The International Film Festival of Assouan’s Woman’s Woman is an initiative that aims to promote gender equality in the film industry and to offer opportunities for young people in the Assouan region, especially girls, who are often confronted with obstacles to continue their passion. For seven years, the Festival has organized training workshops to introduce young people to the cinema professions and help them make short films.
The training sessions begin about seven months before the festival edition, and a mixed group of young girls and boys is formed. Young people learn everything necessary to make a film, from start to finish: from the creation of a story to the writing of a scenario, including cutting, casting, realization, and editing. The workshops are led by specialists in each field, such as screenwriters, directors or editors.
Once the training is completed, around 6 to 8 projects are selected to be really filmed and presented in competition during the festival. These short films are produced by the festival, which also takes care of their promotion and their distribution. Last year, two short films were selected in competition at film festivals outside of Assouan, one at the Film Film Film of Rabat (Morocco) and the other at the Carthage Cinematographic Days in Tunisia.
The festival is not only limited to providing training workshops to young people. The organizers also work with participants to help them enter professional life. They are encouraged to stay in the Assouan region and to contribute to the creation of a local film industry. This also allows young people to work in their own region, without having to leave their family home, which is often an obstacle for young girls.
The festival also works with parents to convince them of the value of this initiative. Parents are involved in the training process of their children and are informed of the activities organized for young people. Over the years, the festival has succeeded in establishing a relationship of trust with families and local communities, which now recognize the value of this initiative for the future of their children and allow girls to participate. Thanks to this collaboration, the young girls who were “locked up” in their families and their villages were able to open up to the world.
In addition to training workshops, the festival also offers opportunities for meeting with guest professionals. During the 7th Edition which was held from March 5 to 10, 2023, the young people had the chance to meet the Tunisian director Salma Baccar and the Egyptian directors Sheriff Mandour and Magdy Ahmed Aly and the Egyptian producer Safei Eldin Mahmoud, who shared their experiences and their views of the castings.
During her intervention in this casting workshop, Ms. Salma Baccar shared her career and her casting method for her films. In recent years, as she has lived in Tunisia, a small country where she knows all professional actors, she has gotten into the habit of thinking of the actor or the actress who will play the main role from the start of writing the script, which also influences the creation of the character. However, she can change her mind during the long years that separate writing and realization.
For secondary roles, she relies on the suggestions of her assistant, to offer her actors, who can be professionals or not.
But the method is the same for everyone: it gives the same scene to play all the candidates, then it stays head-to-head with each of them and films them itself. She takes her time to decide and wait to see all the videos shot, letting the camera decide.
Ms. Baccar told the example of her film Habiba Msika, Fire Dance (1994) where she had hired a Moroccan actress residing in Paris, Souad Amidou, for the main role. Although she saw many Tunisian actresses, none had convinced her. In addition to that, the chosen actress looked like the real Habiba Msika, a Jewish singer, dancer and actress from the time when the Jews were artists in Tunisia, due to the conservatism of Muslim Tunisian families.
Ms. Baccar had enrolled this actress in an oriental dance school in Paris so that she learns to dance. However, she regretted this decision because she realized that he was important for an actor or an actress to bathe in the culture of the character to be able to transmit it with authenticity. Oriental dance is not just about techniques, but also manners, expressions and charm.
Madame Salma Baccar shared another anecdote that captivated the audience. She told how she discovered the talented actor, director and producer Nejib Belkadhi.
Always as part of his film Habiba Msika, Fire DanceMadame Baccar had launched a cast to find the actor who would play the main male role. Her assistant had offered her 70 candidates, which she had started to meet one by one. However, one day, she had noticed a young man with magnificent eyes who was not there for the cast. Despite this, she wanted to meet him and chat with him. She had been immediately impressed by her in -depth knowledge of the cinematographic world.
After seeing the first 70 candidates, Madame Baccar had decided to meet 35 others. Among these 105 candidates, she had selected 10 finalists, including this mysterious young man with magnificent eyes called Nejib Belkadhi. She decided to pass the same interpretation test to all the finalists, consisting of a scene of love to play. However, when it was time for Nejib to pass the test, he had not learned his role. Instead, he had improvised a love scene that had immediately touched Madame Baccar. She was seduced by her natural talent and her charm.
This is how Nejib Belkadhi was chosen to play the main male role in Habiba Msika. Since then, he has had a brilliant career in the Tunisian and international film industry, winning several prizes and distinctions for his achievements. This example illustrates how a fortuitous encounter can change the course of a person’s life and lead them to incredible success.
Madame Baccar highlighted the importance of passion and natural gift. She clarified that the talent of actor could not be taught, but that it should be cultivated and supported. It also shows that technical skills can be learned, but that a real talent cannot be taught and must be discovered and encouraged.
Ms. Salma Baccar reported a 3rd casting example, which concerns her film Khochkhach, Forgot flower (2005) For which she had found it difficult to find the ideal actress to embody the character of the young mother.
After weeks of research and dozens of tests, Ms. Baccar had come across a stage by actress Rabia Ben Abdallah in the film Men’s season (2000) of Moufida Tlatli and had decided to contact her. Rabia, who lived in Lyon, had received the script and the next day had sent Ms. Baccar a report on her way of conceiving her interpretation of the character. Impressed by her sensitivity and depth, Ms. Baccar had decided to go to Lyon to meet her in person.
Ms. Salma Baccar will first house at the hotel, but she ends up accepting Rabia’s invitation to host him. For three days, they will discuss everything except the role, Rabia being in mourning after the death of her sister. This proximity allowed them to get to know each other more and Mrs. Baccar to realize that Rabia is the ideal actress for the role.
This moment spent at Rabia was crucial for Ms. Baccar because she was able to better understand the character she had created and see in rabia the qualities necessary to embody him. This meeting also had an impact on Ms. Baccar, who was touched by Rabia’s sensitivity and emotion when she talked about her sister. This anecdote illustrates the complexity of the casting process and how a choice can be influenced by personal and emotional factors.
During this same casting workshop, the director and producer Sheriff Mandhour shared an interesting anecdote. He had been the producer of the Egyptian director Hesham Issawi, who had lived abroad for 30 years and did not know the Egyptian actors. Mandhour had proposed actress Ruby for one of the roles of her film. When he called her, she replied that she was in downtown Cairo with her sister, who was not an actress, and she was wearing a veil so as not to be recognized. Despite this, they had come to the appointment. The director had noticed the sister, Maryhan Magdi, and hired her to play in the film Cairo Exit (2010). This opportunity had launched the career of Maryhan, who had then won several interpretation awards.
Sheriff Mandhour explained that the criteria for selecting an actor generally included appearance, age and specific characteristics for the role, such as voice or gaze. The writers and directors often have an image of the character they seek to embody and they are looking for the actor who best corresponds to this image. It is also important that the personalities of the actor, the director and the character are in harmony. In the end, a real thunderbolt must take place between the director and the actor so that they can work together effectively.
Producer Safei Eldin Mahmoud also intervened during this casting workshop by adding: ” I started my career by visiting the casting offices, but I didn’t like it. So I started to frequent theaters, and that’s where I discovered the best actors. My advice to young people is as follows: “Do theater, because this is where you will be the most visible, even in amateur theaters. It is on stage that your talent will be revealed. Actress Abla Kamel was spotted on stage, just like Salwa Ali. Do not despise theater by thinking that you prefer cinema. Start with the theater, because it will give you an extraordinary experience. He will teach you to move, speak and occupy space… ”.
Neïla Driss
