Interviewer: Mahmoud Mansi
Editor: Mona Timor Shehata
“The HR team did not care about anything except the attendance times and summer and annual leaves in a way that made me feel that I do not belong to this place or those people then I decided leave”
Rasha Hosny Khalel
About the Interviewee
Rasha Hosny is a very interesting filmmaker and a career critic. She appeared in the media several times in Egypt and in Germany. What is very interesting about her is that her education is totally different from her profession now. She studied Egyptology, yet she pursued a very different career path. Or is it totally different?
THE INTERVIEW
1-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: When did your interest towards movies start? And how did you start your career in this field?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: It started since I was 6 years old, and with time, I realized that cinema and movies are my essential passion in life so I quit my job in September 2014 and decided to start my new career in film criticism and filmmaking.
2-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As a filmmaker, describe to us your job in more details?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: I accomplished a short documentary film called “Not for Girls” as a graduation project from a short documentaries filmmaking workshop with three of my colleagues. The four of us did everything in the film starting from the idea and developing it into a script to shooting and all the way until editing it in the end. The film was screened for the first time in “Goethe Institut” last June, and it has been selected for two international film festivals; one in Rome and the other in Egypt.
3-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Have you ever tried acting before? Do you think if you learn acting, this will make you a better filmmaker?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: No, I did not try acting before, but I have read a lot about acting since I am interested in being a director, because it is so important for the director to know how to lead an actor or actress and to do this you must first know what acting is exactly.
4-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Being a film critic, does this require different skills than a filmmaker?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: Sure, you have to have the critical eye first of watching films and you have to know how to see a film and how to write about it not just watching and enjoying the film.
5-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You wrote for several newspapers. As a freelancer, what kind of constructive criticism do you have for newspapers and their management system?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: Actually nowadays most websites and newspapers do not care a lot about film criticism at all, they just want interviews with film stars, gossip news and articles about them; these are more important now for most websites and newspapers.
6-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What if you were the HR or Editor in Chief of a newspaper in Egypt, how would you choose your writers and journalists? How will you interview your candidates and what kind of questions you might ask?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: I actually did not imagine myself before as an Editor in Chief but I can say if this happened one day I will choose my staff according to how talented they are and the main question that I will ask will be about their passion in life. I must be sure that their passion is the same as their job that they are applying for satisfaction with their work.
7-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Earlier in 2016, you traveled to Germany and participated in “Berlinale Talents Press”. Can you tell us about this experience and the lessons you learnt most?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: Traveling to Berlin and participating in “Berlinale Talents” press was the greatest life experience I have ever had. I have learned a lot regarding film criticism through attending the biggest cinematic and cultural event in the world, getting to know and working with the greatest film critics directly as mentors also getting to know young film critics like myself form different countries.
8-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As a film critic, what is the difference between Egyptian and non-Egyptian movies? What do you suggest to Egyptian scriptwriters and directors to do in order to enhance their movies?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: The main difference is here in Egypt we concentrate a lot on commercial movies, while outside Egypt they make both artistic and commercial movies, so we have to make both. Honestly, the coming filmmakers and script writers are thinking in different and creative ways in cinema and movies on both sides; stories and technicalities.
9-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Did you ever have experience with HR before? Can you please tell us about it and your comments?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: Actually it was a bad one. I was working as an Egyptologist for six years in the “Grand Egyptian Museum Project”. First with a foreign administration and then with an Egyptian administration and in the two cases the HR team did not care about anything except the attendance times and summer and annual leaves in a way that made me feel that I do not belong to this place or those people then I decided leave.
10-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: In 2006, you attained your Bachelor Degree in Egyptology, from the Faculty of Arts in Ain Shams University. Did this have any direct or indirect inspiration to your current work?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: Not at all, it was not my choice to study this field actually it was my father’s, the only thing that may have an indirect relation is that someday I want to make documentaries about some of these places, monuments and artifacts that my studies and my work gave me the chance to see and know.
11-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Until 2014 you worked as a Content Archeologist Specialist in an Egyptian Museum. Can you tell us more about this job? Can you also tell us your ideas to develop this field?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: I was responsible about developing the database of the Grand Egyptian Museum artifacts by documenting the artifacts (measuring-photographing- cataloguing-creating archaeological researches and case study- establishing the collection management and storage system for artifacts- creating archaeological manuals- creating filling and archiving systems for the artifacts data inside storerooms).
From my point of view, to develop this field we have to think differently in choosing the leaders in this field, being a great academic professor is not enough to be responsible for the great heritage of Egypt, and also we have to think differently in using this heritage for example in shooting international movies like Morocco did.
12-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your opinion regarding unemployment in Egypt? What are your ideas to deal with the problem?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: My opinion is that we need to change the failing education process in Egypt; we have to encourage kids to discover their passion and what they want to do in life first and then we have to help them to follow their passion in order to make it their profession.
13-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your favorite movie? Why?
Rasha Hosny Khalel: This is the hardest question, it is not just one, but I can say one of my favorites is “The Great Escape” 1963. Staring my favorite star Steve McQueen, and directed by John Sturges; because it is based on a true story and it is very interesting and it was so artistic and entertaining at the same time. In Egyptian cinema also one my favorites is the “Le Sixième Jour” 1986. Staring Dalida and Mohsen Mohie Al Din and directed by Youssef Chahine; because it is one the greatest musicals in Egyptian cinema and also it is so artistic and romantic.