Al Ahram: Osama Fawzi

Wunderbar, der Perlentaucher hat wieder eine neue englischsprachige Zeitschrift entdeckt, Al-Ahram, veröffentlicht in Kairo. Vorgestellt werden darin der Film "Bahib Al-Sima" und sein Regisseur Osama Fawzi:

The film is set in the 1960s because, Fawzi explains, "there are many nuances to the story that [he] would have not been permitted to include in a film directly representing contemporary Egypt and because the historic distance allows for a contemplation of the root causes of the problems we face now. The narrator, the adult Naiim, provides a perspective showing on the religious, political, family and school institutions of that period that have shaped the present."

Dazu noch eine Kritik des Films, die betont, dass die Zensur mitder Drohung, ihn nicht für die Kinos zuzulassen, dem Film zu deutlich mehr Publikum verholfen hat:

Whatever the commotion surrounding the film, it certainly provided a very useful burst of publicity, whetting the appetite of an audience for a film that, if it had to rely simply on its not very commercial poster, might have passed unnoticed. Launched at the beginning of the summer season, when most students have not yet finished their exams, it was always likely to struggle at the box office. Thankfully, though, the censorship has given the film a boost, providing, for once, some good for a reasonable film.