After the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian filmmakers struggled under the near era of Mohamed Morsi. Among of the many reforms that Morsi initiated in Egypt is the censorship of the arts, including the filmmaking industry. Under the new government, Egyptian films or any film that should be showed in Egyptian cinema will be evaluated and approved first by the religious leader of Egypt - al-Azhar (Obension, 2013). One of the first films that tasted the blow of the censorship was the Jews of Egypt. The argument of the censorship committee is that the film would create tension in the street of Egypt and the government discourages any violence again in the country.
With this development, several filmmakers have already voiced their fear that the Morsi era would bring down their imaginations down and would control the flow of information to the people through the Egyptian cinema. Filmmakers are aware that the protest they had against the rule of Mubarak had been successful and they are not looking forward for another unrest, but if need be, they are ready to translate their films into the political commentary of the day. This would generate again the true meaning and foundation of the Egyptian film, which was flourished during the Egyptian Revolution and the struggle of the people to gain independence.
The fear of filmmakers with the new policy of Morsi's government on censorship of the art is real because they had faced tremendous pressure during the rule Mubarak. The Mubarak rule have placed the film industry in the backseat, and this may happen again with Morsi rule. This censorship would again restrict filmmakers to be creative and to tell varied stories of their region or outside. The censorship will force filmmakers to choose their topics or subjects and avoid exploring issues that may take a stand against the government or the religious authority of the country.
After the Morsi government came into power, the state issued a change of the taxes levied on American films. The high taxation on these imported films aims to promote and help the Egyptian film industry to gain backing from the populace. Through this effort, the Egyptian film industry will have a rebirth and new sense of meaning, which had been taken away by the Mubarak government. However, the censorship seems to suggest a different agenda. Instead of promoting the development of the Egyptian film industry, the censorship would hinder the growth of the film industry.
I will be reviewing the definition of censorship in the Egyptian context and how the censorship affects the film industry as a whole. In the same manner, it is necessary to evaluate the criteria used by the censorship committee by taking the example of The Atheist – and several other censored films. This would present the mindset of the people behind the censorship and I will looking at how the Egyptian filmmakers responded on this censorship policy.
The Definition of Censorship
According to Mansour (2012, p. 6), "when it comes to evaluating the role of censorship in the Arab world, it can be said tat it acts as the patriarchal hand of the state that determines what is allowed to be shown to the public" for the purposes of ensuring an equal view of the art and the morality of the society. Simply, it is impossible to separate the state from the film industry or what must be shown to the public because in the patriarchal society, the state acts as the father who determines what must be shown to his children.
The censorship rule of the state is embodied in the 1976 Egyptian Law which said:
"Heavenly religions [i.e. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism] should not be criticized. Heresy and magic should not be positively portrayed. Immoral actions and vices are not be justified and must be punished. Images of naked human bodies or the inordinate emphasis on individual erotic parts, the representation of sexually arousing scenes, and the scenes of alcohol consumption and drug use are not allowed. Also prohibited is the use of the obscene and indecent speech... it is forbidden to represent social priblems as hopeless, to upset the mind or to divide religions, classes, and national unity. (qtd in Shafik, 2007, p. 34)"
However, even if how specific and clear the definition of censorship in the law of the land, Egyptian censorship is still subject to the minds and opinions of the censors. This means that the definition of the law can be expanded and extended to other aspects and areas of the society. As a result, the Egyptian censorship committee has the power to evaluate the film and judge it based on their opinions and not as defined by the law. This leeway of the Egyptian censorship raises questions on bias and abusive discretion of the authority. Simply, censorship is a matter of opinion and compromise rather than legal in nature as what happened to The Yacobian Building. This film showed explicit images of sexuality and it even promoted the idea of homosexuality, and still worse, the film bears too much violence as shown by police torture, terrorism and the massive corruption in the society. Yet, with all these violations, the film was not censored and was shown to the public, thereby pumping controversy over the capability of the censorship committee to review a film. This action from the censorship committee is the exact contrast of the Cairo Exit verdict. The film was deemed to have violated social norms that it was censored, although its issues are not as heavy and alarming than with The Yacobian Building.
