Independent film festival screens movies with a message CAIRO: Egypt has been dubbed the Hollywood of the Middle East for decades, long producing top commercial flicks regionally. The big, colorful posters of local stars and cheesy titles are blinding enough to overshadow the fact that parallel to the money-making industry is a movement of independent alternative films, growing by the minute. Independent films are a valuable art tool used to reflect opinions, to comment on social and political issues and to magnify certain topics. They are not noted for making the cash roll in, but, like any other art, is a tool for mirroring the conflicts within a country or inner conflicts of an individual in a way that others can relate to. From Wednesday to Monday, Semat and Media House (two independent film companies) organized a small film festival called "Alternatives at the American University in Cairo to offer a platform for the independent film industry to present its work. The word Semat is an acronym for the initial letters of the words independent filmmakers for production and distribution in Arabic. The production and distribution company was established in 2001 to help creative youth produce independent works with the goal of influencing the formation of the next generation of filmmakers in Egypt. Founded by producers and directors Samy Hossam, Abdel Fattah Kamal, Kamla Abu Zekri, Islam El Azzazi, Ahmad Abu Zeid and Hala Galal, Semat is well established in the industry. It offers training courses and workshops as well as production and distribution. Media House is a video production company that aims at creating a location where all people alike "are able to lead a dignified life because they can develop their talents to the maximum and because their social and economic needs are met. The four-day event screened 19 films, some as short as five minutes and others almost an hour long. The topics explored ranged from nationalism to families to relationships. The majority of the films were Egyptian, but Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Emirate and Saudi films were also screened. Many of the films get their point across using humor. "Portoughal written by Hala Mansour and produced by Prohelvetsia, is a 20 minute film about a man who can't deal with his hang-ups, so to solve them decides to become Portuguese. The film explores simple Egyptian o'aad or complexes in a hilarious manner with this typical Egyptian fellow walking around the city claiming to be from Portugal. More humor is found in the 7 minute film "Late by Eman El-Naggar. It tackles the topic of an unmarried young girl getting pregnant, but presents it in a light manner. The girl is lying in a gynecologist's office and her imagination runs wild, imagining her whole family in the room. One film that proved to be a big hit with the cozy audience at the Jameel Center at the AUC is a five minute film called "Daraboka by production company Felousy wa Felous Ashaby (My Money and My Friends' Money) about a toddler playing tabla (Arab drum) to the people in his alley. Ahmed Adnan, one of the producers of Felousy wa Felous Ashaby, explains that they formed the company when they were still studying film. They put together a small crew and started to make independent films on a tight budget. "Unfortunately in Egypt people are not that interested in documentaries and short films. But abroad it has been taken seriously for years and we are aiming at achieving this here, says Adnan. With so much talent and creativity in the local youth and support from production companies, the independent film industry is bound to assert its existence in Egypt and establish itself as a formal medium for locals and the international market. Visit www.sematcairo.com and www.mediahouse.org for more information on the independent film industry in Egypt. Always visit our agenda for film screenings to catch some of these works.
