Film Screening Highlights Knight International’s Impact in Egypt

Joint event welcomed new Knight International Fellows who will spearhead projects in the Balkans, Liberia, Mexico, Pakistan and South Africa
By Natasha Tynes

Knight International Journalism Fellowship's Director, Elisa Tinsley introducing the 30th class of fellows during the screening. (PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Duff)

A blind musician working to overcome conservative ideologies in Egypt, a man who irons with his feet, and a young activist blogger fighting for justice in Egypt, were among the first-person stories put on film at a screening at George Washington University on Monday, March 3.

The event, co-hosted by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the American University in Cairo (AUC), also was organized to welcome the 30th class Knight International Journalism Fellows. The group of six leading international journalists will lead transformational media projects in the Balkans, Liberia, Mexico, Pakistan and South Africa. For more information on the fellows and their projects, click here.

The screening showcased four films produced by AUC journalism students and journalists who had been trained by Knight International Journalism Fellow Craig Duff. They were among 12 films developed through AUC courses Duff conducted during his nine-month Fellowship in Egypt in 2006-2007.

The series, “First Person Films,” represented a break from traditional documentaries in Egypt, which Duff said tend to have a “voice-of-God narration” style. They also were a first step for Egyptian journalists towards story telling that opens new windows on people’s lives and on important social issues including class and political repression in Egypt.

The new class of Knight International Journalism Fellows 2008-2009

These documentaries, many of which were aired last year on the pan-Arabic satellite television channel Orbit, are set to continue to reach audiences worldwide. Some have been submitted to international festivals including the Aljazeera Documentary Festival and Dubai’s festival, “Documentary Voices: Pulling Focus.”

“I see these pieces as the first steps for filmmakers I know will go on and do amazing things,” Duff said.

He added that he was pleased with the reaction to the films. “I heard again how much the audience members understand and appreciate these documentaries on a surprisingly deep level,” he wrote in his blog after the event at George Washington University.

This was the second U.S screening of the films. The first took place February 12 in New York. To read more about the NY film screening, click here.