The anthology spotlights 18 women, from directors to screenwriters to editors, who have spent a lifetime behind the camera.
Egypt’s Women and Memory Forum (WMF) has launched a series of short films titled Heya W El Camera, where pioneer female filmmakers tell their stories, reports Cairo Scene.
The anthology spotlights 18 women, from directors to screenwriters to editors, who have spent a lifetime behind the camera. Over the years, they have created striking cinematic works that have left a significant impact on Egyptian society. The project includes pioneers such as Tahani Rached, Mariam Naoum, Hala Khalil, Ayten Amin and Amal Ramsis where they narrate their experiences in the field of cinema, including anecdotes about mentors, parental struggles and filming among ruins.
Director Ayten Amin’s feature explores her filmmaking journey, which began when she went to Alexandria’s Cinema Amir for the first time. The experience left a tremendous impact on her. “Previously I used to think that life had no meaning, but when I studied cinema, that changed. I started feeling like I had stories to tell and things to say. To me, cinema is synonymous with life,” she said to Cairo Scene. The filmmaker also talks about her mentorship with veteran director Mohamed Khan in the feature.
Heya W El Camera deals with several diverse topics. Amal Ramsis recounts her journeys through Ain Al Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon and Tahrir Square during the 2011 revolution, while Taghreed El Asfoury tells of her lifelong fascination with performing arts and the very making of cameras, Hala Khalil discloses the inspiration behind her film Ahla El Awkat, and Mariam Naoum tells us how she left Paris for the love of Egyptian cinema.
Heya W El Camera was recently screened in Downtown Cairo’s Zawya Cinema. Project manager Sara Maged hopes to screen it in other locations, all over Egypt. Speaking to Cairo Scene, she said: “We have a huge archive of rich written content that we’re trying to repurpose in the form of films or podcasts. These films are the first step in disseminating our archive in new mediums young people can easily access.”
