Egyptian Revolution Revisited at Home this weekend

A  two-day event taking place at HOME from 12-13 October, will comprise 4 highly-acclaimed films from the region portraying different perspectives on the Revolution and its aftermath, all offering searing insights into how the Revolution affected people on the ground.

Peter Bradshaw wrote in the Guardian back in 2013 that contemporary Egyptian cinema was “giving us more information about the Egyptian uprising than we’ll ever get from the TV news”. One of the films screening is Mohamed Diab’s award-winning Clash and another – Trace of the Butterfly – is from female filmmaker Amal Ramsis who also founded the first female Arab film festival and she’ll also be in Manchester to present the film.

2011 Egyptian Revolution Revisited – 12-13 October, at HOME Manchester

Clash (15)

(Eshtebak)

Dir Mohamed Diab/EG FR 2016/98 mins/Arabic wEng ST

Nelly Karim, Hani Adel, El Sebaii Mohamed

It’s Cairo 2013: two years after the Egyptian Revolution, demonstrators of divergent political and religious backgrounds are forcibly detained together in a claustrophobic police truck during the turmoil following the ousting of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi.

Event/ This screening will be followed by a free and informal post-screening discussion led by Dr Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick.

Waves (cert TBC)

(Moug)

Dir Ahmed Nour/EG 2012/71 mins/Arabic with English subtitles

It was in the extraordinary city of Suez that the first martyr of the Egyptian Revolution fell. In his own voice-over, the Suez-born filmmaker uses animation techniques and a poetic style of sound and cinematography to capture the essence of the revolution’s generation.

The Square (15)

(Al Midan)

Dir Jehane Noujaim/EG 2013/108 mins/Arabic and English with partial EngST

In January 2011, Egyptians rose up and overthrew the 30-year regime of Hosni Mubarak. The documentary follows several of the revolutionaries and depicts the dramatic struggles and challenges to build a better Egypt in the aftermath of dictatorship.

Event/ This screening will be followed by a free and informal post-screening discussion led by Dr Dina Rezk, University of Reading.

Trace of the Butterfly (cert TBC)

(Athar al-Farasha)

Dir Amal Ramsis/EG 2015/67 mins/Arabic wEng ST

It’s 9 October 2011: armed security forces attack Coptic Christians peacefully demonstrating, resulting in 27 deaths. Mina Danial, one of the victims, becomes an icon of the revolution. In the film, Mina’s sister Mary is accompanied by the director on a journey through Egypt’s revolution.

Event/ This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Amal Ramsis.