lifestyle SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2017 MOVIE The cast members of the movie Sheikh Jackson pose during the opening ceremony of the first edition of the El-Gouna Film Festival in Hurghada late . — AP/AFP photos Worlds of Islam, Michael Jackson collide in Egyptian film n Egyptian ultraconservative Muslim ter - around six or seven - watching videos of ther glorified nor dissed the Salafis,” Salama said. Egyptian film star Adel Imamm attends the opening preacher hears on his car radio news of the Beyonce, he tears out the Wifi and denounces “They are just human beings like us.” ceremony. Adeath of Michael Jackson, the pop singer he “dancing to the devil’s tune.” The film, which is to be That extends to depictions of Salafi family that idolized in his teens, and he becomes so distraught released in Egyptian cinemas later this month and almost never show up in films. Hani’s wife under- he crashes his car. The news of the passing of the which Egypt has put forward as a candidate for a stands his turmoil after Jackson’s death. At one King of Pop is the start of a crisis of conscience for best foreign film Oscar nomination, goes into deli- point, Hani tells her he loves her because she loves Sheikh Khalid Hani, the main character of the cate territory. God more than she loves him. In a scene many par- movie “Sheikh Jackson,” Egypt’s first feature film to Thousands of Islamists have been jailed under ents could sympathize with, their young daughter focus on the religious movement known as Salafis, the government of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, watches her parents with disapproving bemuse- followers of one of the strictest interpretations of who was elected after leading the ouster from ment as they drive her to school, joyously singing a Islam. It follows Sheikh Hani, a Salafi, as his love for Michael Jackson throws him onto a bumpy journey to discover his own identity, mirroring how Egypt’s conservative society is torn between its Islamic and Arab traditions and Western culture in an age when television, telecommunications and social media bring together people and cultures from all corners Egyptian actor Amr Youssef and his Syrian wife and of the world. actress Kinda Alloush pose for photos. “I no longer cry while I am praying. That means my faith is faltering,” Hani confides to a female psy- chiatrist in one scene. Crying while praying, he explains, reflects his fear of God. The film goes beyond examining Salafis, says the director, Amr Salama. “It’s about humanity. ... It tells you that one’s identity is not a single dimension or an unchangeable thing,” he told The Associated Press just days before “Sheikh Jackson” premiered in the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month. It’s a journey Salama has some experience in: He was a huge Jackson fan in his teens and then became Salafi during his university years, before moving away from the movement. Salafism is one Egyptian actor Ahmed el-Fishawy poses during a pho- of the most closed, uncompromising visions of tocall for the film Sheikh Jackson. Islam. Its doctrine is primarily built around what its followers believe is emulation of the actions of the Prophet Muhammad. They are easily recognized by their chest-long beards and robes that reach to just below the knees. They shun music, film and dance and outside influences seen as decadent. Salafi women wear the all-covering niqab, including veils over their faces. World’s best singer Followers view life as little more than a transi- tional phase and are contemptuous of worldly pleasures. Immortality in heaven is their chief goal. power of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 and who religious hymn they heard on the day they met. Egyptian actor Ahmed el- When Hani goes to the psychiatrist - who he has faced a fierce militant insurgency. Depicting Embarrassed, she asks her father to drop her off far Fishawy (top center) poses thought by her ambiguous name was a man - he Islamists with even a hint of positivity can bring from the school gate. with cast members of the asks her to put on a headscarf during their ses- questions from authorities and security agencies. The movie builds Salama’s reputation as a movie Sheikh Jackson dur- Egyptian actresses Hala Sedki (left) and Elham Shahin sions. She refuses, and throughout their talk, he Still, while some Salafis have been jailed in the director willing to take on some of Egypt’s thorni- ing the opening ceremony pose for photos. can’t look at her. When she asks him the last thing crackdown, the government has tolerated parts of est issues. His 2014 “Excuse My French” dealt with of the first edition of the that made him feel alive, his response comes from the movement, in part because some Salafi politi- the forms of subtle discrimination that Egypt’s El-Gouna Film Festival in Salafi doctrine: “I bought my shroud and wrote my cal parties lined up behind El-Sissi after the minority Christians face, while the 2011 “Asmaa” Hurghada late. will.” He occasionally sleeps under his bed, con- Brotherhood’s ouster. portrayed the social stigma endured by those who vinced that it is the closest thing to being inside a are HIV positive. Still, neither of the previous films grave, thus a reminder of his mortality. Critical acclaim was a box office hit, despite critical acclaim. But Jackson’s death revives in Hani the obses- Salafism has been the fastest growing Islamist “Sheikh Jackson” is unlikely to fare better in a sion with the singer he had in his teens, when he movement in Egypt for the past decade, and it cov- country where comedies and action movies are imitated the star’s look and dance moves. It earned ers a spectrum. Some Salafis are relatively engaged the only sure winners. “Salama has the desire to be him the nickname “Jackson,” but also the disap- with other parts of society, often as successful busi- different and that’s why his movies are not a com- proval of his macho father. “He is effeminate,” the nessmen; some separate themselves to avoid sinful mercial success,” said film critic Magda Kheirallah. father says of Jackson. But Hani’s mother whispers influences; others denounce society outright as “But the important thing is for the director to save to him, “He is the world’s best singer. But keep that “kafir,” or non-believing. A militant fringe embraces himself and not surrender to the logic of the mar- as our little secret.” When the mother dies young, jihad against “infidels” and tyrants. The film risks a ketplace.”— AP Hani’s father turns into a serial womanizer and backlash from the public, either by viewers who Egyptian actors Bassem Samra (left) and Khaled El- becomes violent, beating Hani for imitating his see as it as too sympathetic to Islamists or, from the Nabawy pose for photos. idol. When the adult Hani discovers his own daugh- other side, as mocking religious beliefs. “I have nei- Palestinian-Jordanian actress Mais Hamdan Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris, Lebanese actress Cyrine Abdel Nour poses Egyptian actress Bushra poses for photos. Egyptian actor Farouk El-Fishawy poses for poses for photos. founder of the El-Gouna Film Festival, for photos. photos during the opening ceremony. attends the opening ceremony..