“Odd” portrays the feelings of Egyptian minorities

  Ahmed El Sebaie

Secularism in the Egyptian society is tackled in a very unorthodox way, through the story of a man who chooses silence as a way to face social pressure in an Egyptian short film titled “Odd.”

The film, directed by Karim El-Shenawy, was screened last Tuesday in Ewart Memorial Hall of the Tahrir Campus, as part of “Ismailia Film Festival Days of Cairo,” which is currently being hosted by the AUC.

“Odd” tells the story of Adel Iskandar, a Christian Egyptian, and his short journey in his building’s elevator with two of his neighbors. Throughout the 13 minutes of the film, El-Shenawy sheds light on a number of social problems in the Egyptian society including secularism, the integration of minorities into the society, identity crises, rejection of diversity in the community and the double standards many Egyptians tend to have.

Unlike the mainstream take on the issue in the Egyptian cinema, El-Shenawy did not deal with secular clashes and violence in his movie. Instead, he chose to show how a problem that might seem very simple to many people, like setting up a pre-recorded Islamic prayer in an elevator, might not be perceived the same way by everyone.

This led to a heated discussion session after the film, where El-Shenawy was accused by a journalist of trying to portray a dark image of the Egyptian society. The journalist argued that the pre-recorded prayer does not necessarily indicate that the society exerts discrimination towards Christians.

Other members of the audience had a different opinion; they said that the journalist’s claim came as a result as him being unaware of what it is like to be part of a minority group, and that the director did an excellent job of portraying how minorities feel.

El-Shenawy told the Caravan that he was very glad with the opportunity to screen the film on campus, because it was the first time for “Odd” to be screened in Cairo.

“The movie was screened in more than one city all over the world, but Cairo was not one of them It was really nice that people got the opportunity to watch it here,” he said.

“The movie was shot in Cairo, but all of the post-production and the pre-production took place in London,” he stated, before adding that the heated debate that took place during the discussion is a plus of having the film screened in its original city.

El-Shenawy explained that all of the comments he received on the film in other film festivals were merely artistic, and this was the first time to have a discussion over the content of the film, which is something he appreciated.

“Odd” was first screened at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and it was later screened in the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Film Festival. The film was also shown in the Canada International and Ismailia film festivals, and it will be screened in October in the Tangier Film Festival. Afterwards, it will be screened in the Izmir International Film Festival in November. As for next year, “Odd” is set to be screened in six different film festivals so far.

El-Shenawy is a young Egyptian filmmaker who received his bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication in 2007, and holds a M.A. degree in Film Directing from Goldsmith College, University of London. He worked on projects for BBC, Al-Jazeera and international organizations such as different UN agencies.