CAIRO: A question about the involvement of businessman Naguib Sawiris in the funding of the Egyptian film Istughomaya ("Hide and Seek ) torpedoed the film's premiere into a cussing session between producer Hany Gerges and film critic Yehia Zakaria. Screened at The Cairo International Film Festival, the movie is one of three competing for awards at the main competition section and the Arab films competition. The quarrel started with a question by film critic Khairya El Bishlawy about Sawiris s contribution to the production; the businessman was thanked in the opening credits of the film for helping the film come to light. He is a sponsor in the film, Gerges replied. As El Bishlawy repeatedly asked for further elaboration, Gerges was obviously irritated and answered that it is none of her business. Zakaria, angered by such a response intervened asking the producer to answer questions in a better manner. From this point all hell broke loose. Gerges and Zakaria exchanged cusses and insults. If Gerges hadn t been sitting on stage the two could have easily engaged in a fist fight. The unexpected escalation in the discussion ended when Zakaria left the hall, in which the film was shown. Some of the present critics defended Zakaria and others took stabs at the film in the fury of the event. Some unrelated questions followed in an attempt to end the film s press conference on a better note. But it was obvious that the quarrel had left its stain, in spite of director Emad El Bahhat s witty responses to questions regarding the movie. I don t have to disclose the exact figures of Sawiris s contribution to the production, Gerges told The Daily Star Egypt after the press conference. Asked if his response was unreasonably aggressive, Gerges said El Bishlawy s repeated question angered him. I kept saying he was a sponsor in the film and they kept asking, he added, but did not elaborate further. Gerges, however, didn t hold back when asked about Zakaria. He is an extra, Gerges said, repeating his words from the press conference. He added that he knows Zakaria from before and accused him of trying to get his 15 minutes of fame by insulting people who make their name in the market. For his part, Zakaria told The Daily Star Egypt that the quarrel wasn t the result of any previous dispute between him and the producer. There is nothing between us, he said. However, he expressed intent to complain to the Actors Syndicate, which he believes should take action against the film producers since none of the actors carry a work license. Zakaria explained that he had to intervene because Gerges was attacking El Bishlawy, who remained speechless at Gerges s sudden insult. El Bishlawy didn t comment much on what happened but expressed her dismay over Gerges s response to her questions. She had started the question by commending the contribution of the private sector in cinema industry and worded her question accordingly, inquiring about the nature of this contribution. This type of incident isn t new to the festival, unfortunately. On Monday, a heated verbal exchange erupted between critics and the producer of Egyptian film Akher El Donia (The End of the World) at the press conference following the film s screening. The End of the World was entered in the digital competition section of the festival. Other smaller quarrels erupted throughout this year s festival, but without any resonating effect or significance. Last year, El Bishlawy was one of the central characters in a dispute that marred the screening of director Jocelyne Saab s film Donia (World). The following press conference saw the two pulling the microphone from each other to comment on the film in response to mounting criticism; El Bishlawy was the moderator of the conference and didn t shy away from openly criticizing the film and Saab wanted her chance to voice her opinion. Many attribute this continuous escalation of discussions to the inexperience or weak characters of the moderators on stage. Others attribute it to the ignorance of some of the attending audiences about cinema and the appropriate approach to criticism, as one Hide and Seek cast member told The Daily Star Egypt. Press conferences remain one of the weak points of the festival. They are usually marred by disorganization and continuous confusion between the concept of a press conference and a panel discussion. Moderators usually yield the floor to their friends and many critics and attendees just take the chance to voice their opinions, negative or positive, in detail without asking any questions and with complete disregard to the concept of time.
