The idea of the film Al Naamah Wal Taous goes back to 30 years ago when the late director Salah Abu Seif brought to teach couples and school children sex life.
The idea was considered at that time as too early until the director’s son, Mohammed, came and implemented what his father could not do due to the rejection of the censors of what they described as a daring film.
“I have not changed anything in the script which my father and Lenin Al Ramli wrote 30 years ago,” Mohammed Abu Seif told Agence France Presse (AFP) Saturday after the film had been screened at the Alexandria International Film Festival, adding that his attempt to direct the film was based on his late father’s vision.
The film explores the relations between the married couple Mustapha and Basma whose life has become very difficult due to their cold sex relations. Romance between them has changed into squabble which forces Basma to leave her house and go to her mother without daring to tell her about the reason of the problem.
Basma devotes her life to her daughter and work at a costume factory where women talk about their sex affairs with their husbands with each of them telling her particular problem. Only one of these women succeeds in her sex relations through her continuous endeavors to excite her husband.
A woman brings a sex magazine to the factory which spurs Basma to consult the writer of the medical article (played by Lebleba) regarding her problem. She tells the writer everything particularly her husband’s negligence of her sex desire and finishing his copulation before she reaches orgasm.
Meanwhile, the husband turns to prostitutes where he finds enjoyment with them but he continues loving his wife who leaves him. After he attends a religious lesson given by his uncle at the mosque he realizes that he should review his position. He goes back to the doctor and from the interview he discovers the various mistakes which males have been brought up with and their completely wrong information on sex.
Through the dialogue with the doctor, the way the children are raised is condemned particularly keeping them ignorant with their bodies at the adolescence stage in addition to their abidance to traditions and social norms. Among these are the circumcision, which affects the sex life of the wife and the husband’s ignorance of his wife’s body and the way he should deal with.
The film Al Naamah Wal Taous (Ostrich and Peacock) won 4 awards on Monday at the Alexandria International Film Festival -- Albawaba.com
