A new film, a new controversy: Hani Mustafa speaks to director Ahmed Maher Copts celebrate Christmas today; recently, many of them celebrated two Marian apparitions which Pope Shenouda III, following his return from a medical trip to America, finally affirmed to be true. At about the same time, the young filmmaker Ahmed Maher sealed a deal to direct a large-budget Egyptian-British co-production on the life of Jesus Christ. A fictional feature, the film revolves around the Holy Family's trip to Egypt -- an aspect of Jesus's life almost always forgotten in bio-pics on the topic. Yet this particular project has generated much controversy, not at the time the project was announced but over a year before, when script writer Fayez Ghali submitted the project to the censor's office. Debate died down for a year, only to resurface with a vengeance now, when filming is about to start. Maher's name was among the names of the best celebrated filmmakers when his debut, Al-Musafir (The Traveller) entered the official competition of the Venice Film Festival, the most prestigious cinematic event in the world, in September. Al-Musafir too had generated wide-ranging controversy while it was being made, since it was the first Ministry of Culture film production in 40 years, and many questioned the choice of film with which the ministry decided to return to this field. Some wondered, in particular, why the ministry should choose a young director, ignoring better established names. Al-Musafir continues to generate debate in cinematic circles following its screenings in many festivals, receiving a positive response not only in Venice but also in Abu Dhabi, London and Damascus. However, while most established critics like Samir Farid, Kamal Ramzi and Tarek El-Shinnawi, received the film positively, others failed to recognise its aesthetic, which is markedly different from mainstream and commercial cinema. Could Maher, a Muslim director, be courting trouble deliberately by making a film on the life of Jesus. "Controversy is often positive," Maher says, "given that there is a healthy cultural atmosphere. Unfortunately we live in confused and confusing times: whenever an issue is raised, the debate quickly deteriorates into attacks and counterattacks. When I embarked on the project of Al-Musafir, I did not think it would turn into a controversy. I just wanted to write a good script and make a good film. And yet the film raised a huge amount of controversy, raising many questions. "One reason perhaps,' Maher goes on, "is that the budget was so big, but it is only natural for the state's comeback to be big-budget; will the state hit back on a small budget? I don't think so. Besides, many critics do not seem to have understood the fact that, for a film to enter a major festival competition, it has to adopt aesthetics different from those of the mainstream cinema in Egypt." Aside from the artistic controversy surrounding Al-Musafir, we can expect the controversy surrounding the new film on the life of Christ to be of a different order. This time, in other words, it is the content of the film that will be at stake. For his part Maher denies seeking controversy: "Any objective outside that of actually making the best film possible is misleading and futile, no matter how tempting it could be." Regardless of the filmmaker's intentions, however, the current state of confessional polarisation in Egyptian society will no doubt have an effect on the response to this film. That, at least, Maher agrees with: "Any religious or historical film is controversial by definition, but this is not to say that dealing with religious topics will necessarily lead to a rift in society. Modern societies are by definition civil societies, and religion should never be a divisive. Unfortunately, Egyptian society is currently engulfed in a wave of religiosity; hence the debates around religious issues are more intense." Such "controversy" had taken its toll on Ghali, too: the censor asked that Al-Azhar should be consulted on the script, and the screenwriter, himself a Copt, objected that the Muslim religious establishment should have nothing to do with this particular topic. Most probably, with the traditional prohibition on figurative depictions of the prophets, the censors were concerned that Jesus should appear in the flesh on screen. And that is not to mention the far more fundamental issues separating the two faiths regarding the nature of Christ and the Crucifixion. According to Maher, however, "controversy regarding the nature of Christ," the age-old Christological debate, "exists within the Christian universe of thought. Clashing interpretations of the nature of Christ caused numerous bloody rifts among Christians in ancient times. My aim, which as far as I know is unprecedented, is to present a religious story in a secular way." And Maher is fully aware of the difficulty of this task: "Academic studies dealing with religion, whether scientific, philosophical or historical, are also routinely attacked, with charges of apostasy and legal battles galore. It's as if we live in the Middle Ages, hence the importance of making a modern film about Christ -- and the incumbent danger, too." The timing of this film may be opportune for Maher. It may result in an even more prestigious status for the young director, but at the same time it will almost definitely also result in sectarian tension in these charged times. Still, Maher feels differently: "The timing is good for two reasons. First, there is the local dimension; Egypt used to be a strong state, an empire, yet it never implemented its power with extremism and never oppressed others in an imperial way, but now that we are witnessing a historical moment containing so much extremism and sectarianism we should be concerned about our future all through the third millennium. It is therefore important to present a film in which the tolerant perspective of Egypt in the first millennium is given due credit. To my mind a free society is one in which the majority practises its right to choose, but modern democracy does not deprive minorities of their rights no matter what the choice of the majority is. "Secondly, on the international level, it seems religious extremism has spread and become more powerful nine years after 9/11, regardless of its underlying creed. Such extremism exercises a strong influence in many parts of the world, and it is important for the West to understand that Egypt, which produced Ayman El-Zawahri and Mohamed Atta, is itself the country that embraced Christ the infant when no one else would. This is the principal issue on which the film is based."
