As Egypt forges itself anew, Omar Kholeif looks back at representations of nationalist revolution in its cinematic history
As jubilation gives way to anxiety and the arduous processes of political renewal that follow a people’s revolution, it feels apt to consider some of the landmark representations of public insurgency in the history of Egyptian cinema.
Prior to the uprising that culminated with the removal of President Mubarak on 25 January 2011, Egypt had been subject to two major revolutions, in 1919 and 1952. The first of these was concerned with ending the British occupation; the second involved the overthrow of the country’s monarchy by a radical Arab-nationalist leadership, leading to such geo-political watersheds as the Suez Canal Crisis and the Six Day War with Israel. Unsurprisingly, these struggles have captured the imagination of Egyptian filmmakers, from Kamal Selim with the pioneering 1939 protest drama Al-Azima (The Will) to Khaled El Hagar with Ahlam Saghira (Little Dreams, 1993), a child’s-eye depiction of nationalist disillusionment during the Six Day War.
The Arab world’s economic, cultural and political behemoth, Egypt is renowned for its popular cinema. Once dubbed the ‘Hollywood of the Nile’, its film industry has proved a force for collective pride and unity nationally and regionally. Its films have served as both spectacle and subversive exposés of daily life in the Arabic world – from the sumptuous, camp melodramas of Youssef Chahine to the lowbrow, seemingly unassuming slapstick comedies of Ismail Yassin (directed by ex-army officer Fatin Abdel Wahab).
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