EGYPTIAN filmmakers are recovering from the influence of the conservative culture imported from Saudi Arabia in the 1990s by millions of Egyptians and their families who had travelled to this oil-rich country to work. Veteran film critics allege that fundamentalist ideologies and teachings restricted the freedom of directors and scriptwriters to produce movies which honestly reflected the off-screen reality in Egypt. Films produced in the 1990s were described as bland, insipid and insincere, while the theme of women's emotions had to be dealt with very cautiously, lest a violent reaction from the fundamentalists were provoked. Filmmakers in the 1990s, therefore, decided to marginalise the role of women in their movies. "That is why pastiche and kitschy comic movies were the rule in the 1990s," said Magda Khaiyralla, a veteran Egyptian film critic. "Women's roles were virtually imperceptible in such movies." But everything changed last year, when a group of young film directors defiantly shortened women's dresses and offered them bigger, even leading, roles in their films. These trailblazers were also applauded for transferring the grim reality of slums and their inhabitants to the big screen. Long-taboo themes, such as women desperate to fulfill their sexual desire, the grim conditions for Egyptians living in poor districts, violent interrogations in police station and bedroom adventures, were widely exposed in films in 2009. These directors also made films with steamy scenes, which appeal to teenagers and voyeurs. Other maverick film directors, led by Khaled Youssef, have been accused of making anti-Egypt films, which are an embarrassment to Egyptians living in foreign communities. Last year's rebellion has already gained more ground this year, with the release of Bilalwan el-Tabieyia (In Natural Colours), directed by Osama Fawzi, and Kalmeni Shokran (Please call Me), by the controversial Youssef. According to critic Magda, these two films in particular have stirred up the stagnant waters of Egyptian cinema, the Arab world's oldest. Despite her enthusiastic acknowledgement of the new era of Egyptian cinema, she does admit that some directors, such as Hani Girgis, have provocatively overstepped the mark by virtually stripping their actresses on screen.
