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DELIVERING SOME OF EGYPT’S MOST MEMORABLE MOVIES OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS HASN’T BEEN EASY FOR MOHAMED KHAN. FIND OUT HIS TRUE PASSION FOR FILM AND HOW HIS DREAM OF BECOMING A DIRECTOR WAS REKINDLED

by sherif awad

Director Mohamed Khan found success in the 1970s and 1980s making films depicting contemporary Egyptian society. His first few films, covering a wide genre, led audiences to believe they were watching scenes from real life, and just happened to be captured on camera not actors playing imaginary characters. The sense of reality that prevailed throughout his films helped Khan stand out among his contemporaries and earned him a trustworthy trademark in cinema ‘Khan Films’ assured audiences a masterfully pieced film, honestly reflecting the different social classes, cultures and ideologies that exist within Egyptian society.

We know a lot about Khan the film director. But how much do we actually know about Khan the person?

Well for starters, he is not actually Egyptian. Khan, meaning king or chief in Punjabi a region in North India and the east side of Pakistan that was split between the two countries in 1947 indicates he has Asian origins. Indeed, his father was in fact a Punjabi who immigrated to Egypt. His mother was also not Egyptian; She was an Italian who moved with her family to Egypt due to the nature of her father’s work.

His parents’ only child, they dedicated enough time refining their son’s education and worldly knowledge and ensured that he fit into society. The family lived in Downtown Cairo before moving to England when Khan was in his teens.

In 1963, he graduated with a cinema diploma from the then London School of Film Technique. He knew in his heart that he wanted to return to Egypt and make a difference in the cinema industry, but he took his time and wrote a book on the industry instead. An Introduction to the Egyptian Cinema was published in 1969 in the UK by Informatics publishers. A couple of years later he edited Outline of Czechoslovakian Cinema.

Almost a decade later, his feature film directorial debut Darbet Chams (Chams’ Blow), starring Nour El-Sherif, hit theaters in 1978. Since then, Khan has directed some 20 films that have become renowned as classics together with unprecedented dialogue, they chronicle contemporary Egyptian society. Throughout the years, Khan has provided informative, emotional insights of ordinary Egyptian people the types of characters usually overlooked by many that may not have an impact on society at large but nonetheless are significant as are their life experiences.

One of the few filmmakers in Egypt who took risks, the rebel as he became known cemented his own filmmaking style that attained him worldwide cinematic recognition. He was soon showered with an array of awards and had numerous international film festival screenings held in his honor. He was also nominated twice for the Golden Prize at the Moscow film festival: the first was for El-Harrif (Street Player - 1983), his sole collaboration with star Adel Imam; the second nod came in 1987 for Zawget Ragol Mohem (The Wife of an Important Person).

Following the release of Ayyam El-Sadat (The Days of Sadat) in 2001, Egypt’s president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak honored Khan with a National Medal in Science and Arts. This award was added to the National Medal in Culture he had received three years before in Tunisia.

But don’t let thirty years of filmmaking lead you to believe that Khan is a traditional man, set in his ways with an ‘old school’ style. Always open to change and adapting to new technologies, the director didn’t hesitate to venture into shooting his latest, yet-to-be-commercially-released film Klephty (2004) in digital format.

Now in his 60s, Khan takes Carnival Arabia readers through his road to success, explains why the future looks promising and proves to be an inspiration to us all.

When did you decide to become a filmmaker?

MK: I have been a film buff all of my life. I grew up near two open-air cinemas, namely Paradie and Karnak in Ard-Sheref [in the Abdeen neighborhood]. I used to hear the films’ soundtracks from my room and I could tell which point the movie was at. At that time, I wanted to become an architect because I didn’t know that film art could be studied. Even though both of my aunts’ husbands from my mother’s side [his mother is an Italian who was born in Egypt] were famous directors of photography, Guilio de Luca and Umberto Lanzano, my contacts with this side of the family weren’t strong enough.

Eventually, in the 1960s I went to England to study architecture. One day, I met a Sri Lankan man in front of the building where I was living. He told me that he studied cinema a revelation that turned my life upside down. Around this time the Egyptian film institute was being established but I was already out of town. I joined a very small school near Brixton market called the London School of Film Technique that eventually became The International London Film School. I took evening classes while I worked in the morning as a clerk.

CA: Which directors and films influenced you at that time?

