Film review of Tahrir - "On the ground, in your face, with the people as the revolution happens"

Photo above from Tahrir: courtesy Visions du Réel Film review from the Visions du Réel festival of  "Tahrir – Place de la Liberation" directed by Stefano Savona. Note: Although this film is not scheduled to be screened again in the official programme, a selection of prize winning films from the festival will be shown on Saturday 28 at the Salle Communale from 14:00-20:00.  The awards ceremony will take place Friday 27th April and the results will be announced here on this site.  This film was shown on Sunday 22nd April at the Usine a Gaz and is reviewed by Trish Thalman. She says it is a "visually exciting and important film".  31 January 2011, the sixth day of the Egyptian Revolution, and the the centrepoint is Tahrir