The expansive definition of censorship takes a blow on the political and religious viewpoint of the censors. In today's climate, the censorship is political, religious and quasi-religious. Censors can judge the film as bearing taboo issues of the society, especially those that clash with the accepted moral, political and religious values. In this regard, the censorship becomes a personal matter. With the installment of al-Azhar, the prominent religious leader of Egypt, the censorship is expected to turn into a religious fight. It will be a matter of religious interest and a matter of religious clout.
How Censorship Affects the Egyptian Film Industry
Filmmakers claim that the censorship is a clamp on the creativity of the industry. Instead of allowing the free mind of the filmmakers to explore different topics and subjects, the censorship puts filmmakers in the box and stops them there to control the issues they will be tackling. The principle of filmmakers is that the censorship limits them to certain topics and subjects only, rather than encouraging to explore other subjects. It puts them under the power of the state to dictate what should be filmed.
In the Western world, filmmakers are allowed to look for fresh contents and scripts that will allow them to use their creativity. This system allows filmmakers to gather their resources and advance their causes without fear that the government may stop them (Amin, 2012). In today's Egypt, the censorship becomes a burden for filmmakers. Instead of exploring other topics, filmmakers must choose the topics according to the intent of the government. If they would do otherwise, censorship is imposed on their films and they would not be able to regain or profit from the production of the film. This creates a ripple effect that affect the entire industry. If films produced by filmmakers are not allowed to be shown in the public, the cost of production will be forfeited and producers and film outfits will stop producing films because of lack of capital or finance fund to do it. In the end, the Egyptian film industry suffers the setback of stagnation, then eventual death.
This is the exact opposite of the desire of the government to make the Egyptian film industry flourish. As described above, the censorship will cause the decline and death of the industry itself. Although this is not an automatic process, but this gradual process will end in the same manner. The average Egyptian films produced in this decade is six films, but filmmakers are wary that they can produce high-budgeted films this year. The production is already a struggle and they don't have assurance that their films will be approved by the censorship committee and shown in public. In essence, the film industry of Egypt has become a big risk for filmmakers.
Aside from the question on the stifling of the Egyptian film creativity, the censorship also raises question on the freedom of expression of the people. It must be noted that the Egyptian film industry played a major role in trumpeting the voice of the revolution against rule of former strongman Hosni Mubarak, but with the new government, the same film industry is under fire and the state power of restriction and control. Because it would be hard for filmmakers to voice their commentaries and opinions on the issues of the society, filmmakers believe that the government of Morsi is not true to its words of equality among all men, irregardless of religion and affiliation, status in life, and potential to wealth.
The question on freedom of expression is an important discourse of the film industry's future because this is the basic principle of the expression of art. Instead of showing advanced and more contemporary films, the Egyptian film industry will returned to its former status to comply with the requirements of the government's censorship. It is a backward direction for Egyptian filmmakers.
Criteria Used in Censorship
One of the most controversial films that is set to be released this year is Al-Molhid or The Atheist. This film speaks of the plight of a modern atheist who is living in Egypt. The film explores the idea of the rights of atheists in Egypt as they grow in number. According to Gawad (2012), the film is the first of its kind to explore a topic that has been considered a taboo in this religious society. Egyptian filmmakers have since avoided discussion of atheism in the country because it would generate negative public comments and views. However, for director Nader Seif El-Din, it is time for the Egyptian society to face the reality of the growing atheism of the region.
