Documentary captures the life of a marginalized social segment through her first
CAIRO: Cairo’s first Independent Film Festival closed Tuesday with journalist Amal Fawzy’s heartrending tale of simple village folk who have lost the ability to dream of a better life.
“Marazik , a 16-minute documentary, was first screened last month at the Press Syndicate to the accolades of seasoned documentary filmmaker Atteyat El Abnoudy who hailed Fawzy as a significant addition to the scene.
“The field has won someone who primarily writes, but this time she has decided to write using the camera, El Abnoudy said at a post-screening seminar.
Fawzy’s initial idea was a film about the date harvesting season in Giza’s Marazik village, famous for its produce yield. But the more familiar she became with the villagers while researching the film, the more convinced she became that her work should focus on how they lead their lives, toiling from day to day, and the meager returns they are resigned to accepting.
“These simple folk’s inability to dream became the focus of my story, Fawzy told The Daily Star Egypt.
Women, men and children, how they are so content but at the same unable to dream were also factors contributing to the main theme of the film.
Portraying a marginalized social group, the film tackles the idea of contentment as a defense mechanism which allows the impoverished and downtrodden to bear the brunt of their daily hardships.
We eat whatever God sends us, then sleep and tomorrow is another day, one poor villager says in one of the more emotional scenes in Marazik .
In another scene, one woman says: I have to laugh because if I don t laugh, I ll die. I wish somebody would give me a gift on Mother s Day or any occasion, anybody.
When Fawzy approached the villagers she found them to be hospitable and despite their poverty happy to speak to her – and the cameras.
“The villagers were happy to bare their souls and tell us a lot about their lives without bothering too much about whom we were or where the film was going to be shown, she said..
But completing the film was an entirely different affair as she ran into the unenthusiastic attitudes of some of her support crew. Undeterred, she marshaled on and funded the project herself to the tune of LE 20,000; three months later, her short documentary was completed.
I ended up with 13 hours of footage, Fawzy reflected.
I primarily depended on my sense and the vision I had in mind rather than techniques. I followed my hunch while tackling the different angles of Marazik. The idea of these people s contentment is what attracted my attention most.
According to Fawzy, It was the people who spoke about bounty and unintentionally imposed it.
Fawzy has 15 years of journalism experience under her belt with stints at the state-owned weekly Sabah El Kheir magazine, as a freelance TV producer and recently a script writer.
Fawzy has earlier written the script of a TV series which director Khairy Beshara is nominated to direct. She has also worked on a documentary with director Nabiha Lotfy as a researcher and artistic producer.
Most recently, she has cooperated with director Saad Hendawy as a researcher and co-producer in a documentary about virginity.
Fawzy believes there is no big difference between journalism and documentary filmmaking.
A documentary film is a form of journalism. Both entail investigative reporting, but a documentary adds a visual component, she told The Daily Star Egypt.
Marazik will be screened again within the coming weeks at the Russian Cultural Center, El Sawy Cultural Center and other venues consecutively.
