Five fresh graduates from Egypt’s Higher Institute of Cinema plan to kick off their careers in a big, and refreshingly unique, way: they ve decided to co-direct a movie.
The film – yet to be titled – tells five stories, each directed by one of the young filmmakers, the group announced at the Institute’s headquarters.
This marks independent film company Semat’s first venture in producing a full-length feature narrative, said Hala Galal – producer, chairwoman of the company, and former assistant to legendary filmmaker Youssef Chahine.
The film is based on a story written by Nagi Ismail, one of the directors, which portrays the life of a young man as he passes through different stages, encountering different people through a series of events.
Another director, Omar Khaled, said the experience was utterly unique. At 22, he is the youngest of the five. “Nagi gave each segment to the director who could most understand it, he explained. “Each story matches the personality of the filmmaker Nagi chose.
He added jokingly, “For example, Nagi picked Shady George to direct the story that involves a young man who attempts to commit suicide because he’s always depressed.
Heba Youssry, the most prolific director, predicts that the movie will be a big success. Youssry rocked the independent film scene a couple of times over the last two years with “El Mehna Emra’a’ (Profession: Woman) – a shocking short documentary about prostitutes in Egypt – and “Eshkon Akhar (Another Passion) – a short narrative about a young woman whose love for cinema puts her at odds with her conservative family.
Shady Fakhry is the final filmmaker participating in the production.
Apart from Youssry, none of the young filmmakers have produced noticeable works yet. However, Galal said that all five have won awards for their documentary movies, adding that they “will be regarded as pioneers [of filmmaking] in the future.
Galal said that while the budget for the movie has not been finalized, production is scheduled to begin soon. It is planned to be filmed in the historical buildings and apartments of downtown Cairo.
The movie will not be screened in movie theaters and will be produced in digital format. Galal is confident that she will come up with creative ways to attract maximum exposure for the film.
Youssra El-Lozy, who caught the eye of both critics and audiences with her starring role in Chahine’s film “Alexandria, New York, and Ahmed Nour, who starred in last summer’s indie drama “Elakat Khasa (Special Relationships), will headline the cast of the film.
Both El-Lozy and Nour said that they are very selective about the roles they take, and will not act in a movie merely for exposure.
The excitement of Semat’s latest cinematic adventure was, however, muted by the disorganized press conference, which kicked off an hour and a half late and answered few of the journalists’ many questions.
The directors said that they only held the conference to announce the start of the movie and discuss independent cinema. Divulging information about the film, as it turned out, wasn’t part of the plan.
