In the words of Lamees El-Shamy: “It helped me overcome the fear of failure I suffered from for so long, and I realized that you only fail when you stop trying.”

Lamees El-Shamy, a 25-year-old woman who has suffered from anxiety since childhood, found solace in watching online videos and movies. She fell in love with the film industry and tried using many different online tools to learn everything she could about the field, even trying to produce her own short film, but she found the road more difficult than expected, until she applied for UN Women’s film-directing training.

“As a young girl – around 13 years old – I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. It was an extremely difficult time for me. I felt alone and like my life was in chaos and no one understood what I was going through.

I started watching online videos of people diagnosed with anxiety, like me, which comforted me. I learned that others have gone through what I am experiencing. It gave me hope because if others managed to overcome their anxiety, I could too. This is when my passion for filmmaking started.

After studying mass communication, I went on to work for a short while in marketing. However, I was continuously thinking of filmmaking and trying to find a way to delve into the industry.

Over the years, I explored the art of filmmaking on my own, through online tutorials, courses and self-experimenting. I worked as a freelance video producer on documentaries for several clients. However, I was more interested in producing my own movies. I once ventured to produce my own short film, but after several major setbacks, I was discouraged to continue. I tried to seize any opportunity to join shooting locations, but unfortunately it never worked out for several reasons that include being a woman with no network in the field, among others.

Then I was accepted in UN Women’s film directing training and was able to join a film production team on set for the first time. The hands-on work was invaluable and such an eye-opening experience. I acquired the know-how about the tools and process for film production and pre-production management.

During the training, I led a team of five co-trainees in shooting a short film on domestic violence, which received very good feedback from the instructor. I also joined a film set as a clapper operator. After various evaluations, I was successfully selected, among other 29 trainees, to join the documentary competition that was organized at the end of the training programme. 

Each team was composed of 10 members from different fields to produce a total of three documentaries. I still remember the long brainstorming hours we invested to come up with the most appealing idea for our documentary and to plan the subsequent production process. They say ‘no pain, no gain’. I am extremely delighted and proud that after this long process, my team won first place in the competition.

This step boosted my confidence and encouraged me to produce my own short movie, which I have currently submitted to a number of film festivals, including the Gouna Film Festival, Cairo Film Festival and Red Sea Film Festival, among others.

I would not have reached this point in my career without joining UN Women’s film directing training. It helped me overcome the fear of failure I suffered from for so long, and I realized that you only fail when you stop trying.

I dream of establishing my own production company one day to produce socially impactful movies and documentaries with a focus on the issue of mental illness and its impact, not only on patients, but on the people around them. One day, I will produce inspirational content that will bring comfort to people and make them feel that they are not alone.”

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The directing training that Lamees joined falls within a wider set of trainings on creative industries delivered by Arascope for media production in cooperation with Media-Arts for Development (MADEV) including photography, copywriting, editing and coloring.

The activity comes within the framework of the regional joint programme “Promoting Productive Employment and Decent Work for Women in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine,” implemented by UN Women and the International Labor Organization (ILO), in partnership with the National Council for Women and the Ministry of Manpower, with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).

Through this activity, internship opportunities were offered to 100 distinguished women trainees. In addition, teams of selected 30 trainees took part in a documentary competition, which resulted in the production of three women-led documentaries that focused on societal stories portrayed through women’s eyes. The documentaries have been submitted for participation at the upcoming edition of Aswan International Women Film Festival.