The death of Michael Jackson back in 2009 sent shockwaves across the world and particularly to all his devoted fans who grew up with his music. But that’s not just the story of Egypt’s newest treasure, “Sheikh Jackson”. There is more to it than an ode to the late pop star.
In an unexpected storyline, an imam/Islamic cleric is the one reacting to the death news of the King of Pop. That’s the story of “Sheikh Jackson”, which premiered in the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival from September 15th to the 17th, with almost sold-out tickets to the three days. Written and directed by Egyptian Amr Salama, the movie tells the story of a cleric, played by Ahmed El-Fishawy, who experiences an identity crisis, when he hears of the death news of Jackson. Activating all his childhood and adolescence memories, the protagonist suddenly finds himself undergoing an inner struggle between maintaining his faith and the memories of his adolescence – played by Ahmed Malek – back when he was a fan of the pop singer. With flashbacks throughout the film, it reveals the pre-life of the cleric and unfolds the reasons behind the inner-struggle.
Salama shared in an interview that the movie’s idea was originally inspired from Omar Khalid, his co-writer. It happened when Salama got a call from Khalid, proposing a story idea of a Salafi who loved Michael Jackson. Although the filmmaker did not know Khalid at the time, he instantly wanted to write it, for reasons including his own love for Michael Jackson and the time he used to be religious in college.
After three years of working on the movie, writing eleven drafts, and working with four script consultants, it finally made it to life.
“It was a bit tough, but at the same time, it was very therapeutic because the film is about everything I was going through, all the identity crisis, and everything. I was discovering myself as I was writing the film,” said Salama, “And I always say this film didn’t just take those three years when I was physically doing the film; it took around 35 years, which is my life, to write it. And I think it’s still a work in progress, because this film’s ending was just a comma; it’s not a full stop.”
One of the main themes that the movie portrays is the idea of relapse. The fight when anyone attempts a change, but above all, the challenge with maintaining this change. The fight where no matter how strong you are, you’ll get those times when you want to change, to try and be different, but also to go back to your old-self to try it just one more time. What we don’t realize is the fact that once people do succeed at changing themselves, there are daily temptations to relapse. In one of the movie scenes, the protagonist is seen holding a beard shaver in his hands, turning it on and off, on and off, on and off, for several times, as he stares at his reflection in the mirror, because he was about to meet his high school crush who used to nickname him “Jackson” due to his obsession. That moment presents anyone stuck between two decisions and is having a thousand voices in their head, arguing whether to follow their desire or to stick to their new-self.
Other themes of the film include having an abusive father, a religious relative, high school temptations. When asked if these small details meant anything specific to Salama, he stated that whereas the film was mostly inspired by his life or life of people he knows, “I did my best to make it relatable so I put the theme of identity crisis, the theme of father and son relationship, the theme of home; all these themes were there together to make the film relatable to everybody – I hope.”
And the filmmaker hoped right. In the ending scene of the movie in one of the screenings at the TIFF, in an almost sold-out theatre, you could hear the sniffs and sniffles of people as the protagonist finally moonwalked his way wearing Michael Jackson’s hat, while still in his white Islamic thobe.
One of the main challenges that faced the creators of the film was “finding the tone of the film”, as Salama put it. With an idea of a cleric who secretly loved Michael Jackson, and with a title itself that combines “Sheikh” and “Jackson”, you could automatically assume the movie is a comedy, when in fact, it describes a serious drama of an identity crisis.
Despite how the film dedicates a big portion of the story around the pop star’s influence on the main character, it actually lacked any music by Michael Jackson. The movie director explained that the crew tried to get the copy rights to use Jackson’s songs, but the singer’s state refused because of other projects it was working on. However, there was also another challenge of fitting the pop singer’s music in a dramatic movie.
“When I was editing the film,” said Salama, “I remember whenever you put a Michael Jackson song, it feels like you’ve switched the channel to MTV, so it was out of tone; watching this drama about a guy with an identity crisis and then suddenly you want to dance, so it felt a bit awkward.” Instead, according to Salama, the composer of the film, Hany Adel, created music that combined the overall tone of the film with the character and the storyline.
Egypt chose Sheikh Jackson as its official submission for the best foreign film category at The Oscars. The Academy Awards’ decision is yet to be confirmed.
The film’s next steps include a premier at the BFI London Film Festival in October, and then The Oscars might just be on the top of the list, where I personally hope the movie makes its way up there, to be recognized worldwide for its unique storyline, its powerful message, and its professional quality.