Director Khaled El Hagar on the set of None But That

Award-winning Egyptian/British director Khaled El Hagar (Women's Love, Room to Rent) has teamed up with director of photography Mohsen Nasr to bring Egypt's first 'true' musical for decades to the big screen. Three weeks after its release, None But That! (Mafesh Gher Keda!) hit the country's number one box office slot.

Loosely based on Bertolt Brecht's play The Seven Deadly Sins, this lively musical tells the story of Nahed (Nabila Ebied), whose husband walks out, leaving her to bring up their three children. As she struggles to support her family, Nahed dreams of becoming rich and decides to push her beautiful daughter into show business. With the help of a famous impresario, the young girl becomes a famous singer and video clip star, but the wealth and status she brings to her family cause jealousy and tension amongst their relatives.

A scene from None But That

Shot in 1:1.66 format in Arabic with French sub-titles, None But That boasts 17 songs by Omar Khairat. "Making a musical is extremely hard work and requires a very disciplined director" states El Hagar, who gained a post-graduate degree in film directing and writing at the National Film & Television School. "It was my dream to make None But That happen and Mohsen Nasr was the best DP to translate my vision. He has made 150 films, including dramas and musicals, and is one of the best DPs in the Middle East. We've worked together before and I know his great sensitivity with lighting and camera angles."

A scene from None But That

"The shoot was most demanding and we only had six weeks to get it right, but we were well prepared. Khaled and I created a good atmosphere and understanding amongst the cast," says Nasr. The DP used an ARRI 535 with N3, N6, N9, polarising, black Black Pro-Mist, star and fog filters, to enhance the visual differences between Nahed's dream, reality and the songs. "When I got the script, I knew it was a very unusual film for Egyptian cinema but I was familiar with Khaled's style and understood what he wanted. A musical with so many dance numbers needed energetic angles and fast camera movements, so I was brave and tried different movements and lighting to give Khaled and the editor the shots they needed to achieve the right rhythm. The film is full of colour, joy and very intense dramatic moments in which dream, reality and the songs meld together in a controlled atmosphere."

A scene from None But That

The DP chose KODAK VISION2 500T 7218 and KODAK VISION2 200T 7217. "When Mohamed Monier sings the catchy 'Haba Haba', Khaled wanted an oriental look, so I used minimal lighting, lots of real candles and a star filter to give the candles a special look," Nasr continues. "7218 is very sensitive to this kind of light and the end result is great. In one of the most dynamic and dramatic scenes, Nahed fights with the video clip director. I reflected the intensity with High-Key lighting and initial slow camera movements. As the fracas continues, the camera movements increase to show the inner feelings of the characters. The stocks helped me to achieve the maximum shadow and colour and I had no problems at all during the grading. The images look very rich and vibrant and the film will live forever in the Egyptian cinema and in the memory of the audience. "Egypt used to produce musicals, and I shot several, but None But That is very special; it's a 'true' musical."

A scene from None But That

Described by Egyptian critics at the Cairo Film Festival as "unique", and the most unusual Egyptian musical in 40 years, None But That is being released in most Arabic-speaking countries. It is also screening at more than 15 festivals in the next few months and has already featured at Cannes, FESPACO, PAFF, Kolkata and the Oslo film festivals. Distribution rights are currently in negotiation for Spain, the United States and other countries.