Egypt’s controversial film director inspires students

Multi award-winning Egyptian film director, Khaled El Hagar, encouraged Edge Hill University students to follow their beliefs during an inspirational visit.

Khaled, one of Egypt's most controversial movie makers, was at the Ormskirk campus recently to deliver a masterclass in film-making to media students.

The A-list director in the Arabian world, whose films have won many awards at festivals across the globe but who has also had some movies banned from the Egyptian screens due to their political nature, was able to pass on his words of wisdom to aspiring film-makers.

He urged students ‘not to be afraid to say what they felt' ' if they wanted to try to change opinions. Listen to an interview with Khaled here as he explains more about the political nature of some of his films which have instilled anger in his native country.

Professor Roger Shannon, from the University's Department of Media and who has also worked closely with Khaled on a number of projects, said: "Khaled El Hagar introduced to students the news that his most recent film, El Shooq / Lust, has been selected as Egypt's official Oscar entry, Best Foreign Language Film, for the Academy Awards taking place in February 2012. He described how El Shooq was released in Cairo cinemas on 5th January 2011, 20 days before the revolution, and that many critics now feel that his angry film predicted the events that would take place in the early part of the year, events we now known of as the 'Arab Spring.' His discussion with Ruxandra Trandafoiu, of the University's Department of Media, brought to light a number of very topical concerns regarding the recent revolutionary circumstances in Egypt, while also giving an informed insight into the relationship between cinema and contemporary politics. In fact, Khaled remarked during the discussion that 'the pursuit of money and power' in the film El Shooq in the character of Fatma stands as a metaphor for misguided ambition , like with the deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak."

Khaled studied law at Cairo University and has worked in film since 1985. His first short film, You Are My Life, won best film award at the Oberhausen festival. His first feature, Little Dreams, was screened at 37 festivals and won awards at Birmingham, Amiens, and FESPACO in Burkina Faso.

He moved to Birmingham, UK, in the 1990s, and has become well known on the film scene in the city, screening new films and collecting awards in the Birmingham International Film Festival.

His graduation film, A Gulf Between Us, set in 1991 London during the Gulf War, caused uproar in the Egyptian press when it was shown in Cairo in 1995. Khaled, who not only directed, but also starred in the film, was accused of promoting normalisation with Israel and could not return to Egypt until 2003.

Recent years have seen a growing acceptance in Cairo, where he has been filming regularly, producing multi-award winning movies, and becoming established as an important Director in the Arabic world. In December 2010 his most recent film El Shooq (Lust) won the Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film at Cairo's International Film Festival. It was the only Egyptian film in competition and the first time Egypt had won this award in 14 years. The film has been selected as the Egyptian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.