Nisimazine Abu Dhabi 2011 #6

Nisimazine Abu Dhabi

‫مجلة تصدرها نيسي ماسا ـ الشبكة االوربية للسينما الشابة‬

2011 ‫ أكتوبر‬19 ‫ األربعاء‬- 6 ‫العدد‬

A Magazine by NISI MASA, European Network Of Young Cinema

#6, Wednesday 19 October 2011

‫نيسيمازين‬

from If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front

May Odeh ‫مي عوده‬ Green Realities ‫واقع أخضر‬ Nawaf Al-Janahi ‫نواف الجناحي‬

‫ ا فتتا حية‬// editorial

NISIMAZINE ABU DHABI

Wednesday 19 October 2011/# 6

by Celulloid Liberation Front

A magazine published by the NISI MASA in the

‫جبهة التحرير الشريط سينمائي‬ ‫ محتجون يشتبكون مع‬،‫اثنا عشر شخصا قتلوا في اليمن‬ ‫ ساكنو طوكيو وباريس وأثينا وواشنطن‬.‫الشرطة في روما‬ ‫ولندن ومدريد وبرلين وهونغ كونغ ونيويورك نشروا وجهات‬ ‫ بعضهم تم القبض‬،‫نظرهم بشأن تمويل االرهاب على الهواء‬ ،‫ بيد ان عمال البناء خارج نوافذنا مازالوا هم انفسهم‬،‫عليه‬ ‫ويبدون انهم ليسوا في حاجة الى راحة‬

framework of a film journalism workshop

Twelve people killed in Yemen, protesters clash with police in Rome. The citizens of Tokyo, Paris, Athens, Washington, London, Madrid, Berlin, Hong Kong, and New York air their views on financial terrorism; some are arrested... The construction workers outside our windows are always the same, they don’t seem to need rest.

We watch films about the Egyptian revolution, we petition against the imprisonment of Iranian artists, but we don’t seem to connect the dots. In our opinion there are no fundamental differences between these protests and their demands; people are finding each other and finding out that sharing is better than stealing, discussing better than killing. The sparkle that lit this fire significantly came from the Arab world which, for a decade and more has been seen in the West as the site of barbaric rituals, undemocratic practices and bearded bastards, ‫بتخيل كيف ان‬ ّ ‫ وفي وقت كنا فيه مشغولون‬،‫ بمتعة كافية‬to put it politely. ‫ اصبحنا بسبب هذا‬.‫ وكيف كانوا‬،‫هؤالء العرب غير حضاريين‬ ‫ ذهبت ضرائبنا الى افغانستان‬.‫ التفكير متورطين الى اقصى حد‬Pleasantly enough, while we were busy imagining how ‫ في حين ارتفعت الرسوم الجامعية بشكل‬،‫ لقصف المدنيين‬uncivilized all these Arabs must have been, we too got badly ‫ فيما تحول الدخل المنتظم لرجل ما أو امرأة‬،‫ غير معقول‬screwed. Our taxes went to Afghanistan to bomb civilians while ‫ لماذا يستحق‬:‫ سؤال‬.‫ شابة الى اكثر النكات طرافة في المدينة‬university fees magically rose and having a regular income for a ‫ الليبيون الديمقراطية وفيما ال يستحقها اقرانهم اليمنيون؟ ما‬young man or woman has become the funniest joke in town. ‫ الذي يكمن وراء هذه األحكام مختلفة؟ انها رائحة كريهة (من‬Why do the Libyans deserve democracy and the Yemenites do .‫ وهذا أمر مؤكد‬، )‫ النفط‬not? What lies behind these different judgments? They stink (of oil), that’s for sure! .‫ أن السلوك اإلجرامي ال يكون له لون أو دين أو علم‬،‫نحن نندرك‬ ‫ هنا‬.‫سمي بـ»الجشع» وتحول الى المرض ال مأمن ال احد منه‬ ّ ‫ لقد‬We are finally realizing that criminal behavior does not have a ‫ حيث ان وجود الفخامة هي من الضرورات‬،‫ في العالم المتحضر‬color, a religion or a flag. It’s called greed and it’s a degenerating ‫ فان الناس الذين يقودون لنا ذهابا وإيابا من هذه‬،‫ األساسية‬disease from which no one is immune, us included. Even here, ‫ الثالجات الفخمة (اي السيارات الفخمة) الخاضعة الى الحراسات‬where luxury is a basic necessity, the people who drive us back ‫ كم نحن‬.‫ ساعة في اليوم‬25 ‫ المشددة يعملون على مدار‬and forth from these opulent and highly guarded refrigerators .‫بهذا‬ ِ ‫ فرحون‬work 25 hours a day, much to our delight... ‫ ورفعنا اعتراضنا ضد سجن‬،‫تابعنا فيلما عن الثورة المصرية‬ ‫ في‬.‫ ولكن ال يبدو أننا نجحنا في ربط النقاط‬،‫الفنانين اإليرانيين‬ ،‫رأينا أنه ال توجد اختالفات جوهرية بين هذه المحتجين ومطالبهم‬ ‫ ويعرفون أن المشاركات أفضل‬،‫والناس يجدون بعضهم البعض‬ ‫ ان الشرارة التي‬.‫ والمناقشة أفضل من التصفية‬،‫من السرقة‬ ‫ جاء بشكل كبير من العالم العربي الذي‬،‫أشعلت هذه النار‬ ،‫ مكانا لطقوس البربرية‬،‫ في نظر الغرب‬،‫ ولعقد من الزمن‬،‫بقي‬ .‫والممارسات غير الديمقراطية‬

