For more than a decade, Marianne Khoury has been one of the pre-eminent names of the film industry in Egypt and the region.
A film producer, documentary filmmaker, movie distributor and co-owner of Galaxy and Stars movie theaters, Khoury – niece of legendary Egyptian filmmaker Yousef Chahine – has almost singlehandedly engineered the current art film scene in Egypt.
Having produced the works of Egypt’s foremost filmmakers – Yousry Nasrallah, Asmaa El-Bakry, the late Radwan El-Kashef among others – Khoury has always attempted to break the hegemony of American films by introducing different movies from Lebanon and France to the Egyptian audiences.
Her biggest triumph in this endeavor so far is the European Film Festival held at Galaxy film theater. The festival, showcasing some of Europe’s biggest hits like “Goodbye, Lenin , “Amélie , “Talk to Her and many others, was a massive success. Nearly all screenings sold out and the festival became the real turning point in the Egyptian art film scene.
After several other successful efforts, Khoury is now set to take the art film scene in Egypt to a new level.
Three Weeks ago, Khoury officially opened Egypt’s very first commercial art-house cinema, named Cinemania, at the City Stars shopping complex.
Abdellatif Kechiche’s award winning “La graine et le Mule is the first offering of an acclaimed, highly diversified film selection from every corner of the earth set to be screened throughout the year.
Khoury discussed the origins of Cinemania, the concept behind it and future programming with Daily News Egypt.
Daily News Egypt: How did the idea of Cinemania come about?
Marianne Khoury: Cinemania with a project in progress that started 10 years ago. The idea was expressed in different forms throughout the years, accumulating with Galaxy cinema’s European Film Festival in 2004, which was a big success that no one expected.
Since then, I planned to have commercial screenings of award-winning Lebanese and French films, like “Bosta and “La Môme , for example.
Opening up a commercial cinema for such films has always been on the back of my head, but I couldn’t do it because of many constraints. But now I thought that is finally the right time to start this project.
DNE: Why?
MK: Because of technology, the availability of information for everyone.
Communication has completely changed and now I see that more young people are aware of foreign films competing in festivals. I think young people are curious about these films, and there’s an interest in such movies more than before. I think Egyptian viewers are hungry for different cinema and there’s a demand for such films now. Lots of things have happened in the last few years. There’s a strong culture scene now in Egypt and I feel that there’s a strong platform for a project like Cinemania to exist and succeed.
DNE: Opening up a commercial art-house film theater in Egypt is a risk though…
MK: It is a big risk, and the project is, after all, an investment that needs to yield some profit eventually. And this is no small investment, it’s a big one in terms of human resources, financial resources, time.etc. However, I personally feel that it’s a calculated risk. It’ll probably take at least a year for the project to prove itself and have enough time for people to get acquainted with it and succeed.
There are more screens now available than two decades ago. All screens show pretty much the same types of movies. I don’t think it’s a big risk to have one single screen showing different films than what’s currently available. There’s little diversity in terms of the films being shown, and that’s why I believe that a cinema like Cinemania should exist to offer more options.
DNE: Why did you choose “La graine et le Mule as the opening? It’s a slightly difficult movie.
MK: Well, I saw the film in Venice last year and I loved it. It’s not an easy film, indeed. It has a different cinematic language than the standard one. For the average viewer not accustomed to such language, the film may come as shock, and I wanted the opening film to incite such reaction and to make people aware of the kind of films that will be screened in CinemaniaI invited the sophomore class of the Higher Cinema Institute to watch the film and they were dumbfounded and confused by the language of the film. So yeah, I expected the film to cause such a reaction.
DNE: Can you tell us a bit about Cinemania’s future programming? How long each movie will be screened? And does censorship apply to these films as well?
MK: The next attraction will be Swedish film “Zozo by Lebanese/Swedish direction Josef Fares. The following one will be the Taviani brothers’ “The Lark Farm about the Armenian genocide, and the third one is the American Beatles musical “Across the Universe .
Films that have won awards in Cannes, Berlin, Venice and other major festivals, along with Arab films as well, are set for future screenings. Each film will be screened for two weeks, and yes, because these films are screened in a commercial theater, the rules of the censorship are applied on them. We’re trying to find a possible leeway, so who knows.
DNE: Where do you think Cinemania will head in the next few years? Do you think it will succeed? Art films remain a difficult sell.
MK: I think it will greatly enrich the Egyptian culture, and I do believe it’ll succeed. I’ve been receiving tons of phone calls from different people and complete strangers thanking me for opening Cinemania and telling me how much they needed a theater like that. Others were upset that I didn’t open it in Downtown or Manial at Galaxy, saying that they needed it more than the Masr El Gedida and Nasr City audiences.
DNE: Would you consider expansion if it succeeded?
MK: Definitely. Cinemania is not just a cinema, it’s a concept. I don’t like the term ‘art films’. I think what we present is ‘alternative films’. I mean some of these films, like “Across the Universe , are commercial, entertaining films that simply play to a different audience. I believe that these films have a strong appeal that will attract an audience in here.
Look, an Egyptian movie needs a few million viewers to break even and succeed. All I need is 10,000 people [she laughs]. I don’t think that’s a big number.
