Egyptian censors have recently approved the screening of the short narrative film “Lee…Lee,” which is based on the novel “Akan La Bud Ya Lee lee An Tudie Al Noor” (Lee… Lee, Did you have to Put the Light on?) by prominent Egyptian writer Yousef Idris. The film was directed by Marwan Hamed, son of renowned screenwriter Wahid Hamed.
The Western Audience award-winning film at the 13th International Claremont Verne Festival, “Lee…Lee” has been viewed by Muslim scholars at Al Azhar as looking down upon Islamic clerics.
The censors gave the condition that the film’s events should appear to take place during the period before the Egyptian government demolished Cairo’s famed Batiniyyah neighborhood.
The film is about religious issues in Batiniyyah, where drug sale formerly took place in broad daylight. The main character, Ahmed, played by Amar Waked, is appointed preacher and muezzin, and finds himself spurred to guide the neighborhood residents, particularly the drug overlord’s father. He also guides the most charming girl in the area, Lee Lee (played by Dina), who fascinates everybody except Ahmed.
The sheikh fails in his mission and is confronted by the drug overlord’s father. But the most difficult task he faces is the temptation of the girl, which he tries to avoid but fails. At one point, he cannot make the call to prayer because the girl is tempting him from her room overlooking the minaret. In another incident, he fails to pray as an imam in the mosque, because her image distracts him. Finally, the sheikh asks God for forgiveness and succeeds in overcoming her domination of his thoughts and feelings -- Albawaba.com
