At the Opera House's Small Hall and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, admission-free European and Egyptian film screenings and discussions galore will be taking place from 1-10 February. There will be two daily evening screenings (6pm and 8.30pm) of recent European films, as part of the second EU film festival organised by the Greek Embassy and Cultural Centre in Cairo in cooperation with the newly launched Audio-Visual Development Foundation (AVDF), the brainchild of veteran film critic Samir Farid. Nearly all of the films in the main programme are being screened in Egypt for the first time; these include Danish director Lars Von Trier's The Five Obstructions (2003) and the Finish The Three Rooms of Melancholia (2004) by Pirjo Honkasalo. Daily noon screenings will be dedicated to European classics as part of a programme -- titled "100+10"-- celebrating the first decade after the 100th anniversary of cinema. Among the centrepieces are Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel's Un Chien Andalou (The Andalousian Dog, 1928), Jean Vigo's Zero de conduite (Zero for Conduct, 1933) and documentaries on Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolluci. Also on a daily basis (beginning at 3pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and from 4pm the rest of the week), short independent Egyptian films will be screened. Some of the 44 films scheduled are being shown to Cairo audiences for the first time. The screenings will be followed by discussions with the filmmakers, which are being curated and organised by filmmakers/critics Ahmed Hassouna and Mohamed El-Assyouti. The 28 filmmakers selected come from various backgrounds: some are graduates of local or international film schools; while others attended amateur workshops such as those organised by SEMAT (The Independent Film Production and Distribution Company) in conjunction with the Jesuit Cultural Centre in Alexandria. Most of the 44 films were self-financed, while none are associated with any governmental or official body, thus reinforcing the idea of the "independent" filmmaker's artistic liberty. At least two controversial films will be screened. El-Ascenseur (The Elevator), directed by Hadeel Nazmi and starring Layla Sami, depicts a veiled girl from a conservative background trapped in a broken-down elevator, who receives a series of phone calls from a stranger. Initially dismissive of his flirtation, she gradually starts to speak up, revealing more about her feelings and thoughts as she also removes her veil. The film caused a stir when an obscure critic accused it of being made by Christians for the express purpose of attacking the veil; later, the nation's head censor Ali Abu Shadi, along with a great many critics, waged a media campaign defending the film. They said it was an honest attempt to portray women who are emotionally oppressed by a society that does not give them enough choices about their romantic life, forcing them to stay at home and accept an arranged marriage. The critics said the fact that the protagonist is veiled does not constitute an attack on Islam, given that the majority of Egyptian women are veiled. Also screened will be Al-Guinea Al-Khamis (The Fifth Pound), directed by Ahmed Khaled, depicting the protagonist's weekly Friday journey aboard a public Cairo Transportation Authority (CTA) bus -- the air-conditioned, relatively expensive (LE2 a ticket) kind -- with a girl, during which the couple steal moments of intimacy by exploiting the relatively empty bus and the complicity of the driver, who keeps the "fifth pound" in return. The film caused a controversy, not only because its main female character is veiled, but also because of its attempt to depict the daily reality of sexually deprived average Egyptian youth, who try to find inexpensive public places to spend brief moments of intimacy. Some of the other festival films include Eyad Taha's Al-Sabiya Wal-Hashash (The Young Girl and the Hashish Smoker), based on a story by Albert Cossery; Nadine Khan's Wahid Fil Million (One in a Million); Rina Khoury's Gharb...Sharq (West...East), about Palestinian refugees; Eman El-Naggar's Mitakharra (Late), on abortion; and Islam El-Azzazi's Nihar wa Leil (Day and Night), starring Bassem Samra and Hind Sabri. Also being screened are some 2005 productions such as: the acclaimed Beit min Lahm (House of Flesh), directed by Rami Abdul-Jabbar and based on the Youssef Idris short story; Karim Fanous's Ala Fein (Where To?), set in New York; Tamer El-Bustani's Qutat Baladi (Stray Cats), based on a short story by Naguib Mahfouz and starring Khaled Abul-Naga and Rola Mahmoud; Mohamed Nassar's Film Romansi (A Romantic Film); Waleed Marzouk's Eissar (Hurricane); and Mohamed El-Assyouti's Awiz Amawwit Al-Hummar (I Want to Kill the Jackass). Work by better known independent filmmakers that has already been screened at several cultural centres and film festivals will also be included in the Small Hall screenings. The latter category includes: 10 films by Hassan Khan, including a documentation of one scene from his video installation The Hidden Location, which premiered in France late last year; Sherif El-Azma's Televison Pilot for an Egyptian Air-Hostess Soap Opera (2003); Tamer Ezzat's acclaimed documentary on Egyptians in New York immediately after the 11 September 2001 bombings titled Everything is Gonna Be Alright (2004); Ibrahim El-Batout's feature film Ithaki (2005); Ahmed Rashwan's documentary Al-Iraq Abdan lam Nufariqahu (Iraq We Never Parted); Emad Ernest's video art piece Kathif (Dense); as well as the SEMAT-produced films Min Be'id (From Afar, 2003) directed by Ahmed Abu Zeid, Alwan Al-Hobb (Colours of Love, 2003) directed by Ahmed Ghanem, the documentary Inta Arif Leih (You Know Why, 2004) directed by Salma El-Tarzi, and Murabaa Dayer (Rotating Square, 2001) directed by Ahmed Hassouna. To celebrate the festival, a number of free publications will be made available to the public, including Interviews with Selected European Directors, translated by Mohamed Hashim Abdel-Salam and prefaced by Farid; while the AVDF is publishing two books: 100+10 -- 110 Years of Cinema, edited by Farid; and The Independent Cinema in Egypt (in both Arabic and English), edited by Hassouna and El-Assyouti.