MK: Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960) starring Monica Vitti. I was mesmerized [by the film] because it had an ‘open ending’ that made me realize that cinema isn’t always a typical story with a beginning and an end. Moreover, it could have deep feelings and real characters. Watching movies was my real ‘film school.’ I must have seen 15,000 films. Even now I have a big film library at home. And I think I will see every film in it again when I get older.

CA: Before moving behind the camera, you were exposed to other cultures. Is this important to a filmmaker?

MK: Of course. I also think that the younger generation at the film institute were inspired by my work and that of my contemporaries. Our generations have complemented each other without competing. We made films to reflect our ideas. Now, they say that we were the reason why people didn’t go to the cinema, which is not true. Our films made money. Now filmmakers and producers want to make easy money using other methods.

Home is Where the Heart is

CA: After finishing your studies, why did you decide to return to Egypt?

MK: I was young and could land the opportunity to get a union card to work in the British film industry. But I felt that the only place where I could express myself was Egypt. I was told by a childhood friend, director of photography Said Shimi, about an advertisement mentioning that the National Film Company, headed by Salah Abu Seif, needed new blood. I wrote to Salah Abu Seif from London. I saved some money and traveled to meet him but I was too embarrassed to say I would like to direct films. Instead, I said that I would like to write scripts. I stayed home for three months and wrote a script for him that I presented to their reading department, which also included Ra’fat El-Meehy, Mustafa Moharram and others. They wrote a fantastic report about my script that was never made [into a film]. But I was employed as the youngest member of the department writing script reports and doing research.

After a year, I discovered that I was doing a desk job so I headed to Lebanon where I worked as an assistant director on three films between 1964 and 1966. The films were not good. Then I thought to myself “What the hell am I doing here?” I was in love with a Danish girl who left for Denmark, so I decided to pack my bags and return to London.

That was a tough period for me. My father had died, I also married my first wife and we had a child. I turned a grocery store [in London] into a jeans shop. One day, film editor Nadia Shoukry came and saw my personal library of film books and urged me to return to Egypt. “All you need is 5,000 Egyptian pounds and then you can get a distribution loan to make a film in Egypt,” she said. And the dream was back on: I sold the shop and returned to Egypt where I started to write Darbet Chams (Chams’ Blow - 1980) with Fayez Ghaly, who was recommended by Ra’fat El-Meehy.

During the 1970s, I didn’t know any of the contemporary actors and Nadia suggested Nour El-Sherif, who was right at the beginning of his stardom. When he saw the synopsis, Nour wanted to produce the film. I agreed. Budgets at that time ranged from 600,000 to 800,000 Egyptian pounds. Although I was the writer and director, I didn’t know how much I should ask for as a fee. While I was riding with Nour in his green Volkswagen, I said “I’ll take LE 1,500” [Khan laughs as he recalls]. Then I asked him, “What if it stays in theaters for more than 20 weeks?” There was a law limiting the number of playing weeks for a film to 17 weeks. He replied “I will give you a thousand more.” I said, “Write it down in my contract.” I still have the contract hanging on my wall. The film showed for 20 weeks.

By the time this film was shown, I had already completed my second film El-Raghba (Desire 1980); a free adaptation of The Great Gatsby again with Nour. The films were released simultaneously in two neighboring theaters. Because Darbet Chams was a big hit, people thought that I wanted to make action films. But I didn’t have this ideology of limiting myself to a certain genre. I then went to make El-Tha’er (Vengeance - 1982; based on an idea from the western The Bravados 1958) with Mahmoud Yasine and Youssra. But I think my movie Ta’er ‘Ala El-Tareek (Bird on the Road - 1981) was the first film in which I found the kind of cinema I wanted to make. I discovered that I have more interest in characters not stories. Until now, I am still faithful to this concept.

CA: Was it easy financing your different film genres at the beginning of your career?

MK: Like I said, I shot my second film before my first came out. The producer of El-Raghba wanted Mahmoud Yasine but I wanted Nour El-Sherif again to pay him back for producing Chams. El-Tha’er was my production, though I was conned and didn’t gain a penny. I shot it very fast in just four weeks using only 54 film cans. I’ve never been a spoiled director. Even [Ayyam] El-Sadat (Days of Sadat 2001) took me 11 weeks to complete.

The Khan Film Festival

CA: Tell us about El-Hareef (Street Player - 1984), your only film with Adel Imam.

MK: El-Hareef was my idea and our production Nadia Shoukry, screenwriter Besheir El-Deek, the late Atef El-Tayeb and I through our company El-Sohba. I remember meeting the late director Niazy Mustafa, who said, “I have been doing films for 50 years and never thought of doing one about street football players.” Adel Imam played the main character, based on a real street player known as Barefoot Said.

