By Francesca Sullivan

Director Mohamed Khan is finally Egyptian. A virtual one-man institution in the Egyptian film industry with a filmography running at over thirty-five movies, he’s one of the country’s most renowned and prolific directors. But being born to an Egyptian mother and Pakistani father, the Egyptian nationality eluded him until two months ago, when his citizenship was granted. It seems long overdue considering that the body of Khan’s work lays bare the soul of Egypt like no-one else’s, explores it complexities and holds up an ultimately humanistic mirror to its shadows as well as its light. Khan loves movies, and describes himself as an avid film buff before anything else. After studying at the London Film School he began his career back in Egypt in the 1960’s as a script writer, going on to make his name with a string of acclaimed releases in the 1980’s and beyond.  Lauded and acknowledged by both local and international audiences, Khan is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including two at the Dubai International Film Festival for his latest, Factory Girl. He is also a true independent spirit in the business, producing neo-realist cinema with movies that range from ‘big’ subjects (Ayam el Sadat) to small projects without star actors. Social issues, in particular those revolving around the lives of women, have been at the heart of many of his films, and Factory Girl is no exception. Cairo West Magazine went to find out more.

CWM: How did the idea for Factory Girl come about?

I wanted to make a film about a poor girl working in a factory; a feminist film that shows, without philosophizing, the obstacles facing so many girls in our society. The story touches upon a lot of issues, such as why many young girls work to support their entire families, and also the class barriers that prevent love between different social classes. To prepare for the film, the script-writer Wessam Soliman (who is also my wife) went incognito to work in a clothing factory for ten days. That was the springboard; it then took two years to write and develop the script, plus one year to shoot it.

I insisted on shooting the film on location in a shaabi neighbourhood. I always function better in real places; in a studio I never believe in the reality of it. But just because it is shot in a poor neighbourhood, it’s not sombre. Just like when I shot Dreams of Hind and Camelia, I wanted to show that this setting can be colourful and full of life. Being poor doesn’t mean being miserable.

Who was involved in casting and how were the actors selected?

My casting director was Jennifer Patterson, an American married to an Egyptian who lives in Kitkat – so she’s quite familiar with Egyptian life! Yasmine Raiss, who played the part of the main character Hiyam, originally came to a general casting after we’d chosen another actress for the role, who then turned out to have other commitments, so Yasmine replaced her. It was just her good luck!

The film has received a lot of accolades. What do you think has contributed to its success?

It’s amazing to me that the film has been so well received. I’ve been going around the cinemas where it’s on and watching people come out happy and satisfied – I don’t remember ever having quite this experience before! It’s been shown all over the Arab region, which is always surprising for a film with no stars in it. It’s my first time to work with this distribution company, Mad Solutions, and the first time that they have ever distributed a film – so they’ve really done a great job.

I think the film touches people. I dedicated it to Souad Hosni, who was a close friend and someone who, I think, is somehow in the fibre of all young Egyptian women –even Arab girls. She represents their free, rebellious spirit, and this is something that’s at the heart of this story. Back in 1982 she starred in my movie Dinner Date, and I remember after the first screening in the mornings, women would be coming out of the cinemas with their daughters, the rollers still in their hair.

The audience for Factory Girl has been a mainly female one, and since the female population in Egypt is apparently greater than the male, that’s fine by me! I also feel that the film was made with a lot of love, and this shows on screen. So many people were involved in wanting to make it happen, giving their time and energy for little financial reward. There was a great chemistry on the set.

What are the most important factors when choosing a script?

What interests me are stories about people, and how they live. I’m not the kind of director who makes others peoples’ scripts. Everything I do begins with an idea that’s come to me personally, and I’m always thinking about new scenarios. I’m a workaholic. People imagine that when I’m not actually making a movie I’m having time off, but that’s never true. I am more likely concentrating on a new project that might never come to the screen; in my recent five year hiatus I was actually working on three scripts, none of which I could get made.

How difficult is it to get independent funding for films these days?

Making Factory Girl involved a completely new idea for me in terms of funding. The project won a funding grant from the Ministry of Culture, but that wasn’t enough to cover it, so I and the producer went everywhere to make up the extra, pitching to numerous organizations in different countries to pull it together, including Greece and Dubai. We also made many sacrifices; my wife and I took no salary and made no money until the film was released.

I was lucky enough to come from a generation who came through the mainstream system and were still able to make the films we wanted to. Over the last ten years a monopoly has developed in which distributors think they know what’s best for the cinema audience, and basically cater for films providing sensuality, vulgarity and violence. The policy is ‘make and collect’; profit is the main object. However, the era of digital film making has turned the industry upside now, and it is now possible to make movies for less. That alone has breathed new life into independent cinema and allowed new talent to come in. I was one of the first directors to use digital media and recognize its potential. Of course the monopoly still controls most of the distribution outlets, but there is hope there also, for example Marianne Khoury has a new project at the Odeon Cinema Downtown screening independent movies, both local and from abroad.