for young film journalists from Europe and the Arab World with the support of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival

‫ هيئة التحرير‬EDITORIAL STAFF ‫ ماثيو داراس‬:‫المدير المسؤول‬ Director of Publication Matthieu Darras ‫ مارجه ألدرس‬:‫التصميم الفني‬/‫رئيس التحرير‬ Editor-in-Chief/Layout Maartje Alders ‫ جي وايسبيرغ و زياد الخزاعي‬:‫المشرفان‬ TutorS Jay Weissberg

Ziad Khuzai ‫المساهمون في العدد‬

‫ علي شجاع العفيف‬,‫محمد بشير‬, ‫زياد عبد الصمد‬ ‫جبهة التحرير الشريط سينمائي‬, ‫ماريو كوزينا‬, ‫جنكه باركوزي‬, ‫فؤاد هندية‬ Contributors to this issue

Ziad Abdul Samad, Janka Barkoczi, Fuad Hindieh, Ali Shujaa Al Afeefi, Mario Kozina, Celluloid Liberation Front, Filippo Zambon

NISI MASA 99 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis 75010, Paris, France Phone: +33 (0)9 60 39 63 38 europe@nisimasa.com www.nisimasa.com

،‫ من الجميل أن نرى ان الخيال والرغبة هربا الى الشاشة الفضية‬It’s nice to see that imagination and desire sometimes escape ‫ ونزال الى الشوارع سعيا لالستبالء عليها‬the silver screen and take possession of the streets.

‫ فيليبو زمبون‬:‫صورة‬

BY MARTINA LANG (AUSTRIA)

,

picture of the day / ‫صورة اليوم‬

by Filippo Zambon

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

review / ‫عرض نقدي‬

Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden, USA Documentary Competition

Abu Dhabi seems an appropriate place for televised revolutions; they are innocuous, and easy to forget if not entertaining enough. Orderly queuing for the next insurrection you can hardly imagine audiences looting the Marina Mall, let alone the overworked waiter turning a bottle of champagne into a Molotov bomb.

In light of the recent electoral results, which saw a robust rise of the far right, to witness Sweden’s critical and open-minded outlook on racial segregation in the USA delivers a sad insight into the workings of western tolerance. That said the material archived in the Swedish national television vaults is impressive and skilfully edited by Göran

Troll Hunter

André Øvredal, Norway - New Horizons

Hugo Olsson. Devoid of any didactic or exhaustive pretence, the documentary offers a transversal view on one of the most inspiring revolutionary movements of the 20th century.

Short-lived and savagely repressed, the Black Power movement looms on the American consciousness especially today when the Obamania is fading to reveal itself as a colossal swindle. The Black Panthers were the first and last social movement to implement a welfare system that America can keep dreaming about, made of free breakfast, free medical care and prisoners’ assistance; visionary if fragile. When asked whether he feared the prospect of ending up in jail upon his return from Europe, Stokely Carmichael replies: “I was born in prison.”

Celulloid Liberation Front

Wednesday 19/10 VOX 1 - 2:15 PM

Genre filmmaking has thought of many original ways to make the illusion of what we see on screen believable. Certain devices, such as the mockumentary style, developed their visual and narrative tropes into a subgenre of their own. Applying various documentary techniques, like shaky, hand-held camera work and characters talking directly into the lens, along with the ‘must have’ disclaimer about the mysterious found footage that is edited into the film we are about to see, also became a gimmick to make movies authentic.

