Love, tolerance temper life for Cairo street girls

CAIRO, July 24 (Reuters) Film-maker Tahani Rached, returning to Egypt after almost 40 years in Canada, has revealed the hidden lives of girls who live, beg, cheat, sniff glue, pop pills and give birth on the streets of Cairo.

But unlike many other films on such themes, Rached's one-hour documentary El-Banate Dol (Those Girls) finds many positive aspects in their marginal lives -- their freedom, their solidarity, their vitality and their capacity for love.

''It's a film full of hope because despite poverty, despite abuse, humanity is still alive,'' Rached told Reuters.

In a symbolic opening scene, teenager Tata, a little scruffy, her hair uncovered, trots on horseback down the main street of the Mohandiseen district, between decrepit taxis and the polished limousines of the wealthy.

None of the drivers raises an eyebrow at the exotic sight, showing a tolerance at odds with a social conservatism which frowns on nonconformity, especially among young women.

The film is a breakthrough for Egypt and has taken by surprise audiences who never imagined that such wild girls existed or, if they existed, did not think they had stories to tell or plausible reasons for living as they do.

But the film did not come easy. Rached said she spent five months ''just being around'' so that she could win the confidence of the group of girls and find out how they live.

She also had to overcome the suspicions of the authorities and local people, some of whom initially speculated that the film team had come to steal kidneys, convert the girls to Christianity or have them perform in pornographic movies.

''But after a time they saw us as just a part of the neighbourhood,'' she said.

Rached's crew then filmed 58 hours of material over six weeks, mostly at night, when the streets of Cairo come alive.

''The day before you filmed, you had no idea what you would film. It was they who decided what is in it,'' she said.

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