CAIRO - The director of Shawq (Desire) denies that his new film is an abuse of Egypt's ethics and ethos. Also denying that Shawq has been spiced up with sexually offensive scenes and remarks, Khaled el-Haggar is astonished that some people have thrust their fangs into the flesh of actresses, sisters Ruby and Koki, even before his movie has hit the cinema screens. "The attacks on my film are premature," the astonished director says, explaining that the trailer for the film could be the main reason for this. The trailer shows the two sisters, who play the roles of emotionally tortured adolescents, taking a shower together. Television viewers have obviously come to the conclusion that the sisters are incestuous lesbians. According to the Egyptian director, Shawq is about two girls who grow up to discover that their conservative ethics and traditions have become something alien in their society. El-Haggar's previous film, Qoubolat Masrouqa (Stolen Kisses), could also provide edgy critics with ammunition in their latest battle against the film director. Qoubolat Masrouqa was so heavily stuffed with hot kisses that the teenagers, filled with shawq (desire) as they watched it in local cinemas, lost track of who was kissing whom and why. According to the director, Shawq is an interesting and sincere journey into the labyrinthine society of Egypt's old districts, in order to debate social ills, mistaken beliefs and the misunderstanding of values and principles in poor and middle-class communities. The censors were the first to give the thumbs-up to Shawq. "The tears welled up in their eyes when they watched my film. The sincerity of the story and the acting touched the censors' hearts," says el-Haggar, adding that Shawq is due to hit the downtown cinemas in the mid-year school holidays. The director has paid tribute to the brilliant acting of veteran actress Sawsan Badr and the two sisters. He is also proud of what his camera crew and designers have done. The allegedly groundless attacks on Shawq intensified when it was nominated to represent Egypt at the current Cairo International Film Festival. Its detractors were frustrated that a film that undermined the image of Egypt in foreign eyes should be selected to represent the Egyptians in an official film competition. "Why do some directors always want to hang out our dirty washing?" asked one angry critic. Meanwhile, el-Haggar is delighted that four of his films have now officially represented Egypt in the Cairo International Film Festival. The director shrugged his shoulders when he was informed that some lawyers belonging to a fundamentalist group have asked the courts to suspend the screening of Shawq. "I don't know anything about these lawsuits," he said calmly. "I am not worried because the film hasn't even been screened in the cinemas yet." El-Haggar may have been inspired to use realistic techniques when studying film direction in the UK.
