The decline in the audience of television channels... behind the rise of “art platforms”
Recently, the artistic scene has witnessed great momentum and many works, especially the “Off Season” series, have been released on platforms, the most recent of which was the “Sound and Picture” series.
We conducted a dialogue with the art critic, Magda Khairallah, where the dialogue touched on many technical details and behind the scenes, and she spoke about her opinion on some of the new works and the attacks that some critics have been subjected to in the recent period and other things.
What do you think of the talent of the artist Hanan Mutawa and the great success achieved by the series Voice and Picture, and how was she able to develop her talent until she reached this success?
In my opinion, Hanan Mutawa has been a good actress for a long time and has been developing, and it is not surprising that she won an absolute championship and was successful in it.
Before that, she participated in many distinguished works. I am not surprised that she plays an absolute starring role, as she has done so in many series during the recent period.
Speaking of the Voice and Picture series...have the platforms succeeded in attracting a new audience, especially among young people?
In fact, platforms for series and artistic works have become very important, especially with the relative decline in the audience of Egyptian television and its channels for some time.
The solution was natural to search for another means that would attract people, and currently the platforms have presented themselves as an alternative to television, especially in displaying works of art, whether Egyptian or foreign.
It is logical that people accept positive and useful things such as the Shahid and Watchit platform, but let us emphasize that good works of distinctive quality are what attract the viewer.
In your opinion, does the artistic community currently suffer from the scarcity of educated artists who are aware of the societal situation or the national issues of their country?
Indeed, I say it, and unfortunately, many Egyptian artists have become far from culture and sufficient awareness of the issues of their country and society. We have missed the presence of cultured and conscious artistic symbols such as Mahmoud Yassin, Nour Al-Sherif, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, and many others.
But the strangest thing is that the artist has also become far from educating himself about the development taking place in his artistic field worldwide.
Throughout the world, there are many developments in the art and film industry and schools of performing arts. This is not one school, but rather multiple schools that develop and present new ideas that serve the art itself.
But let us not generalize that, as there are a small number of artists who are keen to develop themselves in various ways.
From your point of view... who is “Number One” in Egyptian art during the current period?
There is nothing in the world called “Number One,” whether in art or otherwise, whether an artist, director, or singer. There are many very good artists, directors, and singers. Is there a “Number One” in America or Hollywood?!
The artist who is distinguished this year by presenting a role or character well, next year may be less distinguished, whether in his performance of the role or in his choice of substandard work or other reasons that may not be related to the artist himself but be an influential element in his performance.
“There is no one who is absolutely great... but most of his choices are good and his level is stable and does not fluctuate, so he appears good all the time... choices are a very important element and are one of the most important reasons for achieving success.”
Has the idea of accepting artistic criticism and different opinions in works diminished during the recent period?
Let me be honest with you, whether criticism is accepted or not, nothing will change. When a critic explains his opinion about a work of art, he is not primarily addressing the creators of the work as much as he is addressing the audience and the viewer.
As for the creators of the work, if they accept criticism and work to avoid the negatives and develop their positives, then this is a good thing. Criticism is not a “disparagement” or detraction from the artistic work, but it is an analysis from the critic’s point of view and vision on the elements of the work.
The critic speaks about his opinion in absolute terms, and when we want to retrieve an old film or series, we look for what was written about this work during the period of its showing, which gives an idea and vision about the situation that accompanied the showing of the film and work.
Criticism is also a documentation of social and political stages in life and tells of previous periods and eras. Whether a star or artist is satisfied or dissatisfied with criticism is free.
Is the critic affected by the attack if he is exposed to it? How do you deal with that?
Not at all. A good critic has many means to express his opinion without anyone stopping him. His opinion will resonate and have a great resonance if it is objective criticism and has technical considerations and evidence to prove his point of view.
Whoever attacks the critic attacks, whether he has a response to the criticism or not, and in the absence of an objective response to the critic’s speech and opinion, it is possible for the creators or heroes of the work to resort to insults, and this indicates the weakness of his argument, as happened in many cases.
The audience in this case will be understanding and aware and will realize the reason for attacking the critic with the opinion, so the critic will continue on his way without paying attention to the transgressions.
Did the “Characters” comedy affect the level of some artists? What is the reason for the success of Ahmed Mekky’s comedy and the decline of Mohamed Saad?
In my view, the reason is not so much “fixed characteristics” as it is the artist’s inability to change and the horrific consumption of his talent in a fixed pattern.
If we look to evaluate the works of Muhammad Saad in the recent period, we must take into account that Saad interferes in everything in terms of writing and directing and imposes one point of view. There are no dimensions, no depth, no change and diversity. After all of that, it is natural for him to fail and he abused his talent and success and reached the path of Dead end.
As for Ahmed Makki, on the contrary, we see him presenting the character of Al-Kabir for ten years, for example, but he develops the character and puts it in many molds, and he also surrounds himself with good actors, each in his position.
Ahmed Mekki has full awareness of his art and the arts surrounding him. He is an educated man, and a good role model, “don’t be afraid of him.” In his career, he has presented many personalities. We only focus on the great ones.
Writer and film critic Magda Khairallah studied at the Faculty of Science, then joined the Higher Institute of Cinema. She began her working life as a journalist and film critic, then continued her artistic career with film and television writing. Her television works include (Sabah al-Ward) and (The Face of the Moon) and she presented films to the small screen, including (The Ring). ), (Death Warning) and from the radio series (Call of the Past). Her father works as an advisor in the Egyptian judiciary.