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Fady Nour

Fady Nour is one of the registered members of the website, 'a mobile-phone film-maker' as he prefers to call himself. He is also an actor, author, and amateur director. Born in Alexandria on 3 December 1989, Fady has made a number of films, all of which were shot using his mobile phone camera (less than 3 mega-pixels), and edited with open- source editing software. The longest video clip Fady has produced is 20 minutes in length; a drama entitled Al Khatiman (The Two Rings), which he uploaded onto his Facebook page in 2009. He began work on the film with friends in 2006 when he was 17 years old; in Fady's words, the editing of action and science fiction movies 'always takes years'.

The other video clips on Fady’s Facebook page include famous songs, which he edited mixing his own footage with their sound track, to make them look like he was the one singing in the song. In other clips we see him performing some self-choreographed dance moves inspired by his contact with Indian cinema. The most noteworthy clip, however, is perhaps an advertisement which he created and directed. In this clip, which he uploaded onto egdoc, we see him with three of his friends running over rooftops fighting for a can

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of soft drink. But for its excessive length and poor-quality picture resolution; it could have been a very effective advertisement for the drink.

Fady also wrote and directed a film entitled Koka and Efreet from 2010. He describes the film on his Facebook page as follows: 'A short drama action comedy fantasy film, acting: Fady Nour, Ahmad Koka, Sherif Hamada, and Hima, written and directed by Fady Nour.' One can virtually smell the innocence of these descriptions. The film includes all sorts and kinds of unlikely drama, the actors are Fady's childhood friends, and even keep their nicknames in the film. It is, to put it mildly, a homespun, down-to-earth piece of work.

During the 25 January revolution in Egypt, Fady produced a docu-drama which records the development of his thoughts about the revolution, how he hesitated in participating at the beginning, and how he ended up in the streets with a banner saying Sebna Ne'eesh! (Let us live!), which was his call to then-President Hosni Mubarak, who was refusing to leave office. This sentence eventually became the title of the film, which was Fady's first documentary-making experience. Nevertheless, he believes that his film-making career began with his earlier experiences.

An interview with Fady Nour on 26 December 2011:

I conducted the following interview with Fady over the telephone, via the phone number that was included in his profile, for the purpose of learning more about his background and his experience in film-making. The interview was conducted in colloquial Arabic; Fady's answers were short, simple, and sometimes even shallow. I insisted on leaving some of the English terms or expressions that he used (like names of computer software for example) without correction, thereby reflecting the extent of his technical knowledge,

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and how these terms are dealt with among amateurs, who gain such knowledge from non- professional sources.

Q: What made you like the idea of making films?

A: The beginning was my love for acting, and my desire to become famous. I tried with some of my friends to work in Cairo and we found it was a bit difficult. So I decided to make films and upload them on Facebook so that people might see me. My desire to be noticed made me want to take shots of me and my friends. This was my beginning with documentary films.

Q: When did you make your first film?

A: The first film was fictional, which I made in 2006, entitled Al Khatiman (The Two Rings).

Q: And when did you make your first documentary? A: It was also in 2006, and it was the making of Al Khatiman.

Q: Where do you get the ideas for your films?

A: From my dreams, sometimes from reality, and sometimes by adapting from other films - I mean I get inspired by a certain incident in a film. But the documentaries are different. When I find myself in a situation worth recording, I shoot it and I do some 'nice' editing for it, then I upload it on Facebook, or show it to my friends, or just keep it on my computer, and watch it on my own once in a while.

Q: What is a documentary?

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Q: What is the difference between documentaries and fictional films?

A: Documentary films are actual, while fictional films have some imaginary element. The fictional films can be easily shaped as you wish, while the documentaries come out just as they happened… you can’t change them.

Q: What was the last professional documentary you watched?

A: Your film Nonsense. I watched it in a seminar in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina last year [December 2010].

Q: What kind of documentaries do you normally like to watch?

A: The films which record important and human moments in peoples’ lives.

Q: Do you work alone or with a team?

A: I work alone. But in the coming days I will be trying to gather a team around me and that is also why I subscribed in this website.

Q: What kind of computer do you have? A: Pentian 4 [He meant Pentium 4 PC LG].

Q: What kind of camera do you use for shooting?

A: My Mobile phone camera, a Nokia N95. I have had it since 2008. Before that I had a Nokia N73, which I used to shoot Al Khatiman film.

Q: What were the most difficult problems that you encountered during shooting your films?

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A: Some people disturb us while shooting; they forbid us sometimes from shooting certain things. Oh, if you are shooting somewhere and there is a girl passing by, she comes and says: You shot my picture, delete this video now!!

Q: Have you taken any film-making courses? A: No.

Q: Did you ever think about doing that? A: No.

Q: Why not? A: I am ok like this.

Q: How did you learn editing then?

A: Through my friend Mohammad Chan, and by the After Effect [he meant After Effects] internet lessons.

Q: What programs do you use for editing? A: Adobe premiere, and After Effect.

Q: What are the biggest problems that dog you while editing?

A: In the beginning I was surprised during editing that the lighting in some scenes was so bad, or that the sound I had recorded was not audible, and I had to either delete them or repeat them. Editing music into my videos is always exhausting, because I like to use a lot of music, and it must be just right for the video. But the most difficult problem is the speed of the computer I have, because the editing programs are heavy and need a high

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speed [processor]. So the exporting [processing / rendering] after the work is done takes many long hours. Sometimes I used to leave it in the evening, go to sleep and wait to see the result the following morning.

Q: Where do you show your works?

A: On Facebook, and to my friends on their computers.

Q: Who are your audience? A: The youth of Facebook.

Q: What was the people’s reaction to your work? A: Very good, but there were some who criticized it.

Q: Do you always take permission from the people you shoot? A: No.

Q: So, would you shoot a child without his family’s permission? A: Yes… What’s wrong with that?

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Appendix 2 – An Interview with mhmd_klil, a Registered Member with egdoc