PROWOMEN
WOMEN ON A MISSION
Powerful female voices are emerging on the MEA film landscape, and their stories are receiving recognition and applause across the globe. Canon brought together a small group at Expo 2020 to share their experiences and shine a light on how other aspiring filmmakers can get a break in the industry An independent filmmaker’s journey can be long, lonely and arduous, and to stick to that path often requires grit, determination and passion. For a female filmmaker, that road can be pitted with even more challenges. But fortunes change, and the world is gradually witnessing the rise of more female filmmakers bringing fresh perspectives and new dimensions to storytelling. Filmmaking has become a tool for empowerment. Canon recently brought together three accomplished female filmmakers from the MENA region – Emirati director and UAE Content Director for Expo 2020, Nahla Al Fahad; Egyptian director and grandniece of Youssef Chahine, Sara Shazli; and Nigerian filmmaker and Executive Director of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Chioma Ude – to shine a light on their personal experiences and offer advice to female aspirants on how they can create a space for themselves in this industry. Each panellist painted a different picture of how female filmmakers are received in their respective country. Nahla Al Fahad, CEO of Beyond Studios and a director of commercials, drama series, documentaries and music videos, said she has been fortunate to live in the UAE at a time when the leadership is backing up its statements on inclusivity by identifying and supporting ambitious Emirati women in all sectors, especially filmmaking. Al Fahad is well respected in the Arab world. Her first documentary, The Tainted Veil, won four international awards and was a Best Documentary Feature nominee at the 88th Academy Awards. She received tremendous support from Sharjah Media City in producing her film 218, which did extremely well at the box office. She is currently filming her new documentary Leila, which chronicles the experiences of a middleaged Saudi-American woman’s journey through life as a bi-racial, multi-cultured woman growing up in the Kingdom, and how moving between the two cultures has impacted her as a woman. Elaborating on the support she has received in the UAE,
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Al Fahad said: “The UAE has taken a positive step in terms of maintaining the gender balance in different sectors and are taking extra steps to empower women across different sectors. Anyone who is talented or passionate about a subject has the opportunity to pursue their dream either abroad or in the UAE. I could do 218 because of the support I received from Sharjah Media City and because of the trust they had in me. The UAE Is still new in terms of filmmaking. When they see someone in a new industry, they give you the support to shine.” In comparison, Sara Shazli, daughter of filmmaker and producer Marianne Khoury and grandniece of the legendary Youssef Chahine, said her experience in Egypt has been more challenging. “Even though Egypt has the largest commercial film market in Egypt, the share of opportunities for women is considerably small. It is embedded in the Egyptian mentality in general that women are better placed at home. But it is starting to open up more and there is a realisation that women bring a different sensitivity and a different perspective, and we have seen some women-led films make a great impact in the local market. But we do not yet have the same opportunities, although we are getting there.” Shazli, who studied different aspects of filmmaking in France and Canada and later specialised in directing fiction in Cuba, seems to be doing more female-centric films, with documentary Jo and Isabel, which received the Best Short Film award at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2020. She is currently working on her personal feature documentary – Searching for Woody, which revolves around her search for a beloved Ethiopian nanny who left Egypt – and her first fiction feature – Nour, about a 16-year-old girl growing up in Cairo. Her critically acclaimed recent movie Back Home was made during the pandemic. Perhaps being part of the Youssef Chahine lineage has worked in her favour? Shazli disagreed, saying no favours have been bestowed on her. In fact, her work is always up
