Short Movies Portray ‘Women in New Egypt’

By: Rania El Bendary and Hana Afifi

Five short films by young Egyptians directors portraying stories about “Women in New Egypt,” discussing issues like gender inequality, sexual harassment, cultural barriers, women’s right to work and Coptic-Muslim relations, were screened at the Panorama of the European Festival in Cairo.

These stories behind each film were developed in a three-day workshop supervised by Egyptian Director Mohamed Khan.

In his opening words prior to last Monday’s screening, James Watt, British ambassador to Egypt, said the project was about giving a creative space to young directors, allowing them to express themselves.

“There’s so much to say in Egypt, so much changing, and the world wants to hear,” said Watt.

The three-day workshop was held in Dahshour, where the young directors developed their ideas and received lectures by Khan about topics such as directing and idea development, explained Mina Magdy, director of the movie “Ibn Bnoot,” which translates into Male Virgin.

“We received 79 projects in three weeks,” said Khan, adding that 10 were chosen for the workshop and only the five were screened at the festival.

A five-minute movie, “Ibn Bnout” is a “dark comedy” where Magdy, the director, switched the roles of men and women in the Egyptian society, letting women lead and men follow.

The movie, is a message to the Egyptian men more than women, in an indirect way, clarified Magdy.

“You, Egyptian, Oriental man, imagine if this happened to you, what would your reaction be?” said Magdy.

In “Baheya,” the first screened movie, an eight-year-old girl dies in an attack on a mosque, which affects her teacher Mariam’s life.

Mariam constantly asks herself questions about religion, God, and the relationship between Muslims and Christians.

“What happens outside this [movie] hall is strongly related to and affecting what happens inside [and vice versa],” said Mavie Maher, director of “Baheya”.

She added that the directors worked together on each other’s movies, which she thinks is a spirit of her generation.

The second film was “Masreya,” which translates to Egyptian. It portrayed the status of women during the time of the Pharaohs in the opening scene, followed by a depiction of women’s status now.

Shady El Hakim, the movie’s director, chose to include scenes that documented people’s real reactions to experimental situations in public spaces involving the presence of women.

In the third movie “Virtual,” Nada Riyadh, the director, portrayed a day in the life of an activist, including the role of social media. The main character constantly updates her status on Facebook, calling upon other activists to join her cause as she supports workers’ rights.

Sondos Shabayek directed the last movie, “El Bent,” translated into The Girl. It showed various offences inflicted upon a woman from both young and old women and men; that the audience followed through the main character’s walk in a Cairo street.

“I predicted that something good will come out of this,” said Khan at the question and answer session following the movie.

The project was funded by production company Misr international Films (MIF), the British Embassy and the British Council.

Watt announced that there would be a prize in January for the winner among the five directors. He added that he hopes the movies will be distributed in Egypt, the Arab world and internationally.