Abdel Rahim Kamal talks about censorship at the film industry symposium at the El Gouna Film Festival
As part of the activities of the eighth session of the El Gouna Film Festival, a symposium was held this Sunday afternoon entitled “The Path of the Egyptian Film Industry” During the symposium, Abdul Rahim Kamal, head of the Censorship Authority for Artistic Works, and producer Muhammad Hefzy, producer Shahinaz Al-Akkad, producer Ahmed Badawy, and Ola Al-Shafi’i, chairman of the Board of Directors of Youm7 and supervisor of the Dramatic Content Committee at the United Media Services Company, spoke during the symposium.
During the symposium Abdul Rahim Kamal spoke about censorship. And its role in supporting creativity, as he said: The censorship apparatus has been subjected to historical injustice since Younis Al-Qadi assumed his position as the first Egyptian censor, through the Nobel writer Naguib Mahfouz, and until I reached the position. He pointed out that cinema, from his point of view, is industry, commerce, and art, and it is necessary to be governed by laws and regulations. He stressed that his selection by officials to sit in the censor’s chair gives a different signal given that he is from the heart of the industry and knows Its insides.
He said that the sergeant is not a policeman whose goal is prevention, and oversight is part of the system that pushes it forward and facilitates its work as long as the technical work does not affect what is entrusted to him as a sergeant, such as national security, identity issues and succession.
Regarding the challenges he has faced since assuming the position, he said: I was never an employee, and when I sat on The chair was able to see the most beautiful creativity produced by Egyptian minds in cinema, theater and television, something that makes a person feel the weight of honesty more than ever before, as I was surprised by the number of scenarios submitted by real creators, which indicates that we are a great country, and that the industry is fine.
Kamal mentioned an incident that happened to him as soon as he assumed the position, where He said: I took over the position of censor last Ramadan, and the TV series “Coffee Station” was showing me, and while I was watching one of the episodes, I found a phrase that I felt, through my position as censor, was not appropriate, and out of consideration for the trust placed on my shoulders, I spoke with director Islam Khairy and asked him to delete the phrase. Then he continued jokingly, “I think that if I leave the position, I will demand that it be restored.”
In response to a question related to a minority. Cinematic productions compared to past eras. He said that censorship restrictions are the least restrictions on creativity, stressing that cinema suffers from the restrictions of the distributor and the owner of capital, which the filmmaker submits to and fears attacking, stressing that there are dozens of talents blocked by the market and capital and not by any other restrictions.
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