Lack of good scripts, funding behind decline of Arab cinema

Sharjah - Political situation and censorship are also to be blamed, say experts.

Filmmakers attending the Sharjah International Book Fair discussed the regression of Arab cinema and the reasons behind it in a panel discussion held on Friday.
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The panel, which was moderated by media personality Sara Al Marzouqi, included Nujum Al Ghanem, an Emirati poet and director, Hamad Saghran, Emirati director and founding member of the Nafas Artistic & Film Production Group, and Dr. Amal Al Abadooli, Emirati director and media personality.

At the beginning of the discussion Al Ghanem took the audience through several statistics that demonstrated that when it came to the countries that that lead the film industry on a global level, Arab countries are nowhere to be seen.

"Not even Egypt, which has a long history in the cinema world. It might be because of the political instability but other countries that have had political instability continue to produce films and view it as a way to express their views," said Al Ghanem.

She said that Arabs are not able to coproduce films and there was need to collaborate on that front. "In the past this did happen though. When Studio Masr was established in 1935 in Egypt, acting, radio and singing talent from around the Arab world was brought together from around the world to produce great masterpieces. This was the golden age of Egyptian and Arab cinema," she said. Other challenges that face Arab cinema are lack of funding and excessive censorship, added Al Ghanem.

When analyzing the reasons behind the decline of Arab cinema, Saghran said that there are many factors including the lack of good scripts, the technical aspects, funding and the kind of audience that exists in the Arab world.

Speaking about the undiscerning Arab viewers, Saghran said: "The average Arab is too busy on a day-to-day basis trying to make ends meet and yet they do have that thirst for art so Arab film producers do not invest in high quality productions which in turn drives viewers towards international imported cinema."

Saghran also said that when it came to scripts in the Arab world there were two kinds of censors, the official government censor but also the self-censorship of the scriptwriter. He also outlined that from a technical perspective, lack of funding and development of cinematic tools play a role. "Hollywood, for instance, invests in the development of lighting and camera equipment," he explained.

Dr. Al Abadooli felt that the political situation, namely the Arab Spring, has a role to play in the decline of Arab cinema but said that wars should be considered as a stimulus for the development of good cinema.

Saying that she prefers to discuss solutions instead of dwell on the problems, Dr. Al Abadooli called for the establishment of film clubs that involve members of the public as well as film critics. The aim would be to revive the interest in good cinema through the constructive critique of films.

In addition, Al Abadooli emphasized the importance of education and training. "We need to  start from school. Children who are talented in singing or acting need to be adopted and nurtured," she said.

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