What do you have in the pipeline now?

My new project is a movie called Before the Summer Crowd, which takes place in a resort – probably in the Sinai – out of season. As a contrast to Factory Girl, this one revolves around a group of upper middle-class adults and is what I’d call a sexual movie without much sex. The idea came to me after my wife and I were staying in a resort off-season and the only other people were in a neighbouring chalet. The residents of this chalet and their activities were the inspiration! The writer this time is Ghada Shahabandar, who actually works in human rights but I felt was familiar enough with the world I’m portraying to do a good job on the script – even though it’s her first time to write one.

What’s your biggest regret?

That my father died before he got to see any of my films. He used to like going to the cinema, mainly because he enjoyed sitting in the air-conditioning!

What makes you happiest?

That my children are both standing on their own two feet and doing well. My son Hassan Khan is a well-established artist, and my daughter Nadine is now a film director in her own right.

Most recently viewed film?

I see a film every day! I’ve never stopped being an avid film buff. Yesterday I watched Nymphomaniac, a new film by Danish director Larss Von Tier that recently showed at the Berlin Film Festival.

What are you reading right now?

I don’t have a lot of time for reading, but I recently read Blue, a series of short stories by Mahmoud Tawfik.

Your favourite food?

Being the son of a part-Italian mother, it has to be pasta. But with the right sauce!

What’s your preferred style of dress?

Definitely casual, and I can tell you a story about that. I am so known for my informal dress style that once when I was accepting an award from Hosni Mubarak, the Minister of Information himself called me on the phone and said, “Don’t forget to put on a tie.”!

What can’t you live without?

Films. My film library is all indexed and numbered. I tell myself when I’m old and senile I’ll start watching them all again beginning at number one.

Pet peeve?

Seeing someone belittle a poor person.

What’s your worst habit?

At the moment it’s smoking. I stopped five years ago but I’ve taken it up again.

Your favourite place to travel to?

London – I miss it!

Anissa Hassouna

An Admirable Career & A Powerful Role Model

By Francesca Sullivan

Stepping forward from behind her desk at the hub of the Magdi Yacoub Foundation in Zamalek, Anissa Hassouna exudes a powerful combination of warmth and energy. This is a woman whose lifetime achievements make those of the most ambitious men look tame. But then, as Hassouna points out, women are accustomed to taking on many roles in life. “Not women, but super-women,” she points out when describing the lives of those with full-time careers and families to take care of. Running the Magdi Yacoub Foundation is just the latest turn in an illustrious career spanning decades.

What has been the secret of her success?

After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University, Hassouna worked as a diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, followed by the Arab Economic Unity Council, the League of Arab States. Moving into the banking sector, she became Assistant General Manager at the Misr Iran Development Bank, then Director General of Egypt’s International Economic Forum. She is a lecturer at the Diplomatic Institute of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has lectured at the Banking Institute of the Central Bank of Egypt.

Named on the annual list of the renowned Arabian Business & CEO Middle East magazine as one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” for 2014 , Hassouna was the first woman to be elected on the Board of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs where she held the position of Secretary General and currently is the Treasurer. She is a member of the Executive Council of the “Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs” which won the Nobel Prize in 1995. She is a member of both the Consultative Boards of the “Arab Thought Foundation”, Beirut, Lebanon and the “Arab Forum for Alternatives” Cairo, Egypt.

She is the Founder and Chairperson of the “Enlightened Egypt Foundation” which promotes the values of citizenship and gender equal rights, a founding member of the “Think Tank for Arab Women”, the “Forum for Arab Citizenship in Transition Democracies”, the “Front  for Protecting the Freedom of Creativity & Expression”  the “Arab International Women’s Forum” in London, UK , and the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.

Hassouna writes regularly on public affairs and her last publication was her contribution to the book, In the Wake of the Arab Spring – Conflict and Cooperation in the Middle East, edited by Sverre Lodgaard and published Scandinavian Academic Press, Norway, in September 2013.

Although she has always been involved in humanitarian organizations, running the Foundation has represented a clear step into a very community-orientated field, and one that she is relishing greatly.

What, or who, inspired you to become so involved in helping the community?

I am deeply influenced by my family. My father was a former Minister of Justice, and was responsible for abolishing the Obedience Law in the late 1960’s, a law which allowed husbands control over their wives, denied women the right to divorce and even made it legal for the police to enforce these controls. I was brought up in an environment that respects women’s rights. My mother was a pediatrician and worked all her life. My three sisters and I were educated to be independent minded. We all developed our own opinions, which were in turn respected by our parents.

Have there been life changing or pivotal experiences along the way that have kept your passion for what you do?

