October 23, 2011
عن أزمة التعليم في مصر
يمر التعليم في مصر بمحن مختلفة بدءاً من أمية الكبار وعدم إستيعاب الأطفال لمناهجهم الدراسية وعدم إلمام معظم أولياء الأمور بكيفية زرع ثقافة الفهم بدلاً من الحفظ… ومروراً بانخفاض مستوي القائمين بالتدريس وتدني عائدهم المادي، مع عدم إحترام الطلاب لهم أولاً والمجتمع ثانياً، إلى جانب العنف الممارس ضد الطلاب… ونهاية بكارثة عدم وجود سياسة تعليمية ثابتة وواضحة وطويلة الأمد وعدم ملائمة المناهج الدراسية لاحتياجات المجتمع… فتجد الصورة الطبيعية للفصل الدراسي عبارة عن طلاب يتأففون ومدرسون يتخاذلون عن أداء مهمتهم على أفضل وجه زاعمين عدم جدوى ذلك ما دام الطالب قد درس المقرر خارج المدرسة…
إحصائيات 2011 تقول أنه يوجد بمصر 17 مليون طالب و8,1 مليون معلم و39 ألف مدرسة… ومع ذلك أعتقد أننا نملك أسوأ نظام تعليمي في العالم… فأى نظام تعليمى يتشكل من أبنيه تعليمية ومناهج وطلاب ومعلمين وأيدويوجيه تحدد مساره… التعليم المصرى يتكون من أبنية تعليمية لا تنطبق عليها أي مواصفات، ومناهج عقيمة محتواها يعتمد على الحشو، وطرق تدريس تقليدية من معلمين ذوي إمكانيات قاصرة، وإختبارات في نهاية العام تقيس الحفظ وليس الفهم…
إعتقادي الشخصي أن المشروع القومي الأول الذي لطالما إحتاجته مصر – ولا تزال – هو إصلاح التعليم واعادة صياغته ليتلاءم مع الظروف التي تمر بها مصر حالياً ورسم خطط عملية جادة لبناء النظم التعليمية قد تصل حتى إلى وضع لجان مراقبة علي المدارس لضمان تنفيذ الخطط الموضوعة…
شيرين ذكرت، أثناء مناقشة الفيلم بعد عرضه، تجربة البرازيل في التعليم والتي تتلخص في إيقاف الدراسة لعدة أعوام حتى يتم إصلاح البنية التحتية للتعليم من مدارس وقائمين على التعليم وكل الآليات التي تحتاجها العملية التعليمية… حاولت كثيراً أن أجد معلومات أكثر عن هذه التجربة على الإنترنت ولكني لم أصل إلى صورة كاملة عنها… أتمنى لو توافرت لدى أحد معلومات عن هذه التجربة أن يشاركنا بها…
رحاب رجائي
في 23 أكتوبر 2011
January 13, 2011
Date Wine…
Amidst a desert with a few remaining palms, a woman’s sad screams, a young man entering a deserted village with only an old woman and a young one staying, comes the beginning scenes of the beautiful symbolic movie عرق البلح directed by the unique director Radwan El Kashef…
This special movie is full of symbols where the director leaves the audience the space to interpret them as they see/feel… From the very first scenes of the strangers wearing masks who came to the village one day to take all its men away… it’s the viewers’ choice to decide who they resemble… some may consider them the government, others may think of them as power, some may think of it as the U.S., while many would consider it oppression… this very same scene carries with it another symbol with the fact that these strangers wanted to take away the strength of the village by taking away its men…
Ahmed’s character in the movie resembled Youth and Hope, while the grandfather who cannot talk, but watch all these changes around him resembles History… History which knows the whole story, and knows how things would go, but cannot interfere to change anything or give hand in anything…
