CAIRO - Hollywood is often anecdotally termed, "the world capital of sex and violence". However, in the last few years a "new element" has been more greatly explored as a way to making more money. The silver screen has been filled with princesses, monsters, talking animals, chattering school kids and scrappy ballplayers, typically awash in bright, vivid colours. The "Family Film" genre has taken off in such a big way that as part of the summer blockbuster line-up, there is always at least one animated film – if not several more. In Egyptian cinema though, animated feature films don't really exist. The films marketed as such are typically American films, which have been dubbed in Arabic. Even kid's cartoons are rarely Arab-produced (aside from a few exceptions like the recent "Korumbo"), but are imported from the US and Japan. But there are family-orientated live-action films, which still draw a sizable audience. Yasmine Abdel-Aziz has had great luck with such films, like in "Al-Dada Doody" (Nanny Doody, 2009) and "Al-Thalatha Yashtaghunaha" (The Three Do It, 2010). Another example is Tamer Hosni's "Omar wa Salma" films, particularly the second entry. Regardless of the quality of these films, the kids seems to enjoy them; they are light-hearted and harmless enough, but that was all before Egyptians even considered that they would see a revolution. Last week, Hani Ramzi's new comedy "Samy Oxid Al-Carbon" opened. If the film was presented in different times, it wouldn't have had any "revolutionary" flavour included, but now any film, regardless of the genre, will incorporate what the state of the country is now. I always used to wonder why Palestinian filmmakers couldn't seem to make a film that wasn't all about the Israeli occupation. Will Egyptian cinema pretty much suffer the same fate? Or at least for while anyway; because no matter how much things get worse here, it will never be as long lasting as the problems in Palestine. Will these family films' storylines be packaged to "open the eyes" of a whole new generation of kids who might not even really comprehend what has been happening to their country? Or is it intended to satisfy the adult portion of the audience? The films will likely include old regime jokes; not that they're the first in a family comedy film, or even just a children's film to include jokes that pass over the children's head just to entertain the adults. What may not have been considered yet is that here is a real opportunity – whatever the genre may be – to see the Revolution through the eyes of the next generation. A typical Egyptian family film is one where the story actually deals mostly with the adults, and the kids are just cute props to say some funny lines. It often seems that much of the comedy just stems from the kids saying things one would imagine only adults saying. Iranian cinema, which is always highly praised arguably even more so than Egyptian cinema, deals with all sorts of genres of films, despite the troubles film-makers must face in the process in that country. One of the most renowned of Iranian films, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film in 1998, was "The Children of Heaven". The film follows the relationship between an impoverished brother and sister, Ali and Zahra, who are thrust into a difficult situation. They choose to solve their problem themselves, without telling their parents, in their own unique way. What follows is a tender, moving tale of compassion, determination and deep family love. The film was shot in Tehran. The filmmakers attempted to keep the filming secret in order to capture a more realistic image of the city. Iranian cinema, post their revolution, has been celebrated in many international forums and festivals, for its distinct style, themes, authors, ideas of nationhood, and cultural references. Many important directors, such Abbass Kiarostami, who some critics regard as one of the few great directors in the history of cinema, planted Iran firmly on the map of the world cinema when he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the film "Taste of Cherry" in 1997. Perhaps it's too soon to compare Egyptian cinema to Iran's post-revolution or Cuban cinema post-revolution as well, which has also been highly praised. There were many films that dealt with subjects that weren't touched before, and they weren't concerned with being compared to Hollywood. As such, they didn't fall into the trap of blindly imitating Hollywood, which is typically what has happened in Egyptian cinema, as well as in Bollywood (Indian Cinema). These movies actually went the other way, an almost "anti-Hollywood" way, because they told stories that stemmed from the culture, rather than generating plots based on statistical projections of what kind of movie will appeal to X target audience. Egyptian cinema has suffered from the repression of artistic freedom, like many other Third World countries, so it's understandable that many filmmakers feel the need to throw in references, whether oblique or obvious, to the revolution, even in family films. Part of this is likely statistical, like the Hollywood example, and is intended to appeal to the sensibilities of the general public. Despite what's happening now, from continuing protests, to the thugs that seem to run through the streets unafraid, as well as many more things, Egyptians are still trying to live as if it's normal. The cinema should not ignore what's happening and what has happened in regards to the revolution, but neither is it reasonable for every genre to try, however pitifully, to make it be the central theme of every film.