Nordic fantasy Troll Hunter is a school example of the genre. It relies on all before-mentioned formulas to tell the story of a team of students who discover that the mythical creatures from Nordic folklore actually exist, and are the best kept national secret. They team up with the character from the title to do an exposé of the government cover-up. Director André Øvredal uses several other tricks to make the events seem more real: the troll hunter is not a superhero, but rather an underpaid and grumpy government employee who has to fill out papers after killing the menacing beasts. Also, the government is fashionably described in a not-so-bright light, both in the under-appreciating means with which it treats its employees and in the too-skillful manner

it hides the evidence of the trolls’ existence.

The reality-bending quality of the genre opens up the space to transcend its generic formulas. Many filmmakers rely on the narrative twist that sheds a new light on the events, making the viewer question the ways reality is represented both in film and in other media. Unfortunately, this potential in Troll Hunter is completely under-developed. The plot unfolds from meeting the least dangerous monsters to the really nasty ones, while even some potentially provocative remarks about the relationship between organized religion and the mythical creatures of pagan origin have sadly been left to hang as a one-time joke.

However, this doesn’t necessary have to be considered as a flaw. The filmmakers tried their best to make the troll hunting scenes as eerie, funny and exciting as possible, which is something worth noting.

All in all, Troll Hunter is a darkly humoured Nordic fantasy best thought of as an escapist adventure for genre aficionados.

by Mario Kozina

Thursday 20/10 VOX 8 - 4:00 PM

interview / ‫مقابلة‬ photo by Filippo Zambon

May Odeh Director of Diaries, Palestine Documentary Competition

May Odeh started to work in cinema after participating in a tutorial training session with the renowned Palestinian director Michel Khleifi.

She got involved not only in directing, but also in producing and building the industry. She is the media coordinator for Shashat’s Women’s Film Festival in Palestine. Diaries, her new documentary, tells the stories of three women from Gaza on the 1000th day of the siege on the Gaza Strip.

Your film speaks about ‘faces of fear’ in Palestine. What type of layers does fear have?

Since I am from Palestine, and I have been living under occupation since I was born, this kind of approach was my only possible choice. My home country is a place where I face the different layers of fear every day, because these layers are everywhere all the time. My first visit to Gaza was to shoot the film, even if it is only one hour away from the West Bank city where I live. When I arrived, I was surprised at how people are living there,

place differently from the pictures of the news for the first time. In Diaries, I emphasize the contrast: we have a wonderful city which could be a basis to live normally, however we live abnormally there. Anyway, I am still curious on the reaction of the Gaza residents, because I am just arranging the screening for them. I hope I can get the permission at the beginning of the next year, because I really need their feedback.

In your opinion, what does their tomorrow look like?

When I show my film to Palestinians outside of Gaza, their first reaction is amazement about the beauty of the city. and noticed that the situation is much more complicated than at home. You know, you follow the news, read the newspapers, of course, but if all the scary details are around, they do not allow you to move forward.

Can Diaries even be surprising for the Palestinians?

When I show my film to Palestinians outside of Gaza, their first reaction is amazement about the beauty of the city. My sister, for example, said to me after the screening that she could never imagine such a nice place. I think this can happen because they see this

I began to shoot my film two years ago, and the situation hasn’t changed yet. This is a dirty political game in which a lot of people are participating. When you are outside, you can say that one should stop this or that, but when you are inside it is much more complicated. I have also been involved in this topic from the beginning, so I decided to help to find the solution through my profession. I am a member of an initiative group on the mission of creating cinema industry in Palestine. We need the atmosphere of cinema, however we only have one theatre in Ramallah, a com-

mercial one in Nablus, and we don’t have theatre in Gaza at all. I try to remain active, because, in Palestine, we never stop moving; we have Intifadas, movements, marches, asking at least for unity. To be honest, we don’t see the final consequences of the Arab Spring yet, but it gives us some hope.

Besides you are a woman director, what else makes you put women in focus?

Palestinian women are very unique, because they suffered a lot in their lives. Everybody in Gaza lives under bad circumstances, but to be a girl there is something hilarious. They are mothers and sisters of prisoners, widows of their husbands at the same time. They learned how to get their rights with their own hands, and do not fear to say what they want. These women cross the lines without any fear: they make films, write articles, and they go to work crossing the checkpoint every day which is also a fight that people need to see.

