Al-‘anisa Hanafi
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The Egyptian film Al-‘anisa Hanafi (Miss Hanafi) by Fatin Abdel Wahab (1954) was shown at the WMF premises on July 5th, 1999. Following the film showing, Walid El Hamamsy presented a short paper entitled “Hanafi/Fifi and the Social Construction of Gender” tracing the system of signification whereby the transgender male protagonist, Hanafi—later the female Fifi—is used to convey the message of gender roles and their being primarily and essentially socially constructed ones. Through its depiction of Hanafi/Fifi, the presentation attempted to show how the film’s narrative functions, paradigmatic shifts, camera work, editing and lighting, among other factors, visually and perceptually construct the film’s (wo)man as essentially a social product, shaped by the various socially (non)accepted norms at work in his/her environment.
