Hani
Feature film (Experimental narrative)
Runtime: 61 minutes
Production date: 2024
film format: VHS 4:3 aspect ratio converted to digital file and DCP
Audio: 5.1 Dolby
Languages: Arabic
Subtitle: English
Film crew:
Produced and Directed by Mohamed Allam
Screenplay: Abdelrahman Dnewar
Screenplay co-written:
Mohamed Allam, Mohamed Hesham Obayya, Bassem ElQassabi, Fatima Al Zahraa, Adham Yehia, Mohamed Hisham Obia
Cast: Ahmed Malek, Amina Onsy, Ahmed Tarek
Editor: Adham Yehia
Executive Producer: Bassem ElQassabi
Sound Design: Samir Nabil
Sound mix: Mohamed Salah
Distribution: I am a Film
Background and Project History
VHS was a massive breakthrough in technology that allowed the easy and affordable recording and documentation of personal life events in both audio and video, which in turn triggered its wide-spread use by people as an attempt to preserve their memories. It was also used to record entertainment programs and material from the television to be watched at different times. VHS was the most popular and widely-spread medium prior to the takeover of the world of the internet, resulting in the broadening of the culture of documenting memories, and facilitating the recall and viewing of those memories when desired.
I have been collecting VHS tapes from junk markets since 2009. I was able to collect over 4000 video tapes, including hundreds that contained personal recordings of Egyptians spanning over different decades, (from the 1970’s and on to the early 2000’s). This material covered wedding celebrations, birthdays, and other public and private occasions. At the time, I categorized and archived the tapes to ‘public’ and ‘private’, which piqued my interest in them, leading to a decision to work on my next project, “Personal Recordings From Egypt”.
Years later, I invited my friend, writer Hassan Elhalwagy to collaborate on “Personal Recordings From Egypt”, creating a story inspired by watching an assortment of the material recorded on VHS tapes, which had personal recordings of unknown individuals who had disposed of them for various reasons. This raised questions around the nature of social life in Egypt with its various classes during those periods, with all their complex details.
The project continued through the production of a long experimental film, containing a collection of video clips, and using the cut and paste technique with the archive material to produce a film that exhibits social situations in different times, and through characters that were created to blur the lines between what was recorded/documented, and what was reproduced.
Logline
After two years of Hani’s disappearance in 1998, Sahar finds his private video tapes, and decides to watch them to get to know more about him and their relationship as the search continues.
Film Synopsis
Hani is a young man who is nearly through with his college education. He lives with his family in Cairo, while his father works in Kuwait. He is a fan of Metal music and videography, and his VHS camera never leaves his hand. He documents what goes on around him in his room, and constantly films his friend Samir and his girlfriend Sahar. Hani also occasionally steps out to film some public and private occasions. The events of this film take place between 1997 and 1998, and some of its scenes are actual clips that were filmed in the late nineties.