Professor marks first Liverpool Arabic Film Festival

A film producer from Edge Hill University is marking the first Liverpool Arabic Film Festival of its kind by joining forces with one of Egypt's top directors for a special event.

Professor Roger Shannon, from the University's Department of Media, will host a Q&A on 6th July at FACT in Liverpool with Khaled El Hagar, who is flying in from Cairo for the occasion.

FACT will be screening the Egyptian filmmaker's first feature film, Little Dreams, which powerfully conveys a generation's disenchantment with the popular leader of the late 1960s, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Set in Suez, in the period leading up to and during the six-day war against Israel in 1967, the film is filled with captivating, dreamlike sequences that unfurl with vivid splashes of colour. El Hagar's statement is a gripping, prophetic and human wartime drama.

Khaled El Hagar has built his artistic career shared between his native Egypt and the UK. It is the depth and the range of his films that resonate with audiences, as he shuttles between cultures and genres with an ease and a versatility, taking in comedies, dance films, popular musicals, and contemporary dramas with a social cutting edge, and all filmed with a heightened palate of ‘kitsch bazaar,' for which distinctive visual look he has been dubbed ‘the Pedro Almodovar' of Arabic cinema. Khaled El Hagar's most recent film, El Shooq / Lust, won the premier prize of Best Film at the 2010 Cairo International Film Festival.

Professor Shannon, who has 30 years experience as film producer, festival director, writer and broadcaster, will chair a discussion with the director Khaled El Hagar and the curator of the Liverpool Arabic Film Festival, Omar Kholeif, in what promises to be a lively question and answer session following the screening at FACT.

He explained: "I'm delighted that Edge Hill University is collaborating with the Arabic Film Festival on this event. Not only does the city of Liverpool have one of the largest Arab communities in the UK, but the recent events of the 'Arab Spring' have also showcased a moment of significant political and cultural restructuring; the timeliness of this Festival, showcasing Arabic cinematic talent, allows us to witness the role that film making has played in recent years in helping to ferment new ideas and envision fresh horizons in anticipation of the changes and restructuring in the Arab world. I suggested to the organisers that they involve the director Khaled El Hagar in the programme, as he is one of the most controversial directors of his generation, and a director that I have worked with before, principally with the movie Room to Rent. One of the very topical areas of discussion at the Q&A will no doubt be the role that films and film directors have played in the recent events in Egypt, and the wider Arab Spring."

The screening is at 6pm on 6th July and tickets are priced £6.00 / £5.00 (Members & concessions).  Visit the website www.fact.co.uk for more information. The Liverpool Arabic Film Festival, curated by Omar Kholeif, is linked to the long-running Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival and includes UK premieres of films that focus on the history and politics of the Arabic-speaking world. Besides Khaled El Hagar's participation, the festival programme also includes numerous other screenings, discussions and events.