By Omar Mohsen Cover Story Customs Unraveled Almost everyone has welcomed new government reforms that slash tariff rates, simplify customs procedures and prepare the country for wider integration into the global economy. While on paper the reforms will cost the government LE 3 billion, analysts predict the new rates could actually be a boon to the government by unbinding business. Looming Concerns If the textile sector is any indication, the new government will have to prove its customs reforms look as good in practice as they do on paper CUSTOMS UNRAVELED Almost everyone has welcomed new government reforms that slash tariff rates, simplify customs procedures and prepare the country for wider integration into the global economy. While on paper the reforms will cost the government LE 3 billion, analysts predict the new rates could actually be a boon to the government by unbinding business.

By Nadine El Sayed

In a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Mohammed Khan has delivered some of the Arab world’s most memorable films and commanded the most prominent actors in the nation, from Nour El-Sherif in Darbet Shams (Sunstroke, 1978) and Yehia El-Fakharany in Awdet Mowaten (Return of a Citizen, 1986) to the late Ahmed Zaki in the critically acclaimed Ayyam El-Sadat (The Days of Sadat, 2001).

His latest release, the romance Fil Saqqet Masr Gedida (In a Heliopolis Flat), now in theaters, is that rare beast that has both set box-office records for an off-season film and been a darling of critics.

He spoke with Business Today Egypt last month about the 24/7 balancing act inherent in managing the creation of a film. Edited excerpts:

I never was a 9-5 person — I am a 24-hour person, because filmmaking occupies your mind all the time. There are two phases: When you are still planning for the project, then once the wheel starts turning. At this point, you’ve finalized the script with the scriptwriter — and this takes a lot of meetings — and found the production team to support it. You start to cast the leads and then the small parts, the extras and the technicians, then you begin scouting for locations, set a date and start shooting. Then you finish shooting and start editing, and this takes two to three months, then you mix it and supervise the prints, see how it will be distributed and so forth.

I think in my profession you don’t know how to rest because work becomes a part of your life. I am a person who always knows how to make myself busy, whether I am thinking, reading or watching films. I’m a film buff and have to watch at least one movie a day. I enjoy them, even the bad ones —I have to see why they stink.

One of the hardest parts of my job is convincing people; you are convincing people all the time and you put such energy into it. You have to motivate and win over the scriptwriter with your idea or the structure, the producer with your project, the actors with the parts, the director of photography with your point of view and, sometimes, you have to explain to people why they should let you shoot on their balcony. Sometimes, you even have to stretch the truth to get the job done.

As a director, nobody sees the whole picture but you — you are the only one who sees 90% of what the picture will look and feel like at the end. People only see their bits; they can’t see the rest. Films aren’t shot in a linear order, so when you shoot something, in your mind you know what is before and what is after. But you don’t have the time to explain the sequence because you are involved in all aspects of filmmaking all the time.

My job is solving problems, and the experienced filmmaker knows how to solve quickly, because in filmmaking, time really is money. It’s hectic and very tiring and sometimes it puts you off what you should be concentrating on, but one learns how to cope — that is why people think directors are temperamental. The ideal production team solves the directors’ problems, and sometimes you are lucky with a good production team, but even then they are always coming to you.

I am a very good storyteller. In school, the whole class used to call for me to tell them stories. Telling a story is part of how to convince people: A shy director is a very unfortunate guy, because you can’t express what you want to say. You have to know how to say it. Directing is explaining to the actor not how to do something, but what it is all about.

When you are established, actors listen to you more carefully, they appreciate you and treat you differently. I don’t have time for the whole ‘I am a star’ business. I am the boss, and actors must remember that the director’s last word is final.

I was always a fighter, but now I fight less. The first people who test you aren’t the actors, but rather the technicians, the crew. When you are a newcomer, they watch you and see whether you know what you’re doing or not. I remember my very first shot in my first film: This technician came and asked me if I was sure about a certain lens I asked for, and I said, ‘I know what I am doing, don’t interfere.’ Even if I have doubts, I never show it —confidence is very important. Even if you don’t have it you have to pretend because then they will respect you. Respect is an essential part of directing. Show no fear.

Sometimes I am not that nice, I think with age I’ve cooled down a bit. I used to be very temperamental. Actors like praise, yet I don’t praise them a lot: If they do a good shot, then I say, ‘Next!’ This means I am satisfied and it is good. If they don’t, then I tell them it is bad. But once they know me well, they know that I have no time to give praise.

You have to know actors as people; this helps me to drag the character out of them. At certain moments, I remind them of something or give them an example of something that happened in their lives and it is easier for them to get into character. This is a lot better than having an actor you don’t know walk on to the set and it is the first time you meet or you met in a producer’s office — it isn’t the same. I like to sit with them and go over the script together, go out for a coffee and get to know things about them.

At first actors drop a veil over their true selves — they act even in real life, and you have to see beyond that. Reading people’s characters is a big part of my job.  bt