'Cairo Exit' creates hurdles for Egyptian filmmaker

Dubai:  "We're not trouble makers," said Sharif Madour, producer of the film Cairo Exit.

Even so, the film's director Hisham Issawi and his crew were chased through the streets by police in the Egyptian capital for filming without official permission.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior temporarily halted production of the film, citing national security concerns, as it perceived the film's subject matter would be too sensitive for the country, Issawi had told a US newspaper earlier.

Cairo Exit is a love story about a Christian girl, Amal (played by Maryhan), who learns she is pregnant to her Muslim boyfriend, Tarek (played by Mohammad Ramadan).

Tarek plans to leave Egypt illegally by boat to Italy, and tells Amal to either come with him or have an abortion. The film depicts the grim reality of life for so many people struggling with poverty in Egyptian slums.

"The city [of Cairo] is really the most important character in the movie," Issawi told Gulf News at a press conference for the film before its gala screening at the Dubai International Film Festival. "There's Amal, Tarek and then there is Cairo."

When researching finance options for the film in the US, Issawi said some potential backers suggested that he film the movie in Morocco, but Issawi said it simply would not have packed the same punch.

"No other city would have had the same sensibility as Cairo," he said of the city he claims to have a love-hate relationship with. "It was very important for me personally to film there — the city where I was born," he said.

One morning before shooting began, Maryhan was walking with a cameraman through one of the city's slums, said actresses Sana'a Muzian. From a balcony above the street, a woman was shouting down at them, telling them that she didn't want a scandal, she didn't want people to see how they live.