The primary reason of Al-Molhid's censorship is the discussion of religious issue that is very sensitive to the people (Montasser, 2012). As mentioned earlier, the film censorship committee maintains discretion on what is sensitive and what is not. For the committee, the film would stir protests and series of violence in the street. However, as the religious and political aspects of the Egyptian society are intertwined and connected to each other, the censorship of the film can be viewed as in terms of political discretion. In Egypt, especially with the rise of the Islamic fundamentalism as favored by the Morsi government being himself a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, religious freedom is a sensitive issue. Although, the Morsi government promised to respect all religious and beliefs, the idea of atheism has not been considered a religion. In fact, for those who claimed to atheist, the state has the right to prosecute them and punish them with penalty and imprisonment.
By confronting a taboo that is included in the definition of censorship law, Al-Molhid presents a new kind of definition for the legal limits of the censorship law. After a time, just recently, the film received approval from the censorship committee and the film is set for release. This shows the reversal of the former ruling of the committee to censor and ban the film's public showing. Thus further presents the complex criteria being used by the committee in evaluating films. Questions like “what topics are really considered legal?”, and “what are the basis for the censorship?” abound. And this reversal of the censorship proves the point I made above that the censorship becomes a personal matter that is reviewed according to the opinions and mindsets of the censorship committee, rather than based on the legal framework of the issue.
Just recently also, the film Jews of Egypt gained approval from the censorship committee after reservations on the title of the film. This film of Amir Ramses is a historical documentary of Egypt's relationship with Jews (Perry, 2013). In the film, the director examines the way the Egyptian society has changed over the past years in terms of its behavior of Jews' presence in the country. Although, the definition of censorship based on the Egyptian law provides that all religious should be respected and should be portrayed without discrimination, the censorship committee was hesitant to give permission to Jews of Egypt.
If the argument of the censorship committee is based on religious grounds, the film does not violate any religious law of the region, and the Egyptian law on censorship allows films that discusses other religions. Much more, President Morsi expressed equality of men in the country without regard to religion that he even appointed a Christian presidential aide. If the argument of the committee is based political grounds, it is unfounded and deliberate action to curtail the expression of the opinion of the person. But it is impossible to categorize the film's censorship as political or religious because the film is just a historical documentary, which is devoid of any opinion. (Although, there are instances and extremes that the political opinion of the director is expressed, but it is impossible to separate the filmmaker from his or her. )
The Response of Egyptian Filmmakers
Left without any help from the state government, filmmakers resort to using the media and their art to change the mind of the censorship committee. For Amr Salama, the censorship of the Egyptian film should be taken to proper avenues. Salama's film focused on the acknowledgment of the reality of discrimination against Copts in Egypt. But for Salama, discussion of the plight of those in other sects of religion is never considered worthy of censorship, based on the argument presented above. According to Salama, he is going to file a lawsuit should the Minister of Culture defeats his promise of lifting the censorship of the film. For Salama, it is time to really test if the promise of the Morsi government of freedom of expression is really real (Amin, 2012).
Moreover, there are also filmmakers who appeared in independent satellite TV channels to voice their disgust over the policy of censorship being imposed by the government. By appearing in these TV networks, filmmakers are fighting against the committee by urging the people to help them in their fight, the way they did to topple the strongman former president Hosni Mubarak. With the advent of technology, filmmakers can address a large number of people at once to gain backing from the populace to persuade the committee to change its stand of censorship. In essence, it is war of principles and ideas on who could get better following and who could get the opinion of the people.
References:
Amin, S. (2012). Egypt's Film Makers Still Plagued by Censorship. Palestine Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.palestinechronicle.com/old/view_article_details.php?id=19633.
Amin, S. (2012). How Egypt is stifling its film industry. Retrieved from http://uncut.indexoncensorship.org/2012/10/how-egypt-is-stifling-its-film-industry/.
Obenson, T. (2013). Where Is Egyptian Cinema Headed? Filmmakers Lament New Censorship Under Morsi's Rule. Retrieved from http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/where-is-egyptian- cinema-headed
Perry, T. (2013). "Jews of Egypt" film passes censor after delay: director. Reuters.
Shafik, V. (2007). Arab Cinema: History and Culture Identity. American Univ in Cairo Press.