CAIRO - The painter Mary Cable once said: "The best biographies leave their readers with a sense of having all but entered into a second life and of having come to know another human being in some ways better than he knew himself." Big-screen "bio-pics" cut cross many genre types, since these films might showcase a western outlaw, a criminal, a musical composer, a religious figure or leader of a movement, a war-time military hero, an entertainer, an artist, an inventor, scientist, or doctor, a politician or president, a sports hero, celebrity, or an adventurer. In many cases, these films put an emphasis on the larger events (wartime, political or social conditions) surrounding the person's entire life as they rise to fame and glory. Some begin with the person's childhood, but others concentrate on adult achievements. Bio-pics have existed since the earliest days of silent cinema in films such as French filmmaker Georges Melies' feature-length epic "Jeanne D'Arc" (1899) (and Cecil B. DeMille's "Joan the Woman" (1916) with opera star Geraldine Farrar), D.W. Griffith's religious epic "Judith of Bethulia" (1914), Abel Gance's innovative six-hour-long epic "Napoleon" (1927), and director Lloyd Ingraham's "Jesse James" (1927) with Fred Thomson as the western outlaw. Various actors and actresses have won Academy Awards in acting for their tour-de-force bio-pic performances (indeed, these films are often colloquially termed "Oscar bait"), such as James Cagney as George M. Cohan in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942), George C. Scott as the cantankerous WWII General Patton in the widely-acclaimed "Patton" (1970), Katharine Hepburn as King Henry II's Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter" (1968), Sissy Spacek as country singer Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), Daniel Day-Lewis as Irish cerebral palsy victim Christy Brown in "My Left Foot" (1989), Ben Kingsley as the charismatic, pacifist, 20th century Indian spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi in Sir Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" (1982), and of course, in Egypt some of the most famous historical bio-pics were those of Ahmed Zaki depicting the late presidents Anwar el-Sadat and Gamal Abdel Nasser. As such, these films tend to quite popular, and contrast strikingly with documentaries, which at least in theory, attempt to present the "facts" of the topic, whereas bio-pics are dramatisations. They tend to add or subtract points here and there, or outright invent things (particularly in the case of more ancient historical figures) in order to deliver a more cinematic outlook on an actual occurrence. This genre shows no signs of declining, and indeed, in Egypt we are bound to see a glut of these types of films in the future due to the events of the revolution. There is an upcoming bio-pic "Al-Fogamy", depicting the life of the poet Ahmed Fouad Nagm, written and directed by Essam el-Shama' starring Khaled el-sawy, Salah Abdallah and Jihan Fadel. Ahmed Fouad Nagm has always been a controversial figure, and lived a very interesting life to say the least. So how well will this film really tell his story? This is a pre-revolution made film; I'm sure changes have been made after the revolution due to the fact that we're now able to speak more freely about characters that have been involved with politics in the past, especially those who were against the old regime. In the past, whenever biographies were made whether for television or film (although they're often more popular on television) they tended to be bland in terms of the character of whoever the person they were present. This is especially true if the topic is someone that is beloved by the people; it's as if they have lived such an angelic life that you can't bad mouth them in any way – not even "bad mouth," per se, but even portray them in any situation, which might seem controversial or unflattering, so as to not anger the audience who loves them, as well of course, not to anger that person if they are still alive. It's rare for a biography to be made about someone who is still alive, especially in Egypt. There is a soap opera coming out about the legendary Sabah, which faced some problems when some real- life figures that were supposed to be portrayed, including the renowned Lebanese singer Fayrouz, threatened to sue if they mentioned her. Having someone object to being depicted on screen in someone else's story without their permission is another story, and it is their prerogative. However, muting the actual truth, like in the panned soap opera "Cinderella", which didn't mention late Egyptian actress Souad Hosni's political life at all because it was considered controversial, one could still wonder if this story was made now, would her story be more truthful than it was presented as. The film "W", which depicts the ex-American president George W. Bush from 1960 to 2004, the end of his first term, spoke truly about his troubled times, his drug days, and when he ran away from joining the service during a time of war, and how he came to form many of his bad decisions. There was no sugar coating, and when a film about the exiled Hosni Mubarak comes out, (which is probably inevitable), the film will have to be, without a doubt, be more truthful than if it was made a few months ago. Although it's the doubtful a film like that would have been (allowed) to be made pre-January 25. The thing about biographies is that as much as a filmmaker wants to be creative with their film, when it comes to true-life characters, they have a responsibility to tell the truth. In the coming months, with all the films coming out about the revolution, there will many portrayal of many political figures, including the ex-president and his gang and they will probably be truthful. But with all the negative campaigns against cinema nowadays, how far will the truth last. Will there be a film about the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafists? Nothing is for sure right now, so we'll just have to wait and watch.
