Last week at the Cannes Film Festival, writes Soha Hesham, the documentary 18 Days raised controversy on the Egyptian film scene Four months since the Egyptian revolution, black lists have been put together in a variety of fields -- not only former ministers and corrupt businessmen are targeted but also celebrities. The drive to combat corruption, through Facebook and other sites, has driven calls to boycott supporters of the former regime. The recent, as yet un-screened 100-min documentary 18 Youm (18 Days), selected for screening on the fringe of the 64th Cannes Film Festival (CFF, 11-22 May) -- where Egypt is the guest of honour -- is named after the 18 days during which the revolution lasted. It brought together ten directors contributing a short film each: Dakhli/Khargi (Indoors/ Outdoors) by Yousri Nasrallah, Ihtibas (Retention) by Sherif Arafs, Hazr Tagawol (Curfew) by Sherif El-Bendari, 19/19 by Marwan Hamed, Khelqet Rabena (God's Creation) by Kamla Abu-Zekri, Shebak (Window) by Ahmed Abdallah, Tahrir 2/2 by Mariam Abu-Ouf, Lama Yegeik Al-Toufan (When the Deluge Comes) by Mohamed Ali, Hallaq Al-Thawra (Barber of the Revolution) by Ahmed Alaa and Ka'k Al-Tahrir (Tahrir Cookies) by Khaled Marie. Exasperation was felt among interested parties about the participation of Sherif Arafa and Marwan Hamed, who had expressed support for the regime in various ways, producing audiovisual propaganda for the regime in 2005 and 2007 -- Hamed directed the electoral campaign for the former president and the NDP, while Arafa directed a talk show about the president presented by Emadeddin Adib -- and statements have been issued with hundreds of signatories objecting to the screening of the film. They pointed out that, while they support the unconditional freedom of filmmakers, those two figures should not be representing Egypt at Cannes. The campaign coincided with an existing campaign against the Egyptian ambassador to France, this time waged by the Egyptian community there, for his failure to support the revolution. This was all the more meaningful since the ambassador is also heading the Egyptian delegation to Cannes. The actress Mona Zaki, who was seen in Tahrir during the protests, turned out to have been shooting Nassrallah's Dakhli/ Khargi, which also raised a few eyebrows regarding her supposed participation in the revolution. More complicated is the situation of actor Amr Waked, who was a committed participant in theg revolution from day one, since he figures in Hamed's 19/19. On 11 May Waked spoke to fans via Facebook and Twitter, stating that he would boycott the festival; later the status/tweet was deleted -- and Waked attended. For his part filmmaker Mohammad Khan, who refused to talk to the Weekly about it, had explained in Al-Wafd newspaper, "For a film to participate in Cannes does not mean that it must represent the revolution; it was simply an attempt to force some people to reconsider their position on it rather than simply clearing their name by making a film about it: I believe they should be exposed for stealing the dreams of those who gave their lives in the course of the revolution. We all need to be aware of what happened," Khan added, "and to find out that not all intellectuals are innocent. The revolution is not over, there are more challenges to come, since the former regime is still fighting in every illegitimate and filthy way imaginable." According to one young filmmaker who signed the same petition as Khan and who had been present at Tahrir, "The revolution was a wake-up call for all Egyptians -- regarding corruption at every level. We will fight corruption in all forms and even in the film industry, in the same spirit as we had in Tahrir." The confusion may reflect a general state of chaos, but people who take sides are simply paying the price. The more important question is the extent of the price former supporters of the regime should have to pay.
