Yousry Nasrallah from Cairo for the short film: "Cinema is a story told honestly, not numbers to be calculated"

The Cairo International Short Film Festival, on its second and first day of activities, hosted a special artistic symposium with the great director Yousry Nasrallah, which witnessed a remarkable attendance and in-depth discussions about cinema and filmmaking.

During the symposium, Nasrallah spoke about the short film as a free space for creativity, self-contained, not governed by market considerations or production pressures, stressing that bans or restrictions do not represent the end of the road for the artist.

He stressed However, the essence of filmmaking begins with the ability to tell the story, explaining that writing is the most difficult and sensitive stage, and that the future of cinema depends on dealing with it with real seriousness and respect.

The director touched on the situation of Egyptian cinema in the Arab markets, citing the experience of films competing in the Saudi market, calling at the same time for openness to other markets and geographical areas, and not limiting ambition to one direction. He also praised a number of Egyptian cinematic experiments that were shown this year, considering them to be models. It deserves attention and reflects a remarkable artistic diversity.

Nasrallah revealed the scenes of the production of the film Bab al-Shams, explaining that its budget amounted to about 2.5 million dollars, and that the preparation for it was meticulous, and included filming in a large number of different filming locations, in addition to building an entire city in the desert specifically for the film, stressing that despite deleting some few scenes, the script was tight from the beginning, expressing his great pride in the work, and indicating that it belongs to what he described. With ”old school” In the film industry.

 

He also recalled a poignant human and professional experience from filming the movie The City, when there was not a sufficient budget, which forced the work team to film with a small camera in the Rawd al-Faraj area, stressing that respect for the camera and the cinematic act was present from the first day despite the simplicity of the possibilities.

Nasrallah pointed out the great disparity in film budgets, explaining that “Bab al-Shams” It was shown in the same year in which the film The Yacoubian Building was presented, which cost about 18 million pounds, which is a huge number by the standards of that period, despite the artistic value of each work.

The director spoke about the true meaning of cinema, stressing that it is not limited to performance or exaggeration of expression in front of the camera, but rather it is based primarily on an honest and convincing image, pointing out that some stars have lost this meaning with time, and he gave direct advice to young people who want to enter the artistic field, calling on them to experiment and not be afraid. Of roles, because it is the path to self-discovery and proof of talent.

Regarding the future of cinema in light of the development of artificial intelligence, Nasrallah stressed that any technical development cannot be an enemy of the true artist, but rather is only an enemy of superficiality and mediocrity. He also explained that what attracted him to “Bab al-Shams” It is because it does not only tell the story of a people, but also deals with the stories of individuals within this broad human context.

At the conclusion of the symposium, he called on those interested in the film industry to experiment without giving up their dignity or artistic passion due to production calculations, smiling at the audience and concluding his speech with a phrase that carried his usual sarcastic spirit  “Goodbye Bonaparte”.

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