The veteran scenarist Abdel Hayy Adeeb witnessed various phases of the Egyptian cinema over half a century which he started with the film Bab al Hadid based on a story by the Egyptian noble prize winning writer Naguib Mahfouz under the direction of yuosef Shahin in 1958. His latest film was Muthakkarat Murahiqa (Adolescent Memoirs) directed by Enas al Deghaidi. Between the two films Adeeb wrote around 110 scripts.
“When politics dominates art, it will be publicity. In my opinion art is an indirect politics. To feature the peoples’ crises including their lack of rights, hunger and poverty is politics in our daily life. Cinema raises issues without offering solutions, it warns those who have the solution,” Adeeb told the UAE daily al Bayan.
Adeeb considers the film Bab al Hadid which did not achieve success among the fans at the beginning but achieved an honorable ranking in the international cinema as an extraordinary thing at times when traditional issues and happy endings are addressed. “The film deviated from these issues the fact that was difficult for the audience,” he added.
“When I write I turn towards all people by tackling the human emotions of all classes. The film Umm al A’rousah was taken by the Turks, Indians and Indonesians and was nominated for the Oscar as the best Arabic film,” said Adeeb.
About his film Bait al Qadi, Adeeb said, “whoever fought in October war for the sake of his homeland and freedom came back to fight his bitter reality. He won the war against the enemy abroad to come back and face poverty and those who were behind it inside the country. The film depicts the discrepancy between classes and the consumption openness which has led to poverty and pushed the youth towards radicalism, enmity and thoughts that have no links with religion.”
“Terrorism exists only in turbulent societies due to unstable economy. Therefore the regime is responsible for this radicalism because it is responsible for its citizens. I tried to tackle this phenomenon in the film al Badron (Basement) in a serious manner away from comedy. It was a tragedy for a family, which paid heavily as a result of social despotism -- Albawaba.com