CA: During this period (1980s), you continued collaborating with screenwriters Fayez Ghaly and Besheir El-Deek. Why?

MK: To me, gathering a screenwriter, a music composer and a director of photography for a certain film is just as important as casting it. I remember when I first met Besheir, I told him the idea of Maw’ed ‘Ala Asha (A Dinner Date - 1981). He said “This Khan is crazy!”

But the one brilliant writer I miss is the late Assem Tawfik, with whom I made three films: Kharag Wa Lam Ya’od (Missing Person - 1985), ‘Awadet Mowaten (Return of a Citizen - 1986) and Supermarket (1990). We complemented each other.

CA: Speaking of Kharag Wa Lam Ya’od, it was misinterpreted by critics like many of your other films.

MK: Of course. They were saying naive things about it: “It is an invitation to go to the countryside and leave our problems in the city unresolved.” The idea was inspired by an H.E. Bates novel called The Darling Buds of May. Our film was a look at a lost paradise through the eyes of Attia, played by Yehia El-Fakharany. Assem [Tawfiq] was an intelligent writer who reflected many ideas between the lines. Now, this movie is being re-discovered.

CA: Youm Har Geddan (A Very Hot Day - 1995) thrived in a period of low budget, straight-to-video films; would you tell us about it?

MK: I made Fares El-Madina (The Knight of the City - 1992) with a bank loan of LE 200,000 and the support of the bank’s head, Dr. Hazem El-Beblawy, who was interested in cinema. The film was released a year and half after I finished it because of distribution problems. I was given a year to return the money to the bank without interest. I rushed to write Youm Har Geddan with the newly-graduated Zeinab Aziz. I shot the whole film with Mohamed Fouad and Sherihan in four weeks. By the end of the year, I managed to return most of the loan.

CA: Should actors venture into producing?

MK: Yes, but they are always panicking. After producing ‘Awdet Mowaten (Return of a Citizen -1986), Yehia El-Fakharany told the newspapers he was ruined. Later, the French-German channel Arté bought its broadcasting rights for $100,000. He didn’t lose money. Farouk El-Fishawy, who produced and starred in my film Meshwar Omar (Omar’s Journey - 1986) was very professional. Nour [El-Sherif] wasn’t a problem but Ahmed [Zaki] was a very big problem. The one I admired was the late Farid Shawky who, throughout his life, kept on producing films.

CA: You made six films with Ahmed Zaki. Tell us about your relationship.

MK: Our actor-director relationship was perfect. I will miss him as a filmmaker. In any future film and every major part in a new film, I will always cast him first in my mind before searching for a substitute.

CA: What are your thoughts when you remember Zaki?

MK: I once told him that had I become an actor, I would have wished to be like him. He responded by saying that had he become a director he would have wished to have been like me. We were both Scorpios, challenging each other and I guess that’s why his performances in our films are rated so highly.

I remember once we fought about something or the other and stopped talking to each other. Then, on a trip to Paris, we both found ourselves the only two passengers flying in first class. We had to talk and make up. We were both very childish at times.

The first time I saw Zaki was in a producer’s office as he was leaving. But his performance as Taha Hussein in the TV series Al Ayam (The Days) caught my attention. I later contacted him to offer him a part in my film El Tha’er and arranged to meet one early winter morning at Groppi in Heliopolis. He turned down the role of a police officer because he was going to travel to Greece and take part in a TV series. During our meeting I mentioned my future idea about a long distance taxi driver. He never forgot our conversation and looked me up later asking about that part. This was to be our first film together, Ta’er ‘Ala El-Tariq (Bird on the Road - 1981).

CA: Zaki was ill for a year before he passed away, why had you not seen him?

MK: Well after Ayyam El-Sadat (Days of Sadat - 2001) we seemed to have drifted apart each of us involved in other projects. Knowing of his fatal illness shocked me greatly, to the point that I was afraid to see him in such state. When he died I was in Morocco.

CA: After Youm Har Geddan in 1995, you made Ayyam Al Sadat in 2001. Where were you in the period between these two films?

