Independent film in Egypt – curated by Emad Mabrouk

Since independent cinema has appeared in Egypt in the form of an unorganized movement towards renewing an artistic cinematic framework in the last ten years or so, many landmark films have been produced with this new cinematic paradigm and a number of Egyptian films have won local and international awards.

Every year, new forms are introduced into independent filmmaking in an attempt to build and reshape the film scene in Egypt. With this trend, the commercial film industry has been lured into rethinking modes of commercial production and has benefited from the experience of the independent film scene.

This film programme is an attempt to shed light on some of the most salient characteristics of independent filmmaking in Egypt, such as: ideas, means of implementation, quality, producers, means of production, objectives of production, medium and awards.

The selection process took into consideration the various dynamics of independent production, whether by individuals, private institutions, or graduation projects within filmmaking workshops, or state productions. I have intentionally excluded graduation projects by students of the Higher Institute of Cinema in Egypt since they are made under very specific circumstances, and there is no scope to show them in this context.

This selection represents different years of production and includes films that were produced up to 2007. The last two years have been excluded from the programme because these new films are still circulating in festivals, and the online nature of this project would necessarily preclude their festival participation.

All of the films are under twenty minutes, in order to offer the opportunity to explore patterns of short filmmaking, and to explore how to deal with the time element when introducing ideas, working with a mediator, improving the product, and other relevant issues.

The films selected are shortlisted from of a longer list that included about twenty films, with some filmmakers not allowing their films to be viewed online for a variety of reasons.

Screening these films on the internet allows viewers and critics to gain a better understanding of the present status of independent cinema in Egypt, and is an attempt to articulate a model for an independently structured art scene in Egypt. Moreover, it projects the future of a cinema that has started to gain power over recent years.

I’d like to thank all those who helped me either in selecting the films or drafting the written texts.

About the Curator

Emad Mabrouk was born in Alexandria and has worked as a filmmaker and cultural program planner since 2003. He has directed a number of films, including The Dead Won’t Mind (El-Maiyet Mesh ha Yiza’al), The Grocer’s Daughter (Bent El Ba’al), The Color of Life (Loun El-Hayat).

He won a scholarship to study creative documentary film at the Arab Film Institute in Jordan, followed by another scholarship from the National School of Cinema in Denmark in collaboration with SEMAT Foundation to study direction for multiple cameras. He was a member of the viewers’ committee of the Cairo Independent Film Festival.

He coordinates and manages filmmaking programs in a number of places and also supervises The Filmmaking Workshop held at the Jesuits Cultural Center in Alexandria.