The Rise of Egyptian Directors Globally

By: Taha Mohamed
@taha_aboalnasr

Photos: Reham Emam

In recent years, an increasing number of young Egyptian directors and their works have made it to international film festivals abroad, which has inspired countless others to follow in their footsteps.

Most recently, Reham Emam, a current Master’s student in TV and Digital Journalism at the Kamal Adham Center, made it to the Italian based Marano Ragazzi Spot Film Festival, with her film Borders.

Emam is a freelance writer, photographer and filmmaker who has written and directed a number of short films. She has also recently published a collection of short stories that won the Madelyn Lamont award in creative writing. 

When describing the process of making her film Borders, she explained that her main concern was replicating the image she had in mind on screen.

“In Borders, I’ve had a bleak and cruel imagination of what it may feel like to be trapped behind borders, I wasn’t willing to use human figures and had to deliver my message using wooden clapping pins to express the bleak fence, and a tiny insect to refer to immigrants,” Emam explained.

Emam features cuts between black and white images of wooden pins tied together with string, with text that features statements such as “and along came the fence…” She also features a black and white image of a lone insect in the middle of the screen.

“I did not expect it would succeed, just like I didn’t with my two other narratives, or that the message would be delivered. But like I said, my first and only concern was to find a means to convey the image in my mind,” Emam said.

She then went on to describe her experiences at the Marano Ragazzi Spot festival.

“The festival is indeed very well organized, they were keen to interview me after the selection to talk about my film and made very good publication and announcements for the selected films,” Emam said. 

 She added that she admired the other films that were screened in the festival, stating that all of the chosen films were indeed ‘very good’. 

Emam is one of a handful of young directors experimenting with film and charting a shift in local cinema which has given a boost to Egyptian presence at these festivals.

“There have been major changes in the Egyptian cinema industry in the past 10 years. Exactly with the rise of independent cinema and films, and also the flourishing of alternative non-commercial cinema houses such as Zawya,” explained Emam.

She gave the example of films such as Yommedine (2018) which was well received globally and won awards at the Cannes Film Festival (CFF). This film started as an independent film and according to NileFM, was funded by a combination of foreign grants and a crowdfunding kickstarter page.

“These films were not supported by major production companies before they gained international recognition,” she further added. 

In her opinion, this reflects one of the major challenges of making films in Egypt. 

“Of course, there are endless challenges, most importantly is how to secure funds and a co-producer, and an opportunity to pitch your scripts and find ears. But, the way I see it, there is a great opportunity for Egyptian cinema, in particular for indie films, not for commercial movies that reach no global audience,” Emam added.

 While discussing the success of Egyptian films at the CFF this year, she mentioned Egyptian director Sameh Alaa’s short film I’m Afraid to Forget Your Face which won the Palme d’Or award. This award is one of the highest awards given to short films at CFF.

“This is the first time in Egypt’s film history that we witnessed such a victory, it was an added value for the Egyptian cinema and short film,” Emam explained. 

She also noted that the Egyptian Cinema Professions Association considered the success of this event as one of the greatest achievements for Egyptian cinema, and they celebrated the event in Cairo sharing it all over their Facebook page.