One of the best scenes ever in the movie is that of the death of the grandfather… it wasn’t screened as a real death but rather in a very symbolic way with the grandfather, presenting history, deciding to leave since he cannot find himself useful and at the same time cannot stand the corrupted place that the village has turned to…
The return of the men to the village is the beginning of the end, where they reach back destructed from inside, finding everything has changes in their homes, resembled in the physiologically destroyed wives… and as a part of the human nature, they don’t want to admit that their leave was the reason of all this destruction, but rather put all the blame on the young man Ahmed and decides to get rid of him, because perhaps this will make them feel better about themselves… and as bad as it reaches, they decide to make him climb the very tall palm that the village is famous of late at night, and cut it off while he’s on its top… this brilliant scene carries in itself two ideas… they killed the youth and hope resembled in Ahmed, and they killed their traditions and source of power resembled in the palm which used to protect them from the sun and hence all their ugliness showed… like the sentence which was written at the beginning and end of the movie saying:
عن القرية التي سقطت نخلاتهم العوالي فكشفت لهم الشمس فأظهرت كل ما هو درن وسقيم
Even though I do have some concerns on some illogical parts of its plot, yet I still find عرق البلح a very interesting movie, and a must see one…
Rou…
May 30, 2010
عن العسل الأسود
عمري ما كنت بحب العسل الأسود… وكرهي ليه زاد بعد ما شفت فيلم أحمد حلمي الجديد “عسل أسود”…
عمري ما تخيلت إني ممكن أكتب حاجة عن فيلم كوميدي… على الرغم إن الفيلم مش قوي… ولكنه… سابني في حالة كانت بادية بقالها فترة عندي بسبب ندوة مصر الجديدة اللي عملتها من كام يوم… و الفيلم ببساطة كمل عليا… وسابني في حالة ممكن ألخصها في جملة واحدة… “أنا لازم أمشي من البلد دي وأنا لسة بحبها… قبل ما ييجي عليا يوم أقول يلعن أبوها وألم شنطتي وأمشي… ومارجعش تاني أبداَ…”
بحبك يا مصر بس ما بقتش طايقاكي… و مبقاش عندي طاقة إني أناهد و أحارب كل حاجة غلط فيكي…
أنا حزينة… قوي… ومكتئبة جداً… وكل اللي حاساه دلوقتي هي كلمات الأغنية دي…
“عارفة سواد العسل…؟ أهو ده اللى حالك ليه وصل… إزاى قوليلى مكملة وكل ده فيكى حصل…؟ يا بلد معاندة نفسها… يا كل حاجة وعكسها… إنسيني أنا صبري إنتهى… ومش هشوف فيكي أمل”
رحاب رجائي
March 9, 2010
“My name is Khan… and I’m not a terrorist…”
“The history of the world is labeled by two designations; B.C. and A.D. There’s a third designation now – 9/11”
A few days ago I finally got the opportunity to watch the amazing “My name is Khan” movie… which is by far, one of the “bestest”, if this word ever exists, I have seen in my whole life… ya3ny if it wasn’t for the few Indian songs that come and go keda throughout the movie, I would have said it is a faultless movie… (Yea, am not an Indian movies fan, and No, I didn’t like Slumdog Millionaire!)
