The 6th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival (GFF), which takes place exceptionally from December 14 to 21, 2023, was marked by a captivating panel entitled “Being Arabs abroad: a crop representation”.
The speakers, eminent in their respective fields and all with an international career, have addressed crucial questions about the way in which Arabs are represented in the world film industry.
The panel, hosted by Marya Banggee, brought together personalities such as the Egyptian actor Amir El Masry, who shone more and more abroad with notable roles in international productions such as the Netflix series The Crown (season 5 – 2022), the film Star Wars, episode IX, the Rise of Skywalker (USA – 2029) and the film Limbo (GB – 2020). Alongside Amir, Manal Issa, a Lebanese actress who played in Western films such as Fear It was nothing (France – 2016) and The Swimmers (GB – 2022), a renowned cultural consultant, Nourhan Tewfik, and Rhonda Raguab The CEO of Sila Consulting, have shared their unique perspectives.
Amir en Masry introduced the discussion by recalling that it was Omar Sharif who was the first Arab actor to illustrate abroad in the film Lawrence of Arabia (GB – 1962). However, he pointed out that this breakthrough unfortunately did not release the diversity of roles for Omar Sharif, very often it to characters from Arabs.
Manal Issa added by approaching the often negative representation of Arabs in Western films, stigmatized as terrorists, brigands or extremists. Despite this, she noted an increasing visibility for the Arabs, but insisted on the need to change these stereotypes.
Nourhan Tewfik highlighted the power of Arabs thanks to streaming, stressing the significant change that has brought access to streaming platforms. Before, the Arabs were limited to the choices of local distributors, but now they have the power to say what they like and want to see. This, according to Marya, represents a considerable force, because streaming platforms have an interest in selling their subscriptions in the Arab world, they will therefore be more and more attentive to the desires and expectations of these Arab spectators.
Nourhan brought a critical perspective, denouncing persistent clichés such as the inappropriate representation of camels or calls for prayer in films, and linguistic inconsistency which sees an Arab speaking an Arab a dialect that does not correspond to his character, for example an actor supposed to embody an Algerian and who would speak the Egyptian dialect. It is obvious that Western spectators would not see the difference, but that remains incongruous and inappropriate. She highlighted the importance of authenticity and fidelity to Arabic linguistic diversity.
Marya raised the question of the potential influence of the Gaza War on Arab representation in cinema. Manal shared his concerns about a possible narrative bias, citing the Steven Spielberg project on October 7 and pleading for a preparation for a potential cinematographic war.
Manal stressed: ” I heard that Steven Spielberg will make a film on the events of October 7, 2023, and of course, it will be subjective and will stick to the Israeli narrative. I think we have to make sure to tell on October 6, the war between Israel and Palestine did not start on October 7, but a 75 years ago of occupation and ill -treatment before. I think that a film war is preparing and it will have to face it. »»
Amir spoke of the need to humanize the Palestinians. These are not figures or terrorists. He thinks that it is necessary to meet Palestinians, to learn from them and be able to represent them well. For example, he quoted the Palestinian journalist Motaz, who despite the loss of his family, continues to tell their stories. Motaz and many other Palestinians continue, despite the dangers, bombing, hunger and thirst, to tell the daily life of the Gazaouis every day during this murderous war. He underlined the duty of artists to find ways to give a voice to these people who suffer.
Nourhan explained the profession and the crucial role of a cultural consultant on a film set, emphasizing his involvement in the guarantee of authenticity through advice on languages and various dialects, costumes, makeup, traditions…. She shared pride experiences, especially in the series The Crownwhere the dialogues of the Egyptian character were written in Egyptian. This was a battle won by his team, which imposed that the Arab characters speak Arab, but that in addition to their replicas are downright written in Arabs, and not translated from English, to give precisely more authenticity. It is also proud that the series has given importance to Dodi Al Fayed, who also died with Lady Diana, and who was however ignored by the press for many years.
Nourhan also clarified that the cultural consultant also gives an opinion on the cast and the specialists to which production calls for their advice, such as an Egyptologist for a film on ancient Egypt.
The cultural consultant also intervenes in communication and merchandising. He looks through the trailer for a film or a series and gives his opinion, for example on a misinterpretation that could be made. It could also be consulted on the poster and other communication products. He also takes care of the various derivatives, such as for the doll of the character of Yasmin de Disney. It was necessary to give it a good complexion, which corresponds to that of an Arab. The “Qamhi” complexion more precisely, a complexion that Westerners do not know, so we had to do several tests, until we find the right complexion, neither too clear, nor too dark.
The cultural consultant also takes care of music, which is very important. Same, it must correspond to the country in question. The various Arab music is different from one country to another, and moreover within the same country, they can also differ from one region to another or from one opportunity to another.
Quat in Manal, she shared a negative experience with Netflix when filming the film The Swimmersdenouncing a discriminatory treatment towards the Arab actors during filming and even during the promotional campaign of the film, stressing the need for the West to respect Arab cultures and to recognize the importance of authentic representation.
Manal also expressed concerns about the dark future of Arab representation in world cinema: “ I think the future is very dark. We will have to fight very strongly for the representation of the Arabs in world cinema. Because of the war in Gaza it is also necessary to think of the financial aspect. It is obvious that the funding of Arab films by Westerners will be becoming increasingly rare, even non -existent. We will have to create our own financial instances, to finance the narrative of the Arabs, and show our real images and our real stories ».
The struggle for a positive representation of Arabs in world cinema promises to be difficult, but necessary.
Neïla Driss
