Two Egyptian films Nawara and Clash , screened at this edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), deal with the 2011 Tahrir Square revolution that saw a president of 30 years being impeached.
The two films might have received global critical acclaim, but it’s not easy for filmmakers at home to make films on the revolution, said Egyptian director, producer and screenwriter Hala Khalil who made Nawara .
Her film is named after a domestic helper at a villa whose owners have close ties with the Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak regime.
“It is still difficult to talk about the revolution in Egypt. The rulers want to veer the people away from the idea and talk of any revolution. There are huge efforts trying to make them forget that it ever happened. While Nawara is my third film, I found it extremely difficult to find a producer for my film. I was left with no option but to turn a producer,” Ms. Khalil said.
She said there are two stages of censorship in Egypt: one before shooting the film when the script is vetted, and again after the film is ready.
“It’s extremely difficult to get films dealing with political, sexual and religious themes passed. For instance, Clash (directed by Mohamed Diab) faced issues with the censor, but not my film as I had got it censored two years ago when the political climate was slightly better,” she said.
But Ms. Khalil is not deterred by censorship. She announced that Nawara was only the first of a trilogy of films on the 2011 revolution. One of the films is a Muslim-Christian love story set against the conflict between the Muslim brothers and the military during revolution, which she expects to have ‘censor issues’.
What keeps her going? Audience response. “The audience was a part of the revolution and it is an unfinished business, whose goals we are yet to achieve. But there is a conspiracy of silence. The audiences want to find answers to their unanswered questions on revolution, making our films hits,” she said indicating how films have become an unconventional vent to the idea of revolution in Egypt today.
