A trio of young Egyptians is on a mission to build a creative community where designers can showcase their work and artistic process through the medium of film, writes May El Habachi.
Farah El-Rafei, Israa Mahmoud Ibrahim and Nada Ahmed Salem always knew they wanted to contribute to the design community in the Middle East. However, only after realising the lack of initiatives and support for designers in their native Egypt and beyond did the three young entrepreneurs decide to create Film My Design (FMD). TheCairo-based design film event launched in 2018 with a mission to celebrate the process of design.
Inspired by international festivals that screen design-centred films, the trio wanted to create something similar in the Middle East, with Egypt serving as a regional hub. By showing how various items are made, they hope to bring the design process to life for people in the Arab region.
“As Egyptians who have lived most of our lives abroad, we had the urge to give back to a country that we haven’t really witnessed develop nor explored much of its hidden creative scene,” says El-Rafei. “We've also always been critical of how rich and supportive the international design community is, and the number of initiatives that exist to promote international creatives and support their works. This gave us the motive to shed light on and support the rich creative landscape in Egypt.”
By introducing FMD, the young entrepreneurs aim to establish a creative community, enabling Egyptian designers and filmmakers to tell their unique stories and showcase their art across the Arab world.
STORYTELLING FOR DESIGNERS
Commenting on the choice of film as a storytelling medium, Ibrahim notes:
“In the age of digital and social media, film is an incredibly important tool for communication, expression and entertainment. It helps communicate complex ideas and drive a cultural and social impact by evoking a more personal and emotional connection with the presenter.”
FMD’s first annual edition in 2019 featured films showcasing the design process and the journey of designers. For its second annual iteration, the event plans to screen films celebrating unique designers (established or emerging) and educating people about the design process. Overall, the idea is to create more in-depth documentaries about local and global design concepts trending today.
“We also plan to include a diverse programme of film screenings, talks, panel discussions and exhibitions,” Salem explains.
CREATING A COMMUNITY
Although successful in launching FMD, the young entrepreneurs struggled to create a community of like-minded designers in their country. Having spent most of their lives in the UAE, they had to build a network of designers and filmmakers in Egypt from the ground up.
“Our main challenge was promoting the initiative and getting supporters on board,” Rafei shares. “Because we lived pretty much most of our lives outside of Egypt, barely anyone in the local scene knew about us. No one knew our background or our earlier contributions to the regional and international design scenes.”
Thus, they reached out to designers, filmmakers and creative community members to introduce themselves and their startup concept.
“We’ve visited designers and filmmakers in their studios, presented to students and academics at universities, [and given] talks at relevant events to promote the platform, inform them about our future plans and encourage them to be part of the FMD community,” says Rafei.
Since the project is relatively young, its founders are continuously working to expand the community and establish their organisation as an innovative initiative that brings together designers and filmmakers.
Looking ahead, they also aim to launch an online film series featuring Egyptian designers and develop a curator-led programme for emerging designers and filmmakers looking to establish their own creative practice.
“Our ultimate goal is for FMD to establish Egypt as a precursor for the dualistic relationship between design and film so that it creates a strong precedent for the design film community in the MENA region and in the world,” concludes Salem.