A new film exploring issues of sexual freedom, polygamy and individuality has drawn media praise in Egypt, but its liberal message remains on the margins in the country's conservative society. The appearance of Rasayel El Bahr (Messages from the Sea), in Egyptian theatres is the latest indication of an easing of censorship rules, which film critics say reflects government efforts to counter Islamism. The film's themes are striking in a country where the streets are dominated by the Islamic headscarf and where, analysts say, the state is battling against the rise of stricter versions of Islam emanating from Gulf states like Saudi Arabia. "At the end of the day, censorship reflects the state," and its inclinations, film critic Tarek el-Shinnawi said. "In order to protect itself, the state is trying to increase this (liberal) niche. But it's difficult to be at odds with society." Egypt's government fought an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s and is under pressure to broaden economic growth and ease its grip on power ahead of presidential polls in 2011. Against that backdrop, director Daoud Abdel Sayed's story of Yehya, a young doctor, who moves to coastal Alexandria and slowly shakes free of social norms, may resonate for some. Yehya falls in love with Nora, a woman who leads him to believe she is a prostitute. Viewers learn that Nora, as the second wife in a polygamous marriage, just sees herself this way. Polygamy is permitted in Egypt under Islamic Sharia law, but with strings attached. Shinnawi said the film's critique of polygamy was the main driver behind its adults-only rating. He said the state's general direction has been to provide some leeway for liberal expression in popular culture, but that the film's questioning of religious practice could only pass through the censor's scissors with an adults-only tag. The film also features Carla, an ex-girlfriend of Yehya, who has an affair with another woman, with heavy sexual innuendo simmering between the two characters throughout the film. The forceful roles played by Nora and Carla as they defy social convention and shape the film's male protagonist, break new ground in patriarchal Egypt, where in the most recent public debate over the appropriate place of women many people have supported a ban on allowing female judges in a top court. Abdel Sayed says his film is about tolerance for social and personal diversity, not sex. "It is about respect for the makeup of each individual, of human beings, other people ... There is a human conscience that has to govern us. Even if a woman is a prostitute, this does not mean we pass a death penalty on her. Yehya reaches a point where he is ready to marry Nora," Abdel Sayed says. The theme of tolerance finds a final expression in the character of Abeel, a nightclub bouncer, who rejects violence of any sort. The film's location is apt. It is set in the coastal city of Alexandria, which has had a cosmopolitan history. El-Shinnawi said the Mediterranean city "once comprised all ethnicities, beliefs, religions and languages." But such a film is likely to draw a limited audience in increasingly conservative Egypt, the centre of Arabic cinema and which has long made films viewed across the region. Abdel Sayed expects viewers to come mostly from "the higher slices of the middle class," ��" people who are plugged into the Internet, who speak multiple languages, and are highly educated. According to the United Nations, one fifth of Egypt's population lives on less than $1 a day and the illiteracy rate tops 30 per cent. "These are limited voices against a strong trend in the opposite direction," Shinnawi said.
