In the backstage of the Rawabet Theater in Downtown Cairo, everyone is working hard, with their eyes fixed on Nov. 21: this is when the Cairo Independent Film Festival opens its doors to the public. The festival runs its second round this year, after a sweeping success in its first year in 2006. This success was interrupted in 2007 when the state censor put a last minute halt on the festival s functions, which had to be canceled a few days prior to its opening night. The halt was a manifestation of the level of control exercised on cultural practice in Egypt and a major disappointment for independent artists in the region. This year, however, the festival is back in full force. A viewing committee is working on assessing some 500 entries it received from different parts of the world. A dynamic media team runs between poster distribution and meeting up with outlets covering the event. The spirit of the place says the festival will happen. We still have obstacles. But things are being solved step by step. Every day, it becomes better, says Mohamed Abdel Fattah, the director of the festival. What matters is that everyone is happy. The event is the product of a lot of volunteer work, with a production cost that is quite minimal. Like its first round, it is only through community support and volunteerism that the festival could open its doors. Despite funding shortages, Abdel Fattah was adamant on going ahead with the planning and making the festival happen. There was a momentum in independent filmmaking productions after the first round. Countless productions took place. This number has tremendously dropped after the cancellation of the second round. There is a direct link. Setting the tone, Ibrahim El Batout s groundbreaking Ein Shams is going to be the opening film. The festival is designed to take place around the same time as the Cairo International Film Festival, to borrow the off show phenomenon known to important festivals such as the Berlin and the Cannes Film Festivals. The point is to say that like mainstream cinema, independent cinema exists and is home to a lot of talent and creativity across the globe. It equally needs attention. In fact, the independent festival makes use of the presence of guests in the Cairo International Film Festival to invite them to take part in its functions. The goal is to attract as much audience as the 2006 round did; the large and diverse audience was the forte of the event, signaling how independent art can speak to the masses. Young men and women expressed through the media how much they identified with key issues embedded in the screened pictures. This year, the festival will screen 19 films from 20 countries around the world and 45 films from the region. Some 30 experimental short productions (one to three minutes), which are mostly the product of filmmaking workshops, will also be screened. Three workshops have already started, as part of the festival s functions: one is an animation workshop, and the other two are general filmmaking workshops, one for beginners and another for advanced level. The final productions of the workshops will also be screened as part of the festival s panorama. I feel this is one of the most important events in Egypt. I am very enthusiastic, said Abdel Fattah. Resonating with his words is what renowned writer Ibrahim Aslan said about the 2006 festival being one of the most important cultural events of the year. Similarly, critic Samir Farid said that the festival is the Arab equivalent of the Sundance Film Festival. The Cairo Independent Film Festival comes again to accentuate the growth of this alternative scene in Egypt. Training workshops and cinema schools are being established, new productions are taking place, and some of them are making enough sound to attract the usual attention dispensed to a mainstream production. But above all, a debate is on the rise on the real meaning of independent cinema as an alternative mode of expression for Egypt and the region. Be it the low-budget digital production as opposed to the more consuming 35-mm film tape-based picture, or the less commercialized and more in-tune with individualistic approaches, or the more concerned with complex societal issues, the independent cinematic experience falls within an interesting context today. It s an experience worth questioning and debate.
