by Jasmine Davis
If you haven’t heard of Hala Lotfy, you should learn more about her and her quest for female empowerment. She’s a 39-year-old female filmmaker in Egypt whose films take a look at modern Egypt. While her story isn’t as dramatic as that of Jafar Panahi, the Iranian filmmaker who defied a ban on making movies, it’s still an interesting one.
Lotfy is the sole Egyptian representative at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Her debut film, "Al-khoroug lel-nahar" (“Coming Forth by Day"), explores a young woman struggling to find her place in society as she cares for her bedridden father. According to Lotfy, however, the real political act behind her film was creating it in the first place.
In a recent article, Lotfy says, “It was an act of resistance, because the film scene in Egypt is so established that it makes it hard for individuals to make a name for themselves. It's a very good example of how the country lacks democracy. If you don't have money and aren't well-connected, then you aren't allowed to express yourself. But if democracy means anything, it is that everyone is entitled to express themselves, regardless of the tools they choose to do it." Lotfy is currently forming a “syndicate” of other filmmakers who want to break through the barriers set by the film industry in Egypt. “"We are trying to do films that are revolutionary in content, take risks and are adventurous in low-budget form. This is how things will change," says Lotfy.
Lotfy began filming before the Egyptian revolution in 2011. She was forced to suspend filming for five months while she participated in and documented the revolution on the streets of Cairo. However, she realized that simply filming “wasn’t what we should be doing” and returned to her film. She aims to inject a “sense of revolution” into her work.
Filmmakers lot Lotfy are inspiring and show how to empower women. Female filmmakers can be active participants in revolutions and make films about their experiences. Through programs like the Afghan Development Project, women in Afghanistan can gain the technical knowledge they’ll need to start a career in making films, giving them the ability to tell their own unique stories. While education in Afghanistan doesn’t typically include creative pursuits like this, the Afghan Development Project is giving girls in Afghanistan a chance to learn them. Through this and other projects, I hope to see more strong female filmmakers like Lotfy in the future.
