Heavyweight Talent: How One Film Is Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Egypt – And Beyond

Filmmaker Mayye Zayed, the creative mastermind behind ‘Lift Like A Girl’, shares her thoughts on how we can amplify the accomplishments of Arab women and change the culture around female weightlifters within the region

Maybe a movie about young, female weightlifters isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about award-winning films, but Mayye Zayed’s Lift Like a Girl is changing all that. Winning a number of coveted accolades including the Golden Dove at the International Leipzig Festival in Germany, The Youssef Cherif Rizkallah audience award at the Cairo International Film Festival, and even making it onto the submission list for this year’s Oscars nominations, means Egypt’s obsession with traditional cinema is now making a little room for the lesser-loved documentary format.

Lift Like a Girl tells the story of 14-year old Asmaa Abbary, AKA Zebiba (her nickname meaning ‘raisin’ in Arabic) over four years, as she trains to become a weightlifter. In the 93 minutes, Mayye captures Zebiba, now 20, as she transforms from a carefree child into a professional sportswoman; one who is strengthened by both her personal and professional wins and losses. Zebiba trains under Captain Ramadan, a visionary who has coached Egypt’s champions, including his own daughter, Nahla Ramadan, the former World Champion and Olympic athlete.

Filmmaker Mayye hopes her film will encourage more girls to take up sports

It’s the Egyptian filmmaker’s first independent film and showcases how in recent years, female weightlifting has become one of the country’s most-popular sports in the international arena, alongside swimming and fencing. Mayye’s own journey reflects that of the young female athletes: giving up a career in engineering to pursue films, with an aim to inspire change and raise visibility of female role models. Lift Like a Girl is the first film under Mayye’s female-centric media production and distribution company, Cléo Media. She previously co-founded Rufy’s Films, a collective to help the independent film ommunity in Alexandria. She also co-directed The Mice Room, a collaborative feature that premiered at the Dubai Film Festival in 2013, and made the award-winning short A Stroll Down Sunflower Lane which took home Best Experimental Film at Sharjah Film Platform in 2019.

Weightlifter Asmaa Abbary is the star of the documentary

Bazaar sat down with Mayye to talk about challenging gender stereotypes, amplifying the accomplishments of Arab women and the culture around female weightlifters in Egypt.

How did you get into filmmaking?

I studied engineering at Alexandria University, but after graduating in 2008, I realised that I was passionate about filmmaking and applied for workshops in Egypt and abroad. I first studied at a Jesuits Film workshop in Egypt and then in 2012 I received the Fulbright scholarship to study cinema and media studies at Wellesley College in the United States.

What did your family think of your career change?

I’m lucky to have very supportive parents – my father was so excited when I made the decision to follow my dream of being a filmmaker. He believed in me as a filmmaker even before I made any films. My parents and family are very supportive of all my decisions. 

Did you face any challenges as a woman?

Yes, of course. Females are a minority in the film industry and I face a lot of sexism and misogyny. It’s such a pity because the Egyptian film industry was built by women, like female producers who produced some great films in the early days. 

How did the egyptian ‘FILM’ lovers receive a documentary?

The reactions at Cairo Film Festival, where it was first screened to an Egyptian audience, really blew my mind. Audiences and critics loved it. The Egyptian media has been celebrating the film and my work – which is quite new and unexpected for an independent documentary to get such attention and applause. The Egyptian audience is not really used to watching documentaries to start with, so to see them loving my film is beyond explanation.

How did the story come about?

In 2003, a 15-year-old Nahla Ramadan made news by winning gold at the Grand Prix championship in Budapest. It was a big thing in Egypt because it was the first time we had heard of an Egyptian girl in weightlifting, and one at this level of international championships. Back then, I was 18, and the story really captivated me. In 2014, when a colleague told me that he passed through Nahla’s father, Captain Ramadan’s training grounds, I immediately wanted to visit this place because I was curious, and believed it was a great story.

How important was Nahla Ramadan to Egyptian girls?

Nahla influenced a whole generation of Egyptian girls and became an icon. More importantly, she normalised it for young, Egyptian girls to become world champions in this unconventional sport, and now, weightlifting is one of the most popular and successful sports in Egypt.

How instrumental has Captain Ramadan been?

Over a period of 20 years, he has trained four Olympic, nine World and 17 pan-African female champion weightlifters. He was a big advocate for women in sports, always talking to parents walking by the grounds to raise awareness of this topic. I think his influence means female weightlifting isn’t so strange anymore. Of course, 20 years ago, it wasn’t so.

How does the film challenge gender stereotypes?

We have many great female athletes: Nour El-Sherbini in squash, Farida Osman in swimming and Mayar Sherif in tennis, however, in our minds, sports are still associated with masculinity. Through the movie (and its subject of weightlifting), I was curious to explore why many of us still believe that only men can play or excel in sports.

The Lift Like a Girl team at the premiere showing of the film

What did you hope to achieve with Lift Like a Girl?

I hope the film can raise visibility of female role models and inspire young girls to pursue their unconventional dreams. The Arab world has a lot of great women that are working hard to achieve their dreams and I hope that this film can help shed some light on female weightlifters.

Tell us more about Cléo Media’s focus on female-centric stories.

I think there aren’t that many stories that are being made by women, about women. Personally, I wouldn’t like to watch or make a film that has a female character playing a secondary role. If I can help other women tell their stories, then I would love that. My next project is a narrative feature called Rainbows Don’t Last Long, telling the story of a little girl whose separated parents decide to take her on a road trip across Egypt after they find out that she has a rare genetic disease that will cause her to lose her eyesight.

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From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2021 issue