From the very first scene of the movie, you find yourself indulged in its story, you’re taken into a world beyond the one you live in, one you might not actually know yet you can easily relate to it, especially if you happened to have lived in the States or have relatives living there…
Even though the movie is a relatively long one, you hardly ever feel the time… You go with the higher-highs and lower-lows of the characters’ lives, you are in too deep with their happiness, pains, troubles, and tribulations… and every time you feel the movie is going towards perfection, you are taken aback by a twist in their roles when least expected…
The acting is over the top, and can’t but leave you in amazement…“Rizwan Khan”; the main astounding character performed by an exceptional actor who incredibly did charming and heartfelt scenes throughout the movie… The mother’s role, even though quite few scenes, was more than touching… The little boy who performed Khan’s role while young was equally amazing…
“My Name is Khan” is a very strong movie with a clear main message, and several others tucked in… It is a quality movie and is, definitely, a must see…
Rou…
November 7, 2009
إضحك… الصورة تطلع حلوة
أعشق أداء أحمد ذكي لهذا الدور… أحب جداً اللقطات الأولى للفيلم في محاولاته البحث عن الإبتسامة في الوجوه التي يقوم بتصويرها… إنه لا يأخذ التصوير مهنة… إنها متعة و شغف… هو لا يصور… هو يعمل على أن تأتي عدسة كاميرته بصورة أجمل حتى من الواقع… إنه ذلك البعد الجوهري في الشخصية… الذي يجعل ذات الشخص الذي يرسم الضحكة على شفاه زبائنه يمر بمواقف تراجيدية تمس مشاعرك في لحظات…
“إضحك… الصورة تطلع حلوة” هو واحد من تلك الأفلام الحالمة التي لا تملك إلا أن تترك إبتسامتك تطفو بسلام على وجهك من مشهد البداية حتى مشهد النهاية وسط أداء سلس ورائع لكل أبطاله بداية بأحمد ذكي مروراً بليلى علوي ونهاية بالقديرة جداً سناء جميل… هو واحد من أفلامي المفضلة جداً والذي لا أمل من مشاهدته أبداً…
وزي ما أحمد ذكي قال: “الصورة لما بتبقى وحشة بنقطعها وبنرميها… والصورة لما بتبقى حلوة بنحتفظ بيها لأنها بتفكرنا بأجمل لحظات عمرنا…”
October 30, 2009
A Genius in the Family…
Rou…
July 14, 2009
UP!
Never had I imagined that an animated movie would touch me as such… well… I caught myself getting really sentimental after almost 5 minutes of watching one remarkable animated movie, and it was only then that I knew how come it was chosen to be played in the opening ceremony of Cannes Film Festival …
I’m talking about the delightful animated movie “UP”…
With a loving widower old man (Carl) and a curious young kid (Russell) as the main heroes of the movie, there’s a surprising heartfelt emotion that seems to be flowing all through the movie… Stunning and colorful imagery along with an astounding music, taking you into a gentle ride that makes you at times almost flying with them, and touching the skies and landscape of the movie…
It’s not very common to have such an old man as the main hero of an animated movie… it’s pretty obvious to you at the beginning of the movie that the years have done a lot to that old sad man, to his spirit even more than to his body, to the extent that you can see the corners of his mouth almost pointing down, as if he is desperately wilting into earth…
I can’t really describe how much the early scenes of the movie, which tell Carl’s story and his love to Ellie and the couple’s dreams and disappointments with extraordinary tenderness, were touching… and yet how breathtaking were the later scenes of the movie with Carl’s bravery and adventurous spirit…
The idea of a flying house was more than amusing, where a huge bouquet of thousands of balloons sends Carl and his house soaring into the skies and into an adventurous trip to South America, to that one place that he used to dream of all through the years of his life with his beloved wife…
“Up” is a pretty engrossing movie that gives you a noticeable emotional impact of the beautiful wordless life of a lonely old man, opening up new routes in life to him and consequently to those who thought they were stuck in their loneliness…
I just loved it!
Rou…
July 10, 2009
On the charm of history… A 100 years of Egypt!
I just finished one amazing night watching one remarkable documentary movie written and directed by Dr. Madkour Thabet, documenting the history of a nation in a time of 100 years…
100 years of Egypt in one movie that lasted for more than 2 hours… I’m talking about: “سحر ما فات في كنوز المرئيات” documentary movie…
The exciting thing about this is the fact that it was screened on the “old-new” TV show; “نادي السينما”… presented by the superb Doreya Sharaf El Din…
If you’re one of the followers of Mona Al Shazly’s TV show “العاشرة مساءً”, you would have probably watched her episode hosting Doreya Sharaf El Din, in which the latter was offered, live on air, to revive her amazing TV show on Dream TV …
I can’t describe how much I was excited about this, mostly because this woman seriously had generations raised on watching her TV show among other limited programs at that time when the week was divided into days identified by certain programs that one used to wait for and anticipate the flow of info she used to provide before the movie…
Cinema Club was never about a movie showed on TV, but rather it was about a history of a movie, and info that you enjoy listening to as much as you enjoy watching the movie itself… I’m just glad it’s back in show!
