the london and dubai film festivals have played big parts in my life so i thought i would chime in with some reflections on my first cairo international film festival.
the fest was definitely representative of its city, the organization was erratic and inhospitable.
movie start times were totally unpredictable; the worst was turneja starting 45 minutes late (which meant i had to leave early to catch a dinner) and the case starting early wasn’t helpful either!
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| Cosmos |
in most other film fests i have been to, the emphasis has been on making sure as many people go to see the movies as possible. in cairo, it seems the emphasis is on keeping people out of the cinemas!
what was surprising was the dire technical presentations of the films. sound issues were frequent, some films just cut out at points. while watching the case (i was the only person in the theater), the guy running the reel shut it off halfway, opened up his window and asked me if i had actually bought a ticket. i assured him i had but he seemed unconvinced. i had to argue with the dude for a few minutes showing him my ticket before he kindly accepted to resume the show. he evidently wanted to go on a break, and evidently did so anyway as the reel just kept rolling at the end of the movie way past the credits. at least that meant i got to read the credits. at several other screenings the projector was stopped almost as soon as the credits came on (i am one of those geeks that sticks around til the very end).
in dubai the film fest is unquestionably one of the year’s main cultural and social events (alongside the jazz fest and to a lesser extent art dubai). all the cinema buffs come out of hiding, you end up meeting everyone you hadn’t seen since the last film fest and also usually making new film loving friends. its no exaggeration to say the city is abuzz during that week. even mega-city and usually unshakable london feels different for the filminority.
ciff just didn’t seem to engage with the city in the same way. most of the screenings were poorly attended (the exception was laila’s birthday) particularly those at the more expensive venues (good news, nile city etc).
the downtown cinemas with the L.E.5 cheap seats were a very different experience, attended by the rowdy crowds walter ambrust elaborates on, full-volume phone conversations and constant talking were the norm at these theaters. front-row, loud snorers were a surprisingly common sonic disturbance at several screenings (including almost every one at nile city!).
the cairo hustle even made repeated intrusions with everyone from ticket sellers to seat attendants to security staff asking for bribes, all of whom seemed really offended when i refused to pay up! at one particular cinema my laptop was confiscated but i was allowed to enter with two video recording devices!
generally speaking the ciff staff were uninformed and unhelpful (true everywhere but the opera where i was told i had to have an invitation even though the frequently inaccurate website said otherwise) and seemed focus on keeping people out rather than ensuring bums on seats. the contract with diff here is amazing. every effort is made to get people to watch the films there and an army of temps is hired to assist and guide festival goers.
as with everything in cairo, you have to take things in your stride and i have had a great time over the last couple of weeks catching some really great films. the programming seemed fine although not as broad as diff (or the lff obviously) there was plenty of good material.
still makes for a stark comparison with the dubai international film festival which is well-enough organized ( in dubai style, always seemingly on the verge of a chaotic breakdown that never happens) and where the massive influx of international film people gives the city a super-charged edge, all with the usual famous dubai hospitality.
the young upstart (disclosure diff were a client of mine when i worked in dubai and i’m friends with a couple of their senior team) puts the old lady in her 32nd edition to shame. from the onset, dubai in its usual super-ambitious style set its sights on cannes, berlin and venice. and although censorship and muddled strategies (not to mention stiff meiff competition) may still prove to be stumbling blocks, i have no doubt where the region’s preeminent film fest will continue to be.
also check out inanities’ amusing take on the fest here.
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