The film is divided into three different

parts according to the three main female characters, who are women living in Gaza at different stages of self-definition. The first one, who actually made me come to Gaza, tries to be at peace with the occupation, the second one just started to question her life, she has a lot of positive energy and is waiting for the next step, which the third one has already done. Although they seem to be very different at first sight, they share the same destiny.

How many men are worth one woman - as one of your protagonists asks in the film?

[Laughs]... A lot!

Janka Barkoczi

Wednesday 19/10 VOX 8 - 7:00 PM Thursday 20/10 VOX 1 - 4:30 PM

focus / ‫بقعة ضوء‬

Green realities

years to create. Moreover, earlier documentary features in ADFF had a world-will-endtomorrow appeal to them which gives me a lets-live-for-today feeling. So for the sake of ‘Our World’, I mustered enough courage to say “yes” to the assignment.

I did not regret it.

I was pleasantly surprised at the production values of all the documentaries. Except for The City Dark, by Ian Cheney, which had an amateur feel to it, these non-fiction features, from their sweeping airborne shots of mountains, jungles and cities to the close-up interviews, plus the slick editing and use of graphics to state the facts, were wonderful. Documentaries don’t generally look good on big screens. But these did.

The City Dark was shot by amateur astronomer, which explains his lack of interest in everything that was not the night sky. But the uncommon subject of light pollution had its own unique appeal. The story was also enhanced by the lavish use of animation. The narrative felt slow at times and lacked depth at certain points.

from Project Nim

If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front (commonly known as ELF) gives an idea behind the workings of an environmental organization which practices a different kind of non-violent protest. Non-violence is described in the ELF dictionary quite liberally. It simply means that no humans are harmed in the process. The leader of the group, Daniel McGowan, decides to hurt the corporations involved in the timber trade by destroying their factories and offices. The story moves better at a personal level, when the narrative is treated as a crime film and at the centre is the leader of the movement, Daniel, who is the chief perpetrator and ultimately a victim.

The Last Mountain is a typical environmental documentary, where a group of little people stand up to the wealth-hungry corporate types at the US mining industry. I liked it for the mountain-shaped narrative.

The protest in Coal River Valley is the

from If a Tree Falls

an audience deserves to be talked about. Or else it is no different than propaganda. This is no less true for documentaries that, by their nature, are often made for non-commercial, humanitarian reasons on which the people involved (often the work of one person) spent

from The City Dark

‘Our World’ is the nonglamorous section of the film festival, the covering of which is wholly entrusted to me since everyone else got bored with the idea of watching any of it.

Any movie that passes through the light of a projector onto a big screen in front of

apex of the documentary while the global relevance of it is also explained in general terms: how a protest by a handful of land owners in one part of the world has an impact on the other side.

The best of the lot was the last documentary I watched: Project Nim. I felt that fifteen minutes through the opening sequences will tell me enough to write something about the movie. It did but I couldn’t stop watching. The film was much too fascinating. The plot was mesmerizing and disturbing at the same time. It connects with the viewer at a different level. Even if you are not a hardcore member of RSPCA, the UK animal welfare charity, you cannot help but be moved by antics of the baby chimpanzee, who was brought up by humans and taught sign language.

The liberal use of music in most of these films was unnecessary. It makes the films much more pleasant to watch but the shot of a person crying, when accompanied by a violin quartet, affects the audience differently. Music can bring emotions that are not always evident in the narrative and makes it highly unnatural.

The documentaries in Our World question your role as a global citizen. Stable and prosperous nations in this part of the world are in a position where they can choose a safer and cleaner future. Development does not have to be about following in the footsteps of the World War winners. If they jump into a pit, hopefully there will be a few who stop before it is too late.

Ziad Abdul Samad

focus / ‫بقعة ضوء‬

from Rambo III by Peter MacDonald (1988)

Toward an art house theme park? No, thanks.

Last Sunday, experts from sales and distribution companies joined forces to shed light on the future of independent cinema in the region. We grabbed the occasion to explore the future possibilities of cinema beyond Hollywood and Bollywood only to realize that perhaps we should all be kinder to them.

Variety Arabia, Financial Times Middle East, CNN and Fox too have headquarters in Abu Dhabi/Dubai; even Ugly Betty speaks Arabic these days.

