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Al-Ahram Weekly

Barely deciphered - Culture - Al-Ahram Weekly

Hala ElKoussy's narrative feature debut was Zahrat Al-Sabbar (Cactus flower, 2017). Sharq 12 (East of Noon), her second, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight section and has participated in festivals and events around the world since then, but the first Egypt screening of the film in Egypt took place only last week at Cinema Zawya. The film opens with subtitles giving the location: the colony of Sharq 12 (the latter, as the English title indicates, a reference to noon). It is clear this won't be a mainstream experience. The title carries two values. One is geographic (east), the other temporal. It would never become clear what the metaphorical interpretation of the title is, though it suggests this is a space outside the world as we know it, as if the action is taking place in a space-time gap. This is also suggested by the fact that all the clocks and watches in the film don't work. The filmmaker-screenwriter sets her black comedy in the dystopian atmosphere of a remote village or colony near an abandoned industrial facility, which adds to its isolation. Each character symbolise a concept. At the beginning a female narrator (Menha Al-Batraoui) is telling the story of a couple with a young child escaping by the seashore. One of the first scenes shows the main character, Abdo (Omar Rozik) in his room playing percussions using slippers and old plastic water tubes. Abdo and his friend are drinking tea, however this simple act reflects the fact that sugar cubes are a rare commodity. In another scene sugar becomes a kind of currency. The two friends are seen burying a body with one of the security forces, and when they finish the job they are paid in sugar boxes. Shawki Al-Bahlawan (Ahmed Kamal) is the most powerful man in the village. His introductory scene quickly shows the luxury he lives in as he appears in his house wearing a bathrobe before he starts his work of following up on what is happening in the colony. In another scene he takes a box of sugar cubes out of his drawer and sniffs them passionately as he might do with banknotes. Shawki performs in a theatrical show in front of the colony's audience. This performance combines public speech with acting and dancing. The character represents the colony's power mixed with clownish behaviour in line with the name Al-Bahlawan, which though a known surname actually means clown. Galala (Al-Batraoui) is Abdo's grandmother and a character that may be seen as the opposite of Shawki. She is among the ordinary people of the community helping them to meet their needs by letting them barter unnecessary belongings for the contents of her shop-office. On the other hand, her main activity is telling the children of the colony stories about the sea while they act as if they swim on the office floor. In one of the most significant scenes in the film, Abdo confronts his grandmother about this. She says that imagination is a cure and he replies that imagination is a sedative. Shawki's authority is executed by armed men who represent the colony's security forces headed by Borai (Osama Abul-Atta). As a character Borai shows aggression against those who don't comply with what Shawki orders. He sexually exploits Nuna (Fayza Shama) by locking her in the toilet of the security office where he works, not only having sex with her himself but passing her onto all the other security personnel as well. Nuna, who is a free spirit forced against her will to have sex with all of these people, is in love with Abdo. However, she is pregnant and doesn't know who the father is. She only believes that escaping with Abdo from the colony may give her a better future. Most films about authoritarian oppression end with chaotic revolt, and Elkoussy's is no exception: Abdo, who is working with music and sound recording, fakes a message from Shawki using his old speeches telling all the people that there is a treasure in the area where they bury the bodies. It is clear Elkoussy is influenced by the late filmmaker Youssef Chahine, which is clear from characters like the lame man who wears a galabiya and moves around the village lusting after and perhaps harassing Nuna. He looks exactly like Qenawi, the main character of the Chahine's Bab Al-Hadid (Chahine himself played the role). In fact Abdo has similar features with Ibrahim, the young man in Chahine's The Return of The Prodigal Son. Both are obsessed with leaving the chaotic isolated place they live in and travel seeking a wider future. It is interesting that Egyptian cinema produces various kinds of films. Some have the attention of large audiences while others are only accepted by a few. But in the end such diversity represents a deeper value for the entire film and cultural industry alike. It is true that the core of creativity in general is built somehow on references and metaphors, but symbolism since its emergence as a movement in the 19th century has demonstrated an extreme notion regarding metaphors. Opposed to both naturalism and realism, symbolism gave artists the freedom to express their thoughts against the widespread political dominance of one-sided thought or even harassment by dictatorial authorities. Visually, ElKoussy's film is beautiful. Shot on 16 mm film black and white celluloid, the beautifully composed picture has a noticeable roughness. The DOP Abdel-Salam Moussa created an alluring image, while Ahmed Al-Sawy composed a peculiar score. However, the filmmaker may have relied too heavily on symbolic motifs, complex ideas, and layered messages, which became overwhelming for much of the audience. The capacity to grip the audience's emotions and sympathy was lost too often as the film engaged the intellect, but after losing the emotional connection it is not easy to satisfy the minds. Even experienced cinephiles felt the film lost the soul of its story, the primary means of capturing the viewers' attention. And in the end this made its intellectual and artistic power ring hollow. * A version of this article appears in print in the 3 July, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link: