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Egyptian film-maker Nadia Kamel’s multi-ethnic documentary talks about mixed marriages
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Director’s take Egyptian film-maker Nadia Kamel
The mainstream tries to suppress alternative cinema, expresses Nadia Kamel. The only difference is, she is talking about the Egyptian film industry and not India. “We have a Cairo‘wood’ like Bollywood, though it’s not such a l
arge and efficient industry. But it has the same diseases. The mainstream actors in Egypt give more importance to the remuneration, so I am considering working with non-professional actors for my next venture,” the Egyptian film-maker says.
Nadia’s documentary Salata Baladi (A House Salad won the Best Documentary Film Award at the recent Mumbai International Film Festival. Over a cup of coffee, she says earnestly, “I least expected the award.” Salata Baladi is a multi-ethnic documentary that reflects and celebrates the history of mixed marriages in Egypt, in Nadia’s family to be precise, over 100 years.
The origins of some of her family members can be traced to Russia, Turkey, Spain, Israel, South of Egypt and other nations. “The documentary recalls how these people met by chance, got married and live together. Of late, such stories are being erased; the process of living or working together has been disrupted by sorting people according to religion and ethnicity; people are being displaced,” she says.
She felt the need to tell the story of mixed marriages “to just tell everyone that these people existed. We cherish the past and are fighting for the present.” The film takes you along as Nadia’s mother recalls stories from the family to Nadia’s young nephew Nabeel and plans a visit to Israel to meet a few friends and family members.
Nadia says, “In a lot of ways, India is similar to Egypt. The crowded streets, the way people live together in large families and the relaxed social organisation… but Egypt does not have the diverse social fabric like India.”
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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