A new generation of screenwriters in the Arab world, and in Egypt in particular, has begun to establish a new trend in writing and cinematic and dramatic storytelling, which makes us look differently at this industry. The screenwriter or author is no longer just the person with the idea who writes the dialogues between the heroes of the work, but he has become the owner of the first project, and for his part he has begun to realize the importance of developing the principles of this industry and teamwork with other writers.
One of them is Haitham Dabour, a screenwriter, producer, and co-founder of “Irth” Company, which specializes in creating and developing visual and audio dramatic content in all its forms, including films, series, and plays, or as Haitham likes to refer to it, simply a “writing room” or writers’ room.
A warm conversation brought me together with Haitham to talk about stories, “Earth,” and filmmaking in the Arab world, in which he said: “Our goal through (Earth) is to create a safe climate for a group of talented writers, who believe that investing in their writing abilities is a long-term investment.”
I liked the name Erath, as it does not necessarily carry a purely cinematic dimension; Haitham has a reason for choosing this name in particular, as he said: “The name comes from the legacy of the past, that is, from the ancient Egyptian series and films that we learned from and grew up watching. What we are doing in (Erth) is adding a new space, so that the films we make will be part of this legacy in the future. We deal with cinema as a work of art and not a job or a daily task.”
Haitham added: “When we started working on (Earth), we had two goals: the first, high quality in our productions, and the second, ensuring diversity in the topics we produce in films and series. The biggest goal is to pay attention to writing and creators and meet their needs.”
For those who do not know Haitham, he is the creator whose pen is behind important films such as “Gunshot,” “Dhay,” and “Photocopy,” which are films that presented simple and enjoyable stories, won several awards, and at the same time were watched by many; The equation of combining the artistic element and the commercial element was always present, and it is an equation that many Arab filmmakers find somewhat difficult.
Regarding this equation, Haitham said: “The audience usually believes that a good film is one that discusses important issues in depth, which is what we do at (Erth), but at the same time, we respect cinema with its differences and diversity, whether it belongs to the category of comedy, horror, family films, or excitement and adventures.”
He added: "Egyptian cinema was famous for many films that combined artistic and commercial; for example, Waheed Hamed's films with Sherif Arafa, or Mohamed Khan's films. I believe that the organizer of European festivals always looked at others and their films from an orientalist perspective, and many Arab films met this Orientalist view, so they naturally moved away from their original audience. I have no problem with these films, but when I make my films, my goal is for people to see them and for them to reach the largest number of audiences."
I share with Haitham Dabour the idea that the primary goal of cinema is pleasure, and it is not necessarily a medium that carries a message to people, and this is what he emphasized in the meeting by saying: “Cinema is an artistic pleasure that arouses in us different feelings and makes us swim in many ideas. If I, as a filmmaker, decide to present to you material full of ideas, but without offering you the simplest forms of pleasure, then this is no longer a film, unfortunately.”
Because the concern of Haitham and “Erth” is to develop this industry, it was necessary to search for a partner for Arab and regional expansion. “Erth” could not find a better one than “MAD Solutions” to announce a partnership aimed at strengthening the trend towards story-based cinematic production, whether it is the creations of Arab writers, or through purchasing the rights to Arab and international novels. Here, Haitham stressed that the story is the essence and the basis. He said: “Stories cannot become old and unusable; on the contrary, they are constantly evolving. There are many stories that are reproduced from the sixties and seventies in different forms. We believe that any investment in writing is a long-term investment.”
“Earth” and “Mad Solutions” recently announced this partnership during the activities of the 83rd Venice Film Festival, where Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, the founding partners of “Mad Solutions”, described it as an important mission, especially since “Earth” enters with a strong creative structure and a network of talented Arab writers.
At the end of this meeting, I asked Haitham about his eternal passion for writing, and whether he finds time for it amidst this large number of preoccupations with “Erth,” establishing partnerships, and other things. He smiled calmly and said: “I still practice writing on a daily basis, as I come from the school of Naguib Mahfouz and Waheed Hamed. It is said that Naguib Mahfouz was once asked: How do you get inspiration? He gave a brilliant response in which he said: I used to have him come to me at nine in the morning...”
