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Cast:
Khalid Abdalla, Magdy Ashour, Ahmed Hassan, Ragia Omran, Ramy Essam, Aida El Kashef
Production:
Noujaim Films
Program:
Studio Cinema -
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 20:00
Studio Cinema -
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 16:00
Original title:
Al Midan
Section:
Synopsis:
The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing rollercoaster over the past two and a half years. Through the news, we only get a glimpse of what is really happening. At the beginning of July 2013, we witnessed the second president deposed within the space of three years. THE SQUARE is an immersive experience, transporting the viewer deeply into the intense emotional drama and personal stories. It is the inspirational story of young people claiming their rights, struggling through multiple forces, in the fight to create a society of conscience.
Director:
Jehane Noujaim is an Egyptian-American documentary film director. She was born to an Egyptian father and an American mother. She was raised in Kuwait and Cairo and moved to Boston in 1990. She attended Milton Academy, matriculated to Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude in visual arts and philosophy. Her highly acclaimed documentaries have won many international awards.
Selected filmography:
- 2012 RAFEA: SOLAR MAMA
- 2006 STORM FROM THE SOUTH
- 2004 CONTROL ROOM
- 2001 STARTUP.COM
Statement:
In recent years several documentaries have been made about the Egyptian Revolution, but Jehane Noujaim’s film is probably the most absorbing because the director has carefully chosen a few representative characters from the protesters in the already famous Trahir Square and has followed closely their evolution for two years and a half (a period in which she was arrested three times by the authorities). This “love letter to Egypt”, as Jehane Noujaim described it, is, among the Oscar nominees, the first Egyptian-made pic and also the first film directed by an Arab woman nominated in the Best documentary feature category. Moreover, its production was exclusively financed through crowdfunding.
Festivals, awards:
- Oscars 2014: Best Documentary Feature nomination
- Sundance Film Festival 2013: Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary
- Toronto IFF 2013: People’s Choice Award for Documentary
- Dubai IFF 2013: Muhr Arab Award for Best Film – Documentary
- Berlinale Forum 2014: Amnesty International Film Prize