If I had a movie productions company, I would immedietly finance a feature film about african refugees escaping to Egypt. Ive been always fascinated with the stories of the refugees that come to Egypt, specifically from African countries, escaping religious or political persecution of horrific nature. The film would not only be a way to showcase the horrors that awaits them on the road, or in Sinai, but the idea of Egypt as the escape. For them back home Cairo must represent his huge cosmopolitan city of millions of people where anything can happen and where they can go and be safe. Cairo as a safe haven and a symbol of development and structure comparatively to Somalia for example. And then they come here, and their story with Cairo and its residents, government, NGOs, public sector services and the insanity begins in earnest. I am fascinated by what we must represent to them, what Cairo as a character would be like in such a film, especially through the eyes of a stranger that sees it as a haven and a land of opportunity, even momentarily, and their interactions with the other groups that take refuge here, from Eritreans to Ethiopians to south sudanese to even Syrians and Iraqis, with the Chinese microcosm always at the periphery of their story. When I met Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi the first time, he told me that he loves Egypt because Egypt is a planet, and you can find anything there. The same is very true when it comes to Cairo, with 27 neighbourhoods some of which house millions on their own, and most cairo residents know their way around maybe 6, and the impressive ones could know up to 10, and the really impressive ones are those who know their way around maybe 15, but no one knows the 27, but the african refugees, they know the neighbourhoods we know, and live in neighbourhoods we dont even know exist, although each one is its own world: with its own norms, power-structure and dynamics, and of course egyptians going about their daily quest for survival. So much could be presented in such a movie ( drama, action, tragedy, hope) and if its well done it will easily go into the international circuits and receive acclaim just for existing, and would be radically different than anything produced in Egyptian cinema. So please, someone, make it happen.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 10:50:12 +0000