egypt

These Girls (Egypt)
Director: Tahani Rached
Year: 2006
Runtime: 68 minutes
Screening Times: March 1, 2008, 7:30 PM
Screens at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West

Synopsis:
Welcome to the streets of Cairo and a band of wild and crazy young girls as they live, dream, give birth, and dodge both the authorities and their fathers. In spite of their situation, the girls vibrant and charming personalities emerge as we follow them over the course of several days and hear their stories.

Director’s Biography:
Born in Egypt, Tahani Rached settled in Quebec in 1966. After attending Montreal’s École des Beaux-Arts, she was involved in community action until she made her first film, “Pour Faire Changement” (1972), a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe, which set the tone for all her future work. In 1979, her first feature film, “Les Voleurs de Jobs”, revealed her distinctive view of the world. A documentary on immigration, it demonstrated her ability to capture reality. This was followed by a series of six half-hour documentaries for Radio-Quebec on Quebec’s Arab community.

As a NFB staff filmmaker from 1980 to 2004, she tackled sensitive topics: war in “Beirut! Not Enough Death to Go Round” (1983); the resourcefulness of the disadvantaged, through the songs in “Au Chic Resto Pop” (1990); and a doctor’s battle against AIDS in “Doctors with Heart” (1993). “Four Women of Egypt” (1997) features four women who couldn’t be more different but who are nevertheless united in their search for meaning and tolerance through 50 years of contemporary Egyptian history.

In “Emergency! A Critical Situation” (1999), an entire emergency room team speaks about their difficult work, while in “For a Song” (2001), it is extracurricular activities such as singing in a choir that are found to restore social ties, lift the soul and create beauty. “Soraida, A Woman of Palestine” (2004) captures the reflections, concerns and imagination of a Palestinian woman, her family and her neighborhood, the soul of a nation that is doing its best to survive the war and occupation. In 2006 she shot her latest film El-Banat Dol (These Girls), in Egypt.

Video interview with Tahani Rachid, Miami International Film Festival.
Interviews with the director in Qantara: Dialogue with the Islamic World and Egypt Today.

Reviews:
Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo
Twitch Film

Overview by Julie Giles

These Girls begins with the startling image of a teenage girl navigating the hectic traffic of an urban thoroughfare – atop a galloping horse. From this memorable intro to Tata, one of the film’s bombastic characters, we are thrust into the shocking world of Cairo’s street girls, a world where glue-sniffing is a common release, prostitution a necessity for survival, and sexual violence a perpetual threat.

Despite the perils the girls are forced to face, they display a camaraderie, sense of humour, and courage that are inspiring. Left to fend for themselves, often abandoned by family, harassed by police and ignored by the authorities, the girls have carved a niche out of nothing, living by their wits in a life and death game of survival. Skilled director Tahani Rached enters their world and records it with great sensitivity and no leading commentary, allowing the actions of these remarkable girls tell the story.

Program notes by George Kaltsounakis