Donia Abdel Aziz: Egyptian arts better after revolution

Egyptian actress Donia Abdel Aziz, said that everything in Egypt changed after the revolution. Development took place on all levels including the entertainment industry, with television and cinema two of the main fields witnessing notable shifts.       'Arabstoday' had an exclusive interview with the star: AT: To start with, why didn't you take part in the Egyptian Revolution either with a supporting or opposing stance? Donia: Because like millions of Egyptian people I was frightened and disturbed by what was happening. In addition the state of confusion dominated us as we saw several supporting and opposing opinions in the events. I also don’t have political interests. AT: Do you think of taking part in a drama work about the revolution? Donia: If the drama is fully dedicated to the revolution or it was employed as one of the elements upon which the work is based, then how can I refuse? But I don't accept participating in one of the copy – paste works about the revolution that exploit the revolution for publicity. AT: How do you see the works broadcasted throughout Ramadan? Donia: If we compared Ramadan dramas after the revolution with its counterpart before, we see an essential difference. We saw only 25 series after being used to seeing 55 drama works on Ramadan's screens. The fewer works we have, the more quality we gain.     AT: How do see Revolution films? Donia: The Revolution is still ongoing, so it is not reasonable to present work addressing it as they will be distorted, but we can make documentaries recording the events without evaluation or viewpoints if we want to be objective. AT: How about more details about Karama and Ehna El Talaba (We Are the Students)? Donia: In Karama, I play the character of a greedy young woman who lives in a humble neighborhood, Sabtia, and goes to visit her sister living in a more modern place. When she gets there she sees the son of Abd  El Tawab Karama (Hassan Youssef) and tries to marry him to achieve a specific changein her social status depending on the high social status of Karama household. When the son of the reputable family decides to marry her, he discovers that she is married to a man in jail and has a son from him.     While in Ehna El TAlaba, I play the character of one of the group of students including Ahmed Falawkas, Mohamed Najaty, Ahmed Saad and Mohamed Ramadan. The group of male students fall in love with young women, Reem El Baroudy, Naglaa Badr and myself to turn into a criminal gang.     AT:Did you find any difficulty in shooting two roles simultaneously? Donia: Since I was a new face, I used to separate my roles from each other even if I'm shooting ten characters. I also follow the strategy of "Penetrate, Spread and Kill" to be more effective and convey the message of my role to my fans. AT: So you seek strong and continuous existence on the screen? Donia:To the acceptable limits while taking into account that I have to provide my fans with good acting. So I rely upon myself in selecting my parts in addition to improving my acting capabilities.    AT:Where are you in cinema? Donia: Starring roles are not one of my interests as I always seek quality that will introduce me to the audience in a good manner. I had many offers in cinema, but I declined them all for the lack of quality on paper.    AT: What was your favorite drama work in Ramadan? Donia: And Al Quds by Farouk El Feshawy, that was about the Palestinian cause; El Rayan for the new style of Basem Samra; Dawaran Shobra for the remarkable part of Haitham Ahmed Zaki ; El Mowaten X, Khatem Soleiman.   AT: How do you see the television work of the Revolution? Donia: tIt is a fact that films made after the revolution is better than those that used to be made before as everything in Egypt had been changed and development became one of the main features of all fields. I think that this tone of quality will be dominant in the future. In spite of that fact, it is a matter of time until we see cinema in a new avatar in the hands of new faces and younger actors and actresses, which gives me hope in the future of art in Egypt.   AT: What's new for Donia? Donia: I'm preparing for a TV programme to be broadcasted in Ramadan 2012.