Seen from here the civilization clash we have been worrying so much about seems over; well, perhaps with the exception of the Iranian Golem. Multiculturalism is flourishing in the region: the shared commitment toward independent cinema is the next cultural imperialism uhm…pardon, imperative. In the meantime people in the business are asking themselves how to break the stranglehold of Bo/Hollywood on the regional market.

The main issue being the total absence of a local audience willing to swallow subtitled intellectual ruminations. Rupert Murdoch and his provincial epigone, Silvio Berlusconi, have spoiled us all; if no bosomy women are in the package, we won’t buy it. The Middle East seems to be no exception. When asking the owner of a DVD rental outlet in Abu Dhabi which films do customers ask for, we were reassuringly answered: “American ones”.

Producers and distributors are faced with a puzzling challenge, how to persuade Arabic audiences that Rambo and a puny geek are equally attractive. How to convince them romantic values can compete against erotic capital? Tough quest, no doubt. Could it be though that the questions being posed are misconceived?

We would like to briefly digress from the conference reportage in order to humbly plead Hollywood’s cause. Why should Arabic audiences be corrupted by the self-referential conceits of a Godard when Hollywood’s offering is so rich and the Bollywood’s one so mellifluous?

The detested Californian suburb has in fact created some of the most enlightening pieces of filmmaking ever produced. Rambo him-

against the invaders, thus earning Rambo’s devoted support. “Our children die of diseases, mines and poisonous gas and the women are raped and killed; yet nobody sees anything or reads anything in the papers” says one freedom fighter to Rambo. “We are holy warriors and to us death for our land is an honour!” Even the emotionless facial features of Sylvester Stallone cannot resist such injustices and crack under the weight of compassion as he promises the mujahideen to help them in their struggle. Needless to say, no art house movie has ever pushed its radical agenda that far.

Supporting the Taliban these days is more likely to be awarded with a lengthy holiday in Guantanamo than with an Oscar…

This is only to say that it is unfair to underestimate the capacity that Hollywood bloc-

“All over the world major museums have bowed to the influence of Disney and become theme parks in their own right. The past, whether Renaissance Italy or Ancient Egypt, is re-assimilated and homogenized into its most digestible form. Desperate for the new, but disappointed with anything but the familiar, we re-colonize past and future” - J.G. Ballard self, the stereotype of testosterone-fuelled blockbusters has been a staunch supporter of Arab independence going as far as endorsing the jihad. The third instalment of the renowned franchise is in fact set in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, when the US was merrily training mujahideen providing them with Stinger missiles (the same ones that are now fired against Marines). In one of the most moving sequences of the film the mujahideen (played by underpaid Israeli extras) explain the just necessity of a holy war

kbusters have in exposing the hidden stances lurking alongside the McDonald’s culture we all admire. Why instead of longing for boring arty movies don’t we reconsider the truly subversive potential of Hollywood? After all, if Rambo embraced the jihad, maybe one day Ugly Betty would join the Hezbollah.

Celluloid Liberation Front

meet mahfouz Wednesday 19/10 VOX 3 - 9:00 PM

The Thief and The Dogs

‫اللص و‬ ‫الكالب‬

Kamal El Sheikh (Egypt, 1962)

‫ اخراج كمال الشيخ‬- ‫ مصر‬1962

‘In all my writings, you will find politics. You may find a story which ignores love or any other subject, but not politics; it is the very axis of our thinking’ - Naguib Mahfouz

