CAIRO: Two films featuring Baghdad as their main topic of choice received no awards during the Cairo International Film Festival: The Night Baghdad Felland Ahlam.The first is a black comedy fantasy, while the latter is a stark look at life in the Iraqi capital. Not to be outdone, India presented a controversial independent production, In the Name of God, that touches on terrorism and religious fanaticism.
All three films received their share of controversy and obstacles, and all faced as much criticism as support.
The Night Baghdad Fell is an Egyptian production written and directed by Mohamed Amin, and marks his second long-feature after Film Sakafi (Cultural Film). The sarcastic writer and director made use of the American invasion of Iraq to portray its effects on an average Egyptian family. The film jumps from reality to fantasy and back again, creating a fictional situation in which the members of the family form a secret armed brigade in anticipation of the American invasion of Cairo.
The packed movie theater hall exploded with applause following the film’s screening – critics, actors and other prominent figures in the Arab entertainment industry raced to express their admiration of the film’s story and execution. Amin said the film is a sort of apology for an Iraqi woman pictured in Al Wafd newspaper being raped.
The film did not, however, stop at the direct and subtle insinuations of current social and political affairs, but also ventured into people’s private lives, using sexual relations as symbols of oppression and freedom. According to Amin,the released photos of the Abu Gharib prisoners is what forced the topic of sex on the film’s plot.
Funding for the film,says Amin, was the biggest obstacle encountered. Nahdet Misr and Arabya Film Production and Distribution Company,led by actress/producer Isaad Younes, produced the film; attendees have expressed fears of censorship regarding the commercial release of the film.
While funding, as in the case of the Egyptian film, remained a major issue in the production of Ahlam – writer/director Mohamed Al-Daradji noted that it was a very low budget film – other obstacles sprang up. The Iraqi-British-Dutch film was shot in the course of two weeks in Baghdad last year. Noting the volatile situation in the war-torn city, Al-Daradji and the rest of the crew worked with minimum resources and under abrasive conditions.
The film follows the real-life story of a mental institution that is bombed during the American-led invasion of Iraq. Taking place in four days (two before the Saddam Hussein regime fell and two following), the film offers the coarse reality of the city during the four days, there is no fantasy or comedy in this tear-jerking approach to the topic.
Whether Iraqis or coalition soldiers, the director spared no one deserving blame for taking part in augmenting the plight of the institution’s patients.
“We are not with the occupation or any other party, said actor Basher Al Majidi, noting that the character he plays faced two forms of aggression, one from the American forces and the other from the Saddam regime.Al Majidi added that the film is the crew’s own version of resistance.
The shocking scenes within the film propelled attending critics to respond in support of and in objection to some plotlines – but all applauded Nasser Shamma’s music that provided the soundtrack of the film – Shamma recorded the soundtrack on his own expenses due to budget limitations.
The controversy regarding the use of violence did not stop at the borders of the Arab world. In the Name of God offered the Indian take on the issue through the country’s Muslim community. Using a reallife incident where a mosque was torn down by Hindu fanatics, the film highlights the resulting wave of fanaticism that obsessed some Indian Muslims.
Fanaticism in the film is not limited to the Muslim-Hindu relationship; light is shed on the relationships of the fanatics with the Muslim communities they live in. Through the story of a couple – the man falls under the influence of fanatics – the film showcases the effects of violence on different members of the community.
Forming a 10 percent minority, Muslims in India are mainly secularists, according to film writer/producer Aryadan Shoukath. But because of the 1 percent of fanatics, the entire community is viewed as such, he added.
“In India we have many religions, we have hundreds of religions: Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Jews, etc, Shoukath said, “In our nation everybody will support the secularism. Secularism is basically the tolerance. Some rulers are exploiting the word secularism.
He also pointed to the effect the feeling of insecurity has in the minds of minorities, particularly the young ones. He blamed, however, imperialism and occupation forces for the religious divide within his country.
Shoukath’s script is inspired by personal experiences. He experienced the effects of fundamentalist terrorist acts on the treatment of other Muslims first hand. He also referred to an old friend who transformed from a leftist person to a “highly fanatic terrorist.
The film gained the praise and support of critics viewing it in Cairo. In India, the film was praised by many but was attacked by fundamentalists.
Shoukath recalled that the film’s Hindu director, Jayaraaj, expressed fears at the beginning of the production, and while Shoukath was able to brush off such fears, he wasn’t able to prevent harm inflicted on one of his actors.
Mammooty Shamiyan, who played real-life character Sahib,the Muslim tolerance advocate, was expelled from the presidency of the Muslim Center he was leading.
Shamiyan isn’t an actor but was impressed with the script and character and agreed to take part in the film.
