Egyptian Screenwriter Haitham Dabbour: I Don't Write Films to Flatter the West, But for People to Watch Them

A new generation of screenwriters has begun to establish a new direction in writing and cinematic storytelling in the Arab world, particularly in Egypt, which makes us look at this industry differently. The screenwriter or author is no longer just the person with the idea, who writes the dialogues between the characters, but has become the primary project owner, who has started to realize the importance of developing the principles of this industry and working collaboratively with other writers.

One of these is Haitham Dabbour, a screenwriter, producer, and co-founder of "Irth", a company specializing in the production and development of visual and audio dramatic content in all its forms, including films, series, and plays, or as Haitham likes to refer to it simply as a "writers room". A warm conversation brought me together with Haitham to discuss stories, "Irth", and filmmaking in the Arab world, in which he said: "Our goal through Irth is to create a safe environment for a group of talented writers, whom we believe that investing in their writing abilities is a long-term investment."

I liked the name Irth, as it does not necessarily carry a purely cinematic dimension; Haitham has a reason for choosing this name specifically, as he said: "The name comes from the past heritage, meaning from the old Egyptian series and films that we learned from and grew up watching. What we do in Irth is add a new space; to make the films we create part of this heritage in the future, as we treat cinema as an art form and not just a job or daily task."

Haitham added: "When we started working at Irth, we had two goals: the first was high quality in our productions, and the second was to ensure diversity in the subjects we produce in films and series. The larger goal is to focus on writing and creators and meet their needs."

For those who do not know Haitham, he is the creative mind behind important films such as "Eyar Nari", "Dhi", and "Photocopy", which presented simple and enjoyable stories, won several awards, and at the same time were watched by many; thus, the equation of combining artistic and commercial elements was always present, which many Arab filmmakers find somewhat difficult. Regarding this equation, Haitham said: "The audience usually thinks that a good film is one that discusses important issues in depth, which is what we do in Irth, but at the same time, we respect cinema in its differences and diversity, whether it belongs to the comedy, horror, family films, or thriller and adventure genres."

He added: "Egyptian cinema is famous for many films that combine artistic and commercial aspects; for example, the films of Wahid Hamed with Sherif Arafa, or the films of Mohamed Khan. In my opinion, the organizers of European festivals have always looked at others and their films with an Orientalist perspective, and many Arab films have catered to this Orientalist view, which naturally distanced them from their original audience.

I have no problem with these films, but when I make my films, my goal is for people to watch them and for them to reach the largest audience possible." He shares with Haitham Dabbour the idea that the primary goal of cinema is enjoyment, and it is not necessarily a medium that carries a message to people. This was emphasized in the meeting when he said: "Cinema is an artistic pleasure that evokes different emotions in us and allows us to swim in many ideas.

If I, as a filmmaker, decide to present you with material full of ideas but without providing you with the simplest forms of enjoyment, then unfortunately, that is no longer a film." Because Haitham and "Irth" are concerned with developing this industry, it was necessary to search for a partner to expand regionally and Arabically, and "Irth" found no better partner than "MAD Solutions" to announce a partnership aimed at enhancing the trend towards story-based film production, whether from the creativity of Arab writers or through purchasing the rights to Arab and international novels.

Here, Haitham confirmed that the story is the essence and the foundation, saying: "Stories cannot become old and unusable; on the contrary, they are in continuous development. There are many stories that are being re-produced from the sixties and seventies in different forms. We believe that any investment in writing is a long-term investment."

"Irth" and "Mad Solutions" recently announced this partnership during the 83rd Venice Film Festival, where Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, the founding partners of "Mad Solutions," described it as significant, especially since "Irth" enters with a strong creative structure and a network of talented Arab writers. At the end of this meeting, I asked Haitham about his eternal passion for writing, and whether he finds time for it amidst the large number of commitments in "Irth" and the partnerships and others.

He smiled calmly and said: "I still practice writing daily, as I am from the school of Naguib Mahfouz and Wahid Hamid. It is said that Naguib Mahfouz was once asked: How does inspiration come to you?

He responded with a brilliant answer in which he said: I have trained it to come to me at nine in the morning...".