MK: I spent eight months in Prague with my friend, director Khairy Beshara, doing the graphics for a Fawazeer (Ramadan Riddles) project starring Sherihan for ART, which never saw light. I was also involved in preparing other projects. Then [the project for] Sadat came to me and then was taken away, because Ahmed Zaki thought I was neglecting the project. But I was actually researching by meeting El-Sadat’s daughter and people who knew him. [The producers] contacted me again when I was in Prague. I wanted to do a neutral film about El-Sadat. The other directors, whom Ahmed Zaki had contacted, wanted to do an ideological film. What really interested me is that the story is about a poor peasant who becomes president. If you see the film, you will feel it is split into two parts: The first is based on my research. The second part was dry because I was against Ahmed Zaki recreating the speeches of El-Sadat. I even suggested doing another edit for the foreign market because El-Sadat, as an international figure, would be a selling point and foreigners wouldn’t be interested in speeches.

Nobody believes that I worked on Days of Sadat without a ‘decoupage’ shooting script. The style was in my head. Simply the camera was looking at Sadat who argues cases, various disputes and takes crucial decisions. I considered my objective camera as voyeur. The movie was surprisingly a great success among mainstream comedies that were showing at the time, making 12 million Egyptian pounds, and the majority of its audience were young people.

Here and Now

CA: Moving to Klephty (2004), when did you decide to direct a digital film?

MK: I was always interested in digital technology because digital cinema will eventually replace celluloid. I bought my first digital camera four years before making Klephty a slang word that comes from the Latin ‘klept’ which means thief. I must say that it was the most enjoyable film experience in my entire career. There was only a crew of 10 professional people including director of photography Tarek El-Telmesany and soundman Ra’fat Samir. I had the advantage of two months of rehearsals and casting from 200 [people] before shooting, something I couldn’t do on bigger productions. The characters were real and it was shot in the streets. It was a magnificent experience. It was screened during the 2004 Cairo Film Festival and I plan to sell it abroad to satellite channels like Channel Four in the UK, ZDF in Germany and Channel Thirteen in New York.

CA: If you had got two leading actors other than Bassem Samra and Roula Mahmoud, could you have released it in theaters?

MK: My main objective was that the audience would not know them, so they would believe them in playing these roles.

CA: Would you venture into directing another digital film?

MK: Of course.

CA: Tell us about your new project.

MK: I’m working on this new film called Banat West El-Balad (Downtown Girls). But I feel disappointed. I have never experienced such difficulty in casting like I do now because we have a very limited number of actors and actresses that are box office stars. Actually, actresses [still] don’t have box office potential. Even if you talk about actors, you only think comedians. People who are just breaking through, like Ahmed Ezz, still need onscreen support because they cannot star in a film on their own. Only comedians like Mohamed Saad and Mohamed Heneidy can do this.

When I started in this industry, I had all the leading men like Ahmed Zaki, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and the leading ladies like Soad Hosni and Madiha Kamel starring in my movies.

Also, there is an additional difficulty in getting the newcomers to accept parts. The majority of productions are tailor-made films for the comedians by the distributor for the mainstream. I have a script that I’ve been trying to make for 12 years. It has been in turnaround between producers and I’m trying to get its rights back. It faces this difficulty because it doesn’t follow the so called trends of today. The script is about a fat girl.

CA: What struck you the most about the actors you have selected?

MK: Menna Shalaby and Hend Sabry were my ‘Downtown Girls’ from the very start. The script was being written by my wife Wessam Soliman who also wrote Ahla Al Awkat (Best of Times - 2004) and based on my own screen story. They are ambitious girls, intelligent, talented and certainly lucky to be among the very few ‘A listed’ actors [who have made it] in a very short time.

CA: When is filming expected to be complete and when will it hit the big screen?

MK: Filming started early April and is expected to last till the end of May. As for when it will be released, that’s up to the distributors.

CA: You only began filming a couple of weeks ago, and many scenes are in the street, what obstacles have you had to face?

MK: I have been known throughout my career as a street [filming] guy and I must tell you that in over 25 years and through 20 films, I have watched and felt the changes in the pulses of our streets: It has moved from some kind of serenity to a tense environment. It’s scary.

CA: Any other new projects?

MK: I am writing, on and off, another story called Shate’e Stanley (Stanley Beach). [I’m also] contemplating a film adaptation of the novel Raya We Skina (Raya and Skina). I have a film noir script called Double Kiss. It is in English and I hope to shoot it in Lebanon. I am negotiating a TV series in Morocco. [Many] dreams, plans, negotiations but until the camera rolls nothing is certain.

CA: Is there anything you feel you have not yet accomplished?

MK: Yes to make “The Film” in capital letters. What will it be about? Only heaven knows!

CA: What advice would you give to the young generation interested in following your footsteps or pursuing a film career?

MK: To compromise as little as they can and be honest with themselves as much as possible.