It goes back to my upbringing that taught me never to do anything I’m not passionate about and when committed to a job to do it to the best I of my ability. I began my career in the diplomatic service, and then moved into banking, but I’d always been interested in the idea of serving the community, and that became a reality when I was offered the job at the Magdi Yacoub Foundation. That in itself was a pivotal experience.

How did you come to work for the Foundation?

I was nominated for an interview where I was inspired by Sir Magdi Yacoub’s vision of what he wanted to achieve. At the interview he asked me whether I had any medical experience and I had to tell him none – only as a patient! I’m definitely privileged to work under the leadership of a board of trustees that provides insights and strategic policies to achieve the mission of establishing a “centre of excellence” that does not only provide free medical services at international standards but as well is keen to train a second line and give due attention to scientific research. Our first project has been Aswan Heart Center, which we hope will be replicated in the future elsewhere in Egypt.

Why Aswan?

Sir Magdi has a special connection with Aswan, where he attended school for a time as a child, and he is fond of the people there. He also wanted to get out of the Cairo/Alexandria centralization syndrome. It was challenging. People said things like, it’s too remote, no doctors will want to work so far away. Of course we had the advantage of Sir Magdi’s reputation to attract good people to the project, but the support of the public, as well as the business community, has been essential. One year into our launch the revolution happened, but we still succeeded because the people felt that they are stakeholders in the project’s future; they matter. Now, four years on, we have more than doubled our capacity, as well as provided a social and economic spill-over with the creation of several hundred jobs, thus helping raise the local standard of living.

What are the challenges you have faced as a woman working in high profile positions within this culture?

The same challenges most women in the work place face, in Egypt but also around the world. As women we are always having to prove ourselves in a way men are not expected to. We are put on the defensive. We have brains equal to men and should be judged on our qualifications and on an equal basis. But here the cultural mind-set is that women have ‘needs’ rather than ‘rights’. We have to attend to our family obligations, children, social life – in fact women are really super- human beings!

How have you personally balanced motherhood with a career?

I have always been a working woman, but I suppose as my daughters have grown up I have adjusted my workload accordingly. Most charity and community work is extra, done outside of office hours, so I was less able to do it when they were small. But once they were getting through secondary school I stepped up my volunteer work, took on more engagements and so on, and once they graduated from university that increased even further. Needless to say that through this I had the unlimited support of my family and dear husband.

What advice would you give to young people wanting to start out in the field of community work?

First of all, find something you feel passionate about. Then get on and work at it! When you believe in the mission it enables you to be creative in your approach, think outside the box and find ways to achieve your goals. Also your belief will inspire others, and that enables you to build a team. When you do that, remember that equality and respect for others is essential. Here at the Foundation everyone has a valued role and the liberty to put their ideas on the table. Plus we are gender sensitive, with equal opportunities for female employees.

You were recently given an award as being among the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women for 2014. What does that mean to you?

The award is given in recognition of the efforts sincerely done by women who are making a positive difference and serving their communities in various fields of activities. Women are usually the agents of change in societies whether socially, culturally, economically or politically. Such an award definitely motivates me to do more and is so rewarding and fulfilling, since it comes in appreciation of the hard work done over the years. I willingly share it with my dear family and all those who have loved and supported me along the way.

Quick Fire-Round with Anissa Hassouna

What was the last book you read?

1919 by Ahmed Mourad, Automobile Club d’Egypte by Alaa Al Aswany and Bab El Khourog by Ezz El Din Shoukry.

The last movie you saw?

The last movie I wanted to see when I was last travelling was Noah, . I saw Mohamed Khan’s Factory Girl, which I loved.

What is your favourite destination, in Egypt and abroad?

In Egypt, Sharm el Sheikh and Aswan. Abroad it would be England, where I spent time when I was younger.

If you could meet anyone alive or dead who would it be?

Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi.  I would have loved to talk to them about their rich and outstanding experiences based on patience and tolerance. So many lessons to be learned there.

What is your favourite food?

Ice-cream.

Favourite app?

Angry Birds

What is the secret of happiness for you?

The satisfaction with the share that life has given me, the love of my family and their success in their lives, the warm relationship with my friends and the role I can play in helping others.

The Magdi Yacoub Foundation:

How to Donate

There are five different ways to donate:

1) Through Magdi Yacoub Foundation accounts at all Egyptian banks

2) Via the website: “www.myf-egypt.org” www.myf-egypt.org

3) Call 19731 for cash collection

4) Through the branches of the Post Office Authority

5) Through ‘fawry’ services

Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation depends upon the financial generosity of individuals and institutions to carry out its mission and fulfill its objectives.

You can choose to donate by either of the following means OR donate online:

MYF Bank Accounts at:

Commercial International Bank       EGP 0790109276

Commercial International Bank       USD 0790358113

Banque Misr                                           15500100106952

National Societe General Bank         EGP 2031181768762

National Societe General Bank         USD 2031198139452

Arab African International Bank       7773910