‫يقول األديب المصري نجيب محفوظ «في كل‬ ‫ ربما تجد رواية تخلو‬،‫كتاباتي تجد السياسة‬ ‫من موضوع الحب أو أي موضوع آخر ولكن البد‬ ‫اال تخلو رواية من السياسة إنها محورية في‬ .»‫تفكيرنا‬ ‫ حيث يحكي‬،‫ العمل الفني‬- ‫احيانا‬- ‫هذا ما يميز‬ ‫لنا قصصا يصعب فصلها عما كان يجري على‬ »‫ ورواية «اللص والكالب‬.‫الساحة السياسية‬ ‫هي احدى روايات محفوظ التي تعكس صورة‬ .1952‫المجتمع المصري بعد ثورة‬ ‫ على‬1962 ‫اقتبست هذه الرواية سينمائيا عام‬ ‫ يصور الفلم التناقض‬.‫يد المخرج كمال الشيخ‬ ‫بين احتياجات الشعب والواقع الصعب بعد‬ ‫ كان هنالك العديد من الوعود‬.‫احداث الثورة‬ ‫ وبالذات‬،‫ولكن بدون اي تغيير نحو حياة افضل‬ ‫الدنيا التي تنتمي لها الشخصية‬ ‫للطبقة‬ ُ .‫الرئيسية في هذه القصة‬ ‫يقضي سعيد مهران اربع سنوات في السجن‬ ‫بعد وشاية دبرتها زوجته نبويه وصديقه الحميم‬ ‫ بعد اطالق سراحه قرر االنتقام ولكن‬.‫عليش‬ ‫فحتى‬، ‫االمور تسير عكس ما كان يتوقعه‬ ‫ عندئذ يلجأ الى‬.‫ابنته لم تتعرف عليه ورفضته‬ ‫صديقه القديم رؤوف علوان الذي يجده وقد‬ ‫وغير‬ ّ ‫اصبح كاتبا مشهورا في جريدة محلية‬ ‫ فيقرر االنتقام وتبدأ‬.‫جميع افكاره وشعاراته‬ !‫رحلة العذاب‬ ‫تتطلب عملية اقتباس العمل الروائي الى نص‬ ‫سينمائي ايجاد عالقة متكامله فيما بينهما‬ ‫تؤدي الى تعزيز التجاوب النفسي والعاطفي‬ .‫والعقلي لشد المشاهد لفصول العمل‬ ‫عند قراءتي للرواية وجدت نفسي اتصور تلك‬ ‫ فالنص‬.‫اللحظات التي يمر بها سعيد مهران‬ ‫غني بالصور التي تجعل القاريء يتعايش مع‬ ‫ حاول‬،‫الشخصية ومشاعرها من ناحية اخرى‬ ‫المخرج الشيخ من خالل االساليب المرئية اظهار‬ ‫معاني القصة بدال من استخدام الكلمات‬ ‫ من هذه المشاهد المميزه؛ يقف‬.‫المباشرة‬ ‫مهران امام النافذة وقد اغلقت في وجهه‬ ‫ ويسرح‬،‫جميع السبل فيشرب حتى الثمالة‬ ‫ تتحول‬.‫بخياله متصورا نفسه داخل محكمة‬ ‫قضبان النافذة مجازيا الى قضبان سجن بينما‬ ‫يمثل سعيد امام القضاة للمرافعة عن نفسه‬ .‫واقناعهم ببراءته‬ .»‫يقول المثل الشعبي ان «التاريخ يعيد نفسه‬ ‫بعد خمسين عاما على كتابة محفوظ لهذه‬ ‫ عليه‬،‫الرواية ال نزال نجدها حيه في يومنا هذا‬ )2011‫ يناير‬25 ‫فان االحداث االخيرة في (مصر ثورة‬ ‫تجد صداها في فصول رواية اللص والكالب‬ ‫حيث ان هنالك العديد من امثال سعيد مهران‬ .‫ينتظرون تحقيق وعود الثورة الجديدة‬

I totally agree with this quote and I believe that no population can cut their daily life from what’s going on politically. The Thief and the Dogs is one of Mahfouz’s novels that reflects the image of the Egyptian society after the revolution in 1952. Adapted into a film directed

by Kamal El Sheikh in 1962, it shows the inbalance between the needs of the people at that time and their harsh reality. A lot of promises with no changes towards better life, especially for the lower classes, to which Sa’ed Mahran, the main character, belongs.

Sa’ed Mahran is a thief who spent four years in jail because of a betrayal by his wife Nabawiah and his best friend Ilesh. When he gets released, he decides to get revenge.

Nothing goes as what he was expecting. His daughter Sana rejects him. RaufIlwan, his intellectual mentor and a destitute anarchist, becomes rich and famous writing pap for the local newspapers. He finds himself entangled in this new reality.

When a novel is adapted into a film, both have to complete each other. For instance, while reading the novel I started to visualize moments that Sa’ed goes through. The text is rich of these images that make you identify with the character and his feelings. On the other hand, in the film the director attempts to portray the emotions visually. Most notably is when a drunken Sa’ed fanaticizes about being in a court room. The window fence then becomes a metaphor of jail bars and then actually becomes jail bars as the scene moves to the court room, where Sa’ed is trying to convince the judge that he is innocent and victim of betrayal and injustice.

“History repeats itself”, says the proverb. Fifty years after Mahfouz wrote this novel, I still see it alive. I am sure nowadays there are a lot of Sa’ed Mahrans in Egypt, waiting for the changes and the promises to come true after the revolution of 2011!

