Egyptian film tells family's story of diversity Wed 17 Oct 2007 By Lin Noueihed
ABU DHABI, Oct 16 (Reuters Life!) - Egyptian director Nadia Kamel, worried by messages of religious war her young nephew was hearing from Cairo mosques, decided to show him their own family's history of mixed marriage in a journey that takes her from Italy to Israel.
The result is 105-minute film documentary that sets out to expose him to a diverse and tolerant alternative to the 21st-century talk of a clash between Islam and the West, an alternative reflected in the life of his elderly grandmother, Mary.
Highlighting shared history in a region that has seen waves of immigration and religious conversion, "Salata Baladi", Arabic for "Local Salad", addresses a sensitive issue -- should ordinary Arabs have contact with ordinary Israelis?
Half Egyptian-born Jew, half Italian Christian, Mary is married to an Egyptian Muslim. A Communist and staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, Mary has shunned contact with her Jewish relatives since they moved in 1946 to British-mandate Palestine, two years before the creation of Israel.
The film follows her as she makes a courageous decision to face the disapproval of some Muslim relatives in Egypt by visiting her ageing relatives in Israel.
Mary's photos from the 1930s and 1940s show a multi-ethnic, multi-religious Egypt, home to a thriving community of Italians, Greeks and Lebanese. Her story shows that the divisions that appear so intractable now did not exist two generations ago.
It illustrates how the communities in the Middle East were forced to adapt to new borders and new political realities with Israel's creation in 1948, sometimes tearing families apart.
"I made this film so we can talk. We cannot ... have issues that for 60 years we have not talked about," Kamel said after a screening of her film at the Middle East Film Festival in Abu Dhabi.
"It is not because normalisation is good or bad but because it has become a taboo. I don't want ... any more red lines."
If the reaction in Abu Dhabi is anything to go by, the issue remains sensitive for many Arabs. Monday's screening was the first in the Arab world.
Some viewers complained that the film was too sympathetic to the Israelis. Others rejected it as a call to "normalise".
The film shows the similarities between the Muslim family in Egypt, the Christian family in Italy and the Jewish family in Israel. They look similar, their homes are similar and they speak to each other in a mix of Arabic, Italian and French.
Mary's brother went to Italy as life in Egypt became hard for foreigners. Her parents stayed. Her cousin went to fight for Israel's creation but other relatives left Egypt out of fear.
One Jewish relative still listened to music by Egypt's late diva Om Kalthoum. His wife told of her warm ties with her Muslim neighbours in Cairo, who treated her daughter like their own.
That girl's sons are now in the Israeli army. Their photos in uniform hang in the same room where Om Kalthoum's voice rings out .
"The whole film is about the human message, about what is in each religion that is against oppression," Kamel said.
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