CAIRO - To look at things in retrospect can be a little unfair. Trying to fix “what was” is almost living in regret, but perhaps trying to look at the mistakes of the past will certainly benefit what is to come. Just like Oscar Wilde once said: “Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.” The entertainment industry, cinema especially is known for it's mistakes, but it's all an illusion; this is what films are, they are an illusion. However, picking on their mistakes can actually be easily detected in spite of that. So looking back at 2010, at what the movie industry has offered us, we must be somewhat perplexed because if someone asked an average viewer which film made an impact on their viewing experience this year, what movies will be pop into people's minds and why? It might not even be a film, but might be a joke or a character or a storyline. Before rewinding to the beginning of the year, let's look at what's being offered right now at the local theatres. There's the holiday films Zahaymar, Ibn El-Qonsol, Muhtram Ela Robe, Bolbol Hayran, and then there's some leftover from early on, such as Sameer, Shaheer &Baheer, El-Ragil El-Ghamid Besalamtu, and so on; but how many of these films truly hold any significance? Perhaps none, it might be better to just pick the best and the worst films of 2010, which usually consists of a list. On the other hand, it wouldn't be a very long list considering the number of Egyptian films released a year isn't that big of a number. Let's say if we had to round up the usual suspects of what are the best films of 2010; perhaps it would be the film that was the official entry from Egypt to the Academy Awards, Rasa'il Al Bahr by renowned director Douad Aded Alsayed. A better strategy might be to really sum up this year, and then look back at this year's accomplishments to see what has changed, what themes of hot button issues are explored, and so on. Films seem to have come more down to earth, presenting real, troubling stories that are faced by real people, like the upcoming “678,” written and directed by Mohamed Diab, which deals with the subject of sexual harassment which is an issue that is becoming more of a danger everyday for women. There was also Bintein men Masr (Mohamed Amen), which was released back in June; it deals with women's roles in society, especially as they age and approach becoming a spinster. Though these two films, what with their serious subject topics, were pretty much evaded the audience's attention, much like the critically acclaimed independent film Boy and Girl, directed by Karim Al-Dal. So what really happened this year at the cinema? Pretty much nothing, nothing surprising , nothing new. There were no break-out hits; it was just the usual run-of-the-mill nothing; it was the low-brow comedies that dominated the scene, with movies like Sa'ad Al-Sughayir's Walad Al-Balad. Ahmed Helmy had two films this year, with the summer's more successful “ Asel Iswed” and this holiday's season's Bolbol Hyran. Ahmed Saqqa had two films this past year, with the critically panned (even by the star himself) Al Dealer, and Ibn El-Qonsol. In terms of the film festivals, there were the two biggest Egyptian film festivals, the Alexandria Film Festival, which celebrated the 10 best films of the last decade, and the Cairo International Film Festival, which celebrated Egypt through the eyes of the world. The latter consisted mainly of old films which primarily revolved around Ancient Egypt. Perhaps looking at “the best,” is a good indication that what is presented by the film industry is not much to celebrate. They always say that “history repeats itself,” but I hope that it repeats itself faster, since we haven't really produced any real modern classics, and the ones that might hold that title aren't that widely seen. For the most part though, it's still the same thing over and over again. There are great movies that usually get overshadowed by controversy of some sexual scenes, like last year's Ehky Ya Shahrizad, this year's Rasa'il Al-Bahr, and the upcoming Film Al-Shawq, starring Ruby, and directed by Khalid Hagar. As for the rest of the films, there seems to be a tide of indifference; sure there have been more films with “young blood” as they call it, typically termed Film Shababi or “young people's film;” I'm not sure what that means, but it seems that the term has taken on a genre of its own, much like Aflam Mahrganat (Festival films). The genres seem to be broken down to who is starring in it or which category it is, and less in regard to what dramatic effect it takes on. But that's a whole other subject. Rounding up the year's accomplishments is a rather difficult feat; it feels like just listing films is more of what should be done, but what a boring article that would be. When someone asks what films jumped at you this year, there is nothing much to say; there's no Avatar (2009) or “Inception,” but comparing Egypt's film industry to the American one is unfair, as Egypt's industry doesn't have the capabilities to turn out a huge blockbuster; but financial capabilities shouldn't be the only factor: creativity and intellect should play a large part in the filmmaking process, but yet we are still stuck with Sobky's crude comedies, like Bon Soirée. They are like the Ed Wood productions of the industry. This isn't to say that we can't have bad films; if they were all great, then how could we tell what “greatness” in a cinema context is? But the problem is that most audiences gravitate towards them; that's the main issue, especially when trying to look back in retrospect: it makes it harder, because it's all the same, nothing changes, which can be said about the film industry in America as well. However, there's excitement intact with that, but not much intact here.
