I’m Amin Osama from a rural town in Upper Egypt which is 10 hours away from Cairo, the capital of Egypt. . I graduated from Faculty of Arts, Mass Communication department, South Valley University. I was interested in Cinema since I was a child; watching endless number of movies and reading about cinematic concepts. However, there was no cinema theaters at all. Moreover, Qus local community is a conservative one where the idea of a little lady going to cinema, if any, was not accepted.
That is why I was thinking of a cinema club; to have an open and free cinema space for everybody. I used my cinematic knowledge and as a volunteer at “Qus Baladna” youth group, I started one year ago the cinema club as a coordinator for it.
“Qus Baladna” was established as a youth group in Qus, Qena, Egypt in 2010. Since its very beginnings, the group was concerned with contributing to the local community through cultural, social and charitable activities.
As part of the cultural variety Qus Baladna is concerned with all along, the Cinema Club was established one year ago.
Objectives:
- Promote interest in cinema among young generations in Qus.
- Encourage the youth to identify different cinematic cultures rather than the traditional Hollywood/Egyptian movies.
- Help young generations understand very basic cinematic concepts in addition to the cinematic background of each movie.
Methodology: The Cinema Club methodology is based on the following steps per each event:
- Screening of a movie followed by a feedback from the club coordinator in relation to cinematic aspects and short historical background the movie
- Open discussion with the audience in relation to the movie
Events are organized on a weekly basis mainly in Qus city. Few events were organized in some villages as an approach of horizontal scope dissemination of cinema culture
Movies are either selected by the audience or the club coordinator. Selection of movies is not limited to Hollywood production. It is extended to Iranian, French, Emirati and other movies in addition to animation movies sometimes.
Partnerships and Cooperation:
- Partnership with Zawya Cinema in the European Film Festival: screening French animation movie “Adama” – November 2017
- Hosting the Cairo-based cinema critic Ahmad Shawky to provide feedback and discussion with audience after screening the Iranian movie “About Elly” – March 2017
- Cooperation with Qus Cultural Palace and Qus Charity Association for screening of movies.
