An ever continuing question is how much does film/art influence society, and how much is it influenced by society. What are the factors that control each side of this dialectic relationship?

This discussion aims to look at times when Egyptian cinema (examples: الأنسة حنفي، مراتي مدير عام) was at the forefront of the push for progress when it comes to women's rights, and other times when it merely reflected and paid into conservative viewpoints in its audience (examples: تيمور و شفيقة). Spanning from early cinema until current new online media (examples آية مصطفى، إعلانات بيريل), we will look at cases when film and mediamakers dealt with social issues and personal rights and the reason for the difference in approaches.

This discussion also examines the need for a society to consume films; looking at the roots of storytelling, its social functions, and its simple tricks we discuss how to create affinity with protagonists, and the social need for catharsis.