entries, despite their shortcomings, may receive an award or a mention for various reasons. Layat Suquot Baghdad (The Night Baghdad Fell) written and directed by Mohamed Amin, because it criticises both the US interference in Iraq and the languidness of Arab regimes. Star Ahmed El-Saqqa's action vehicle Harb Atalia (Italy's War), written by Hazem El-Hadidi and directed by Ahmed Saleh, on account of its plot twists and the remarkable cinematography by Tareq El-Telmissani. Singer Mustafa Qamar's vehicle Harim Karim (Karim's Harem) written by Zeinab Aziz and directed by Ali Idriss, which has versatile second role performances by Dalia El-Beheiri, Basma and Ola Ghanim. In the National Film Festival's short fiction film competition 29 films compete (26 of which are shot on digital video); while in the documentary and animated films competition 23 and 25 films respectively compete (all of which are shot on digital video). Despite the fact that digital video dominates the short and documentary films sections, director Ibrahim El-Batout's feature-length film Ithaki, was not accepted in the feature films competition. In the recent past young directors Hatim Farid and Sherif El-Azma and veteran directors Khairy Bishara and Mohamed Khan shot one feature-length film on digital video each. However, these were not entered into the festival's competition. Abu Shadi maintains that the attempts to shoot feature films on digital video in Egypt have been so few and far between, which did not raise the question to change the regulations of the festival's main competition to allow them to enter. Therefore, despite the recommendation of Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni himself, Ithaki will not enter in the feature films competition. "This would have required changing the regulations from the very beginning to allow the TV single episode drama shows to enter the competition, since technically they fall within the same category as El-Batout's film," remarks Abu Shadi. "In the future, the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Committee may formulate a new regulation to govern the entry of feature-length films shot on digital video," he adds. Even though El-Batout and young director Tamer El-Saïd joined the membership of the Cinema Committee last year their efforts to introduce changes have been in vain. "It is a consultative body that is not expected to carry out any actions, nor enforce any of its recommendations," says El-Saïd. Proof of the committee's ineptitude which El-Batout, El-Saïd, and director Amr Bayoumi among several other filmmakers lament is that the Ministry of Culture was offered from the Ministry of Finance a fund towards the sum of LE20 million to support the production of films, which it failed to put into use. "The deadline to spend this money is in two months," points out El-Saïd. "They simply cannot come out with a decision." On another front, SEMAT for Production and Distribution, the only company for the production and distribution of independent films on digital video which had entered with several films the festival's short and documentary competitions in previous years is not competing with any film in this 12th round. SEMAT produced 60 short films since its establishment in October 2001 and it organised several creative and educational workshops and screened films all over Egypt -- in Minya, Sohag, Fayyoum, Al-Wadi Al-Gadid, Port Saïd besides Cairo and Alexandria. Despite this, says director, producer Hala Galal, who presides over SEMAT, the official and public recognition of a parallel filmmaking and screening activity is lukewarm to put it mildly. "The efforts of the young filmmakers who made their independent films within or without SEMAT over the past few years were simply made because the current mainstream industry has no place for them. The digital video technology helped circumvent all the obstacles imposed by the distributors, producers and censors who assume that they hold the measures of quality," holds Galal. After receiving funding from the European Union, EuroMed Audio-Visual 2, SEMAT is carrying out this year its own festival, the Caravan of Arab European Cinema, which screens films from Mediterranean and European countries in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Amman, Beirut, Paris, Marseilles, Rotterdam and four other Dutch cities. The Caravan's screenings include both feature length and short films shot on 35mm or digital video. Galal points out that SEMAT concentrated this year on screening and distribution at this point a dialogue between filmmakers from Egypt and other Arab as well as Mediterranean and European countries is necessary. "Screening films and holding conferences is part of reviving a film culture that had been dominated by officials and businessmen. The producers in the mainstream industries have other businesses, and when the cinema is in an economic crisis they take their money away and invest in something else. At SEMAT, we work in the field whether we are making a profit or not. The officials impose many obstacles for the independent filmmakers. They think they're cornering them. However, indeed they are the ones who are trapped behind invisible walls
