Mona El Sabban (), also known as Mona Elsabban, is a scholar or Arabic cinema and founder of the Arab School for Film and Television. She is a member of the Higher Film Institute in Cairo.

Life

Al Sabban is related to

Salah Abu Seif Salah Abu Seif (, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was a prominent Egyptian film director and screenwriter. He is considered to be the godfather of Neorealism (art), Neorealist cinema in Cinema of Egypt, Egyptian cinema. Many of the 41 fil ...

, a forerunner in the adoption of the realism in Arab cinema. She gained a degree in

Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema The Higher Institute Of Cinema (), also known as the Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema, is a film school in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of several institutes making up the Egyptian Academy of Arts. It is the oldest film school in the Middle East and ...

, specializing in

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (EP), a 2017 EP by ...

. Al Sabbah has said that in 1999, prior to her project to create a remote learning internet site, she only used internet-related technology for correspondence purposes. Al Sabban has written a number of books including: ''The Art of Montage in Television Dramas and the World of Electronic Film'', ''Creative Montage — A study in the historical development of the dimensions of montage creation'', and ''I and the Montage''. In June 2021 in socially distanced secret voting by the Supreme Council of Culture based from the

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...

Al Sabban was jointly awarded, with Sherif Mohi El-Din, a ''State Award for Excellence In the field of arts'' at the State Appreciation Awards.

Opinions

Speaking of her view of Egyptian cinema in 2019 Al Saddan said "Cinema is a mirror of society. The collapse in Egyptian cinema is the result of the collapse in Egyptian society. Therefore, we are not surprised by the cinematic deterioration in Egypt.".

Arab School for Film and Television

One reason for the establishment of the online school was Al Sabban's realisation not all potential students could travel to the

for study. Al Sabbah notes the trigger for the idea related to her preparing a working paper on "Film education on the Internet" at a conference in held at

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

in November 1999 with the theme "“Distance Education for Media.” From that conference Al Sabban says she was encouraged to set up the school. The project was presented to the Egyptian Cultural Development Fund, who approved the project in July 2001. The school was opened by

Suzanne Mubarak Suzanne Saleh Mubarak ( , []; born 28 February 1941) is the widow of Egyptian former President of Egypt, president Hosni Mubarak and was the First Lady of Egypt during her husband's presidential tenure from 14 October 1981 to 11 February 2011. ...

in October 2001. The operation of the school is via free online study from content on the website for those who register.There is no gender, religious, or educational barriers to prospective students. Online examinations are held quarterly in the topics of script, directing, photography, montage, and sound. In 2006 Al Sabban explained that many of the students at that time had practical experience of cinematography but lacked the theoretical background. For those that lacked practical experience but had passed the exams the school was attempting to organize workshops to be available in several Arab centres.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabban, Mona Egyptian film people Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema alumni 1945 births