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STAR
BAROMETER
(cairolive.com, February 7, 2002)
Mummified
viagra?
Does a
Turkish-Egyptian co-production with a curious plot signal a loosening of
restrictions for the movie industry?
A few years ago this
movie wouldn't have been made. Or else it might have been made, but
probably not in Egypt. The plot line -- about a rumor that takes hold of
Turkish men, that Egyptian mummy dust is stronger than Viagra -- would
have been enough to send the censorship beaurocrats straight for their
red reject pens, arguing the idea presents the country in a bad light.
Critics have long
called for a loosening on the restrictions for what kinds of foreign
films could be made in Egypt, arguing that whether or not they are made
here, they're going to be made anyway, and people will see them, which
means the negative image argument is invalid. A lot of money could have
been made producing movies about Egypt in Egypt, the critics say, citing
neighboring Tunisia, which benefits from this to the tune of millions.
A recent feature in
Al-Akhbar is about a Turkish-Egyptian co-production, whose director was
a former assistant with Hollywood giant Steven Spielberg, the article
says. The plot revolves around the aforementioned rumor, which inspires
a very rich Turkish guy to go to Egypt and buy a mummy. All kids of
hijinks ensue in an action-comedy that is set to star Hanan Turk, Maged
El-Masry and several other young Egyptian , as well as Turkish, stars
and starlets.
The paper says
filming has already begun in Turkey and will move on to Egypt in a
couple of weeks. The Egyptian co-producers are the Adl group of "Ashab
wala Bizness" fame, and Sami El-Adl, one of the El-Adl
brothers, also stars in the film.
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