Every year, for a handful of days, filmmakers and cinema lovers get to watch local, regional, and international films’ screenings at Aswan International Women Film Festival, yet for the rest of the year the only door that welcomed the children of the southern city to enter and learn filmmaking skills, so that years after they manage to conduct their own projects, even if they were simple ones shared with family and friends, gets shut in their faces.
Two years ago, Manal Al-Makarem joined the filmmaking workshop at Aswan Festival; in addition to her work as a teacher at Aswan Al-Azhar Model Institute for Girls, she is passionate about writing stories, and she learned scriptwriting and directing. She managed to produce two films, one is called “Warda”, which was able to later participate in Casablanca Arab Film Festival in Morocco, Arab Panorama.
The absence of films’ screenings
After the launching of the festival's activities in its eighth edition, which was held last April in the hall of the Tulip Hotel, Manal allocated part of her time to watch the discussion panels in which filmmakers participate within the festival's schedule, which represents rich material in the world of cinema that is usually absent the rest of the year.
“Watching and discussing films with their makers helps in honing my skills, adding to my experience, sometimes the discussions are a form of applying what I learned in the workshops that I started attending, like scriptwriting and photography workshops”, said Manal.
Manal believes that her work in this field makes her see things with a different perspective from ordinary audiences, “unlike the festivals, I am unable to find a place providing me with a screening space, and usually I watch films on my laptop only without discussing them with anyone”, said Manal with bitterness.
According to the annual bulletin of cultural statistics for 2021, issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, there are 55 cinemas in Egypt, of which Aswan has only one, after a number of cinemas there were demolished or closed, such as “Abu Shouk” cinema and “Bud” cinemas.
Aswan has only one cinema and theatre, which is Al-Sadaqa, renovated in 2021, and only screens commercial films.
This was a reason, days after the eighth session of Aswan Film Festival in April 2024, for some Facebook users to take an initiative to establish a cinema club in Aswan, in cooperation with Misr Public Library in Aswan, which opened its doors in January 2024, to provide various cultural activities, but within days the initiative stopped.
Mostafa Awad, director of the library's cultural activity department, explains that a cinema club was in progress, aiming at screening and analysing films, in addition to hosting directors, but the library administration decided to postpone the decision without providing reasons.
During June, Misr Public Library in Aswan reannounced the Aswan Cinema Club for its members, and Ain Al-Aswany contacted director Mahmoud Ramadan, leader of “Movie Night” initiative, which screened 55 films, directly before freezing its activities due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Ramadan continued his activity in cooperation with Misr Public Library in Aswan, explaining that his initiative was about introducing films in places where people can rent halls by the hour for an affordable amount of money which they can pay in full or share the payment with the place. He faced many challenges during this experience, like the place where he screened the films didn’t have enough interest in the films, “I contacted the library’s management to organise a cinema club, at first they welcomed the idea, but then everything was held on pause due to scheduling conflicts, until we screened our first show this June”.
Commenting on the chosen films, Ramadan clarified that this was done in cooperation with the library’s administration, most importantly, the films have to be about a cause that everyone can discuss its writing and directing, “and that the films are connected to the people of Aswan, and is open to films from all over the world”
Mahmoud explained that the current plan is to present feature films that attract ordinary audiences, while independent films could be of interest to filmmakers, which is a next step in the initiative’s plan.
A new attempt
Last May 24, the “On Set” Cinema Club organised its first cinematic event, screening “Kit Kat” film produced in 1991, directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed, in Malaz Space for Arts.
Bassam Raouf, a director and producer and founder of On Set Cinema Club, told Ain Al-Aswani that the idea of establishing a club aimed at spreading the ongoing culture of cinema; the first day was productive as 45 cinema lovers attended, they discussed different perspectives of the film after its screening, as well as the filmmakers’ tools used to deliver the idea to the audience.
Bassam allowed people to attend for free, even though the club is based on self-efforts, saying, “we bear the cost of the screening, poster designing, and advertising for the club on social media. I plan to present independent film screenings, but first I want to help the audience adapt to the cinema atmosphere, and directors may want to screen their films for free as currently we do not have enough budget”.
On Set Cinema Club wasn’t Bassam’s first experience, he went through several unfinished attempts, explaining that establishing a cinema club needs advertising and sponsoring, but institutions such as cultural houses and civil society organisations do not include in their plan the importance of spreading cinematic culture, remembering what happened to the Aswan Culture Palace Cinema Club five years ago, when it stopped after its ongoing development works until today. Bassam explained that those in charge of the club did not continue films’ screenings because they were employees who did not have a cinematic background or a good choice of films, according to Bassam.
Challenges facing establishing a cinema club
Between a novelist and a documentarian, Mohamed Mahmoud entered the world of filmmaking in 2016, between workshops at Aswan Film Festival and workshops for cinematic initiatives during a specific period within the city of Aswan, such as the Jesuits and the Egyptians Without Borders Foundation.
Mahmoud believes that watching films has an utmost importance, especially to filmmakers; it is a way to learn about the ideas and works of other filmmakers, as well as expanding cinematic culture; through learning about different artistic styles and schools of cinema. Film watching, especially for novice filmmakers and students, is a good way to learn the cinema craft. In addition, analysing and discussing films increases the awareness and develops people’s mindsets through engaging and interacting with the films, dismantling their artistic elements.
Believing in the necessity of collective viewing and discussion of independent films, Mahmoud thought about establishing a cinema club in Aswan, but a number of challenges stood in the way of implementing this.
“It is not an easy task, in terms of finding a proper place and making the right arrangements. I sought to establish a non-profit club; thus, it will cost money, and that is the biggest of challenges. In the case of establishing a club in a place affiliated with the government, like Aswan Culture Palace, which used to screen films a couple of times, or any other cultural places, the place will dictate its own agenda, which I totally reject. I tried contacting Aswan Culture Palace five years ago, but they didn’t welcome working with me”, said Mahmoud.
Director Sayed Abdulkhaleq, Aswan Film Festival Workshops Director, explained to Ain Al-Aswani the importance of having a fixed place to screen and discuss independent films, as he believes this is important to filmmakers to enrich them visually, but managing this needs a certain budget, for there are the royalty rights, in addition to the logistics of the process and management of the screening. In the event that the filmmaker comes from outside the city, they need a budget for transportation, in addition to providing a suitable place for the film screening.