Fuad Hindieh

‫فؤاد هندية‬

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‫بورترية ‪portrait /‬‬

‫صورة‪ :‬فيليبو زمبون‬

‫نواف الجناحي‬

‫بدأ مسيرته المهنية في التمثيل‬ ‫مع والده الراحل الممثل والمخرج‬ ‫محمد الجناحي وهو ابن السابعة‪.‬‬ ‫وخالل السنوات المتعاقبة ازداد‬ ‫عشقه أكثر في رواية الحكايا‬ ‫باستخدام الكاميرا‪ .‬اشتد عود‬ ‫هذا الهيام في نفسه وتشعب‬ ‫فيها‪ ،‬إلى أن قرر وأعلن للجميع‬ ‫أنه سيتخذ اإلخراج السينمائي‬ ‫مهنة له وهو ابن الرابعة عشرة‪.‬‬ ‫ولد نواف الجناحي في أبوظبي عام‬ ‫‪ ،1977‬حينما وصل الى سن التخرج‬ ‫من الثانوية العامة‪ .‬سأله والده»‬ ‫ماذا قررت أن تدرس؟»‪ ،‬فذكره بقراره‬ ‫الذي اقتنع به قبل أعوام عديدة الذي‬ ‫أعلنه للجميع والمتعلق برغبته في‬ ‫دراسة اإلخراج السينمائي‪ .‬وبالطبع‬ ‫وقتها لم يصدقه أحد‪ ،‬ال من أهله وال‬ ‫أقاربه وال حتى زمالئه في المدرسة وال‬ ‫أصدقائه‪ .‬فرفض والده طلبه‪ ،‬كونه‬ ‫مؤمنًا بنظرية أن الفن اليأكل عيشًا‪.‬‬ ‫جرى هذا الحوار بين عامي ‪.1995-96‬‬ ‫يقول نواف حول هذه الحقبة‪« :‬في‬ ‫ذلك الوقت‪ ،‬كان كالمه مليون في‬ ‫المئة صحيحًا‪ ،‬الفن ال يأكل عيشًا‬ ‫أبدًا‪ ،‬فنحن من عائلة متواضعة‬ ‫ليست لنا أمالك أو أراضي أو محالت‬ ‫أو شيئًا من هذا القبيل‪ ،‬فهو والد‬ ‫خشى على مصلحة أبنائه‪ ،‬فرغب أن‬ ‫التحق بالجيش أو أن أعمل في حقول‬ ‫البترول»‪.‬‬ ‫لكنه‪ ،‬بعد بقائه مدة عام كامل في‬ ‫البيت من دون عمل رضخ والده الى‬ ‫طلبه في درسه إنتاج األفالم في سان‬ ‫فرانسيسكو في واليةكاليفورنيا‬ ‫األمريكية‪ .‬بدأ فيها عام ‪ 1996‬وعاد‬ ‫أحس انه‬ ‫عام ‪ .1999‬وحال عودته‪،‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الوحيد في هذا المجال‪ .‬وال احد‬ ‫سواه‪ .‬والسبب يرجع إلى أن ال مكان‬ ‫يلم هؤالء الموهوبين‪ .‬لكن بعد‬ ‫فترة من الزمن تعرف على شخص‬ ‫في المجمع الثقافي‪ ،‬لديه ذلك‬

‫الحماس الشبابي باإلنتاج‪ .‬كان‬ ‫هذا الشخص هو مسعود أمر اهلل‬ ‫وهو حاليًا المدير الفني لمهرجان‬ ‫دبي السينمائي الدولي‪ .‬وجرى‬ ‫حوار بينهما باإلضافة إلى شخص‬ ‫ثالث وهو علي الجابري ممثل‬ ‫ومدير ومبرمج مسابقة أفالم من‬ ‫اإلمارات قسم من مهرجان أبوظبي‬ ‫السينمائي‪ .‬وكان هذا الحوار هو‬ ‫البذرة إلعالن بداية مسابقة أفالم من‬ ‫اإلمارات‪.‬‬

‫الفيلم وكانت تجول وتصول‪ ،‬مرارًا‬ ‫وتكرارًا فكرة عن أخذ هذا الفيلم‬ ‫إلى ُبعد أخر‪ ،‬إلى أن أستقر على‬ ‫راي واحد و خمن بفطنة ان حكايته‬ ‫يمكن ان تتحول الى نص سينمائي‬ ‫طويل‪ ،‬وعندما أخطر محمد بقراره‪،‬‬ ‫رأي البريق في عيني محمد‪ ،‬ورد‬ ‫عليه «لنفعلها»‪.‬‬

