Controversial Egyptian director Enas Al Deghaidi, well-known for being one of the most provocative and daring directors of the era, has filed a lawsuit against the Arab satellite channel ART. Enas's complaint came after ART aired scenes on the show "La Tathhab Hatha Al Massa" (Don't Leave This Evening), from one of her films “Muthakkarat Murahiqa” (Adolescent’s Memoirs), that are restricted and uncensored.
According to the London based daily, Al Sharq Al Awsat, Enas was very disappointed when she found out ART had broadcasted the scenes that were restricted by the Egyptian Censors, in turn negatively affect her image and reputation. The show featured film critics that were focusing on Enas's daring film pointing out its negative features. Enas had taken part in the show over the phone in which she exploded in anger reprimanding those that referred to her a director who only produces sex films that have no real meaning to them.
Deghaidi has always been the cause of various hot debates in the Arab World for her films. She is known for arousing violent reactions among the audience and critics with her hot film scenes. Her film “Muthakkarat Murahiqa” is considered by some observers as an insult to the Egyptian girl, which prompted one of the viewers to file a lawsuit against her. She was found not guilty in the lawsuit raised against her for defaming girls in Egypt.
The court has said that, "the director has not harmed Egyptian girls directly when she described them as crossing the red lines as was stated by one of the actresses in the movie.” Egyptian censors gave the green light to Enas after deleting most of the provocative sex scenes from the film.
“Although people objected to scenes in the film and demanded banning it, I nixed that and asked the censors to meet the director and screenwriter to discuss with them the omission of the objected scenes. Both the director and writer agreed to omit six scenes in response to the censors’ demands,” the chairman of the Censorship Committee, Madkour Thabet, said.
The film, which was scripted by Abdel Hai Adib, is about an adolescent student named Jamila (Hind Sabri), who is a romantic girl coming from a middle class family with dreams of love. Jamila fanaticizes about herself as Cleopatra, with her lover Antonio. She meets her lover accidentally and lives with him as if in a love story.
Despite all of this, Deghaidi insists on her style in tackling issues in the cinema pushing the envelope of challenge. She adds that “The reaction to the film is very good and this is evidenced by the large revenues it generated and the large number of people who saw it. The film doesn’t in any way insult the woman and just brings-to-lightsome of the prohibited acts a girl may violate.
Once asked about the frequent and provocative sex scenes she uses in her movies, Deghaidi answered, "I try to deal with the social issues, however, they always, in one way or another, transfer themselves into one major issue: sex!!" - Albawaba
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