Back to the movie itself ba2a… well… what can I say…
A full coverage of Egypt’s history from 1897 to the late 1990s… From Ismail Pasha, till Mubarak… At times you will see same angels of screening… but different people… different scenes… The amazing thing about it, is that it’s not only about scenes… it’s also about the amount of info given throughout the movie… in all aspects of our history…
Amazing and rare scenes from the late years of the 19th century; a 1898 scenes of “Al Bosat Al Moqaddas” caravan, Qasr El Nil bridge, Soliman Pasha Square, Opera House, Azbakeya Garden, Attaba Square, Sayeda Zaynab Square, Mohamed Ali square and Mahatet el Raml in Alexandria, AL Qanater, the island of Zamalek…
Pyramids and Sphinx, Saqqara, A boat trip in the Nile, tourists at Meet Raheena village; where the famous Ramses status was laid on the ground, before putting it in Ramses square 60 years after….
Kum Ombo, the first Israeli colony in Egypt, where the Jews bought its land for 20 pilasters per Fadden…
Abdeen square after 25 years from its construction during Abbas Hilmy II reign, Parade of Abbas Hilmy II…
Moving to some outstanding scenes during the 20th century… Denshway, return of Saad Zaghloul from exile in 1923 and people’s celebrations… Mustafa AL Nahaas, and Alwafd… the reign of King Fouad in 1932… Arrival of 16 years old Farouk to Egypt in 1936 after his father’s death, and the people’s celebrations… Formal celebration in Abdeen square for Farouk…
Different scenes of Egypt during the 40s and the 50s… Groppi and downtown, Streets, Egypt’s railway station…Horse races, Cotton scenes…First Arab summit with King Farouk in 1946… Division of Palestine in 1948… Farewell of the Egyptian army heading to Palestine in 1948… Gaza people receiving the Egyptian army…War scenes in 1948… Israeli captives during the 1948 war…King Farouk in the front in Palestine during the cease fire phase…
King Abdallah of Jordon visit to Egypt visiting the injured in Cairo hospitals… Princesses wearing military cloths and visiting the injured with Farouk…
Fallujah siege scenes… Hedar Pasha in Fallujah with the army… Officer Nasser in the scenes… Fallujah martyrs names… Celebrations of Fallujah heroes…
1952 revolt and Farouk’s leave on Al Mahrousa…
Mohamed Nageeb speech and the oath by Abd el Hakeem Amer and the army… Gamal Abd el Nasser speech after he became the president…
Nile flood… High Dam building scenes…
The 1956 war…
Abd El Nasser during the Arab Republic… and visiting Al Golan heights…
The 1967 relapse… The War of Attrition… Nasser at the front…
Nasser death and funeral passing by Qasr El Nil bridge…
October war 1973 real scenes… not the poor ones we always see in movies… Sadat and the victorious troops… Reopening of the Suez Canal…
Mubarak rules… Getting Taba back… Toshka project… Al Salam Canal…
Princess Diana in Cairo…
A FULL coverage of Egypt’s recent history in 2 hours… amazing narrations in the background… heartfelt music played with every scene…
In short… A must see documentary movie! Don’t miss the replay tomorrow!
Blissful Night,
Rou…
May 11, 2009
Eye of the Sun!
With almost no budget, depending only on individual initiatives and the volunteer team of actors, comes quite a different movie experience called “Ein Shams” or “Eye of the Sun”, which takes Cairo neighborhood of Ein Shams, that was once built on the ruins of the ancient city of Heliopolis, as its main setting…
Directed by Ibrahim El Batout and written for screen by Tamer El-Said and El Batout, the movie was screened by a digital camera, and converted later to a 35 mm film through the support of the Moroccan Cinema Center. The movie represented Egypt in a number of international film festivals and won several awards, while banned from being showed in Egypt for almost a year until lately.
