Maria Pomortseva from the programme department of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival visited Cairo for the first edition of Echoes of Ji.hlava in Cairo, which she helped prepare in close cooperation with the Czech Centre Cairo. During the festival, she introduced audiences to the Ji.hlava festival concept, personally presented selected films, and held a series of meetings with Egyptian filmmakers and representatives of film institutions. In this interview, Maria reflects on the first edition of the festival, shares her impressions of Cairo, and discusses the future of cooperation between Ji.hlava and the Egyptian documentary film community.
Maria, during the first Echoes of Ji.hlava in Cairo — the first edition in the Middle East and on the African continent — you introduced all four selected films as well as the masterclass by director Markéta Ekrt Válková. What else did you manage to do?
The first edition of Echoes of Ji.hlava in Cairo was a great opportunity for us to build closer relationships with Egyptian documentary filmmakers and film institutions. It was important for us to understand not only what kinds of documentary films are being made in Egypt, but also how the Egyptian film infrastructure works. I met representatives of film schools, festivals, distributors and filmmakers themselves, so I left with a much better overview of what is happening on the Egyptian scene. I was especially impressed by independent organisations such as Cimatheque and the Between Women Filmmakers Caravan. I found it fascinating how they work with young filmmakers — not through conventional teaching, but by supporting their own authorial voice. This is precisely what allows films to emerge that are deeply personal, firmly rooted in the local context, and at the same time formally bold.
Did anything surprise you about the reception of the acclaimed documentary Amira’s Children in Cairo? And did anything else surprise you in relation to the “Ji.hlava programme” in Cairo?
The audience’s reaction was not so much a surprise as a confirmation that Amira’s Children is a film almost anyone can connect with. After all, it was made primarily for a European audience, to convey the experience of a Syrian refugee family. That made the discussion after the Cairo screening all the more rewarding for me — it was very lively, and people shared their own experiences, memories and what the film had opened up for them. It is a great example of how universal experiences and processes unfold through specific stories.
A pleasant surprise was the overall interest in the Echoes of Ji.hlava programme from Egyptian media and audiences. For a first edition, it was a major success.
Echoes attracted strong interest from Egyptian media, and thanks to correspondent Štěpán Macháček, Czech Radio listeners were also able to get a sense of the atmosphere. You also appeared live on Al Qahera News, which has a very wide reach — what was that like?
It was a really excellent experience. Al Qahera News has a highly professional team, and the whole process went smoothly. We were very pleased that they showed such interest in our festival. At the same time, it was an opportunity for us to speak to an audience we do not usually reach; most of our activities are followed mainly by Czech audiences and international documentary filmmakers. Personally, I believe that documentary film really is for everyone. It has enormous potential to open up discussion and connect people across different contexts. That is why it was so important for me to have the chance to speak about our work outside the usual Ji.hlava community.
Apart from your many work commitments, what has stayed with you after a week in Cairo?
The working programme was very full, but I did manage to experience a few things. Two moments have stayed with me the most. The first was when I climbed inside one of the pyramids in Dahshur together with Markéta Ekrt Válková, the director of Amira’s Children — the physical experience of space, silence and mass was very intense. The second was seeing the Fayum portraits. In the way they look through you, there is a certain ambiguity, a space between presence and absence. That kind of contact with someone who lived two thousand years ago is truly remarkable.
Photos
Cover photo © Yasser Farouk
Photo in the article: Maria introducing the masterclass © Czech Centre Cairo