‫فعلى سبيل المثال في فترة‬ ‫الثمانينات كانوا هناك إماراتيون‬ ‫درسوا اإلخراج السينمائي في الخارج‪،‬‬ ‫وعادوا ولم يسمع لهم صدى فقررا‬ ‫أن يغيروا منحاهم المهني‪ ،‬وآخرين‬ ‫حاولوا أن ينتجوا أعماال ً وبعد برهة‬ ‫من الزمناختفوا‪ ،‬لم يعد لهم وجود‬ ‫هذه األيام‪ .‬بسبب يعود إلى عدم‬ ‫وجود دعم مادي في الماضي مثل‬ ‫اليومعلى سبيل المثال مؤسسة‬ ‫اإلمارات التي تمول المشاريع‬ ‫الفنية والسينمائية‪ ،‬من عشرة آالف‬ ‫إلى مئة ألف درهم إماراتي‪ ،‬لكن‬ ‫المشروع يجب أن يكون مشروع‬ ‫فني‪.‬‬

‫كان فكرة تطوير الفيلم من قصير‬ ‫إلى طويل جرت قبل أسبوعين من‬ ‫بدء المشروع! فعمال على إتمام‬ ‫المشروع في غضون شهر‪« .‬بعد‬ ‫حوالي ‪ 3-4‬شهور اقتربت منه شركة‬ ‫«إيمجنيشن وصرحوا بإعجابهم‬ ‫للفيلم‪ ،‬وأرادوا دعم مشروعه‬ ‫الجديد «كان كل هذا ضربة حظ‪،‬‬ ‫لم نفكر بأن هذا سيحدث‪ .‬وإذا‬ ‫لم نحصل على دعم مادي من‬ ‫الخارجالستثمرنا مالنا الخاص إلنتاج‬ ‫الفيلم»‪.‬‬

‫بعد أن تم عرض فيلمه الطويل األول‬ ‫«الدائرة»‪ .‬أقترب منه الكاتب محمد‬ ‫حسن أحمد الذي كتب قصة شريطه‬ ‫الثاني «ظل البحر»‪ ،‬فبعد أن قرأ‬ ‫النص األدبي للفيلم‪ ،‬أعجبته فكرة‬

‫كان سبب اختيار إمارة رأس الخيمة‬ ‫للتصوير‪ ،‬يعود إلى أنه موطن‬ ‫الكاتب محمد حسن أحمد‪ .‬وسبب‬ ‫آخر هو وجود الحي الشعبي‬ ‫اإلماراتي التقليدي «الفريج» في‬

‫اإلمارات الشمالية‪ .‬ولألسف لم‬ ‫تعد هذه األحياء القديمة موجودة‬ ‫في أبوظبي أو دبي بسبب الزحف‬ ‫العمراني لها‪.‬‬ ‫مر الفيلم بمراحل عديدة إلنتاجه‪:‬‬ ‫«تم اإلعالن عن الفيلم في مهرجان‬ ‫كان السينمائي‪ ،‬ومن ثم بدأت‬ ‫مرحلة ما قبل اإلنتاج في أغسطس‬ ‫‪ ،2010‬ومرحلة اإلنتاج أستمرت مدة‬ ‫خمس أسابيع من شهر أكتوبر‪.2010‬‬ ‫أما مرحلة ما بعد اإلنتاج فبدأت في‬ ‫ديسمبر ‪2010‬وانتهت في أغسطس‬ ‫‪ .2011‬وكان سبب تأخر وإطالة هذه‬ ‫الفترة األخير يعود إلى سبب التغيرات‬ ‫اإلدارة في شركة «إيمجنيشن» مما‬ ‫أعاق إنتاج الفيلم مبكرًا‪.‬‬ ‫اليوم األربعاء التاسع عشر من‬ ‫أكتوبر في تمام الساعة التاسعة‬ ‫والنصف مسا ًء‪ ،‬سيتم عرض فيلم‬ ‫«ظل البحر» لنواف الجناحي في‬ ‫عرضه العالمي في مهرجان أبوظبي‬ ‫السينمائي الذي سيقام في مسرح‬ ‫أبوظبي على كاسر األمواج‪.‬‬ ‫علي شجاع العفيف‬