The acting in general was very good along with the building blocks of the movie that reflected many of the everyday problems of Egyptians, such as unemployment, drug addiction, and football obsession…
One of the important scenes from my point of view was that of the demonstrator who was having a lift by the Taxi driver Ramadan who knew absolutely nothing about the reason of the demonstrations… The demonstrator told Ramadan while stepping down of the Taxi, “By the way, I wasn’t in the demonstration by coincidence…” leaving Ramadan staring at him without a word… For me, this showed the amount of isolation that the various sectors of the Egyptian community live in; “كلٌ يغني على ليلاه”… The shots for real demonstrations that El Batout included prior to that scene, showing the amount of brutality that the security officers face the demonstrators with, gave a much more “Real” meaning to this part…
I loved the little girl “Shams” ’ dreams of being taken to downtown Cairo, which she envisioned as a place of fairy-tale charm… only to find out eventually when she visits it for real that her dreams were much more beautiful that reality…
I also loved the scene finale of the movie, with the narration voice saying that people will soon get used to “something”, just the way they get used for everything… and the scene ends with the police officers waving for “Ramadan” the Taxi Driver to stop for a checkpoint (without any particular reason as usual)…
The few flaws I found in the movie were mainly regarding the way the threads were connected… I felt like there wasn’t enough exploration in each character to leave me dramatically satisfied… Same goes for the real scenes of Iraqi troops after the first Gulf War that El Batout included in the movie through the story of the Egyptian doctor Mariam, who goes to Baghdad to research the carcinogenic effects of the depleted uranium left by U.S. troops in the first Gulf War. For me, it was out of context, even with the fact that he wanted to make a sarcastic comparison that Egypt, without being affected by such war in terms of Uranium, had cancer spread in it through other forms of pollution…
However, in all cases, “Ein Shams” is a very good experience and trial, and by all means is well worth watching…
Have a good day,
Rou…
P.S.
One final point, I’m in no position to talk technically here, but the sound was really terrible at some parts, especially in the narration at the beginning of the movie…
March 7, 2009
Wahed.. Sefr!
Today I saw “Wahed…Sefr” or “One…Zero” movie, which presents one day in the lives of 8 different characters (the day of the final match of the African Championship 2008, between Egypt and Cameron, that Egypt won 1/0)…
The idea of the movie itself is good, presenting 8 different lives with the different struggles they encounter, reaching somehow their peek on this particular day, only to melt down (even if it is only for a while) as the day reaches its end with the historical victory of Egypt over Cameron, with the outstanding celebrations and carousing of the Egyptians with their different social levels gathering together all over the streets in joy and happiness…
Even with the fact that the plot is a bit naive at some parts, and some relations are a bit… mmm… artificial… but I would say that overall the movie is good and the acting is excellent, especially “Nelly Kareem”, “Entessar”, and “Lotfy Labib”…
On another note, I wonder why is the movie causing this amount of outrage and criticism from many Copts who sees the movie as an attack on one of the fundamentals of the Christian faith… I mean… “Elham Chahine” ’s role in featuring a divorced Coptic woman struggling with the church to receive a religious permit to remarry is basically a real case that can happen with any Christian woman (I have a friend who had been into this before)… the movie simply puts some light on an existing problem, without giving any solution to it, and without being disgraceful to the Christianity as a religion by any means… Over and above, the movie is not merely about this case… the movie highlights this case through one scene only, along with another 7 different characters and their problems resembling different categories of the Egyptian community… and Christian women are part of the community…
A final comment… I absolutely have no idea what was Aida Riad doing in the movie… One scene, with no value add at all!
Anyways, again, overall, it is a good one… am glad I watched it…
Have a good day,
Rou…
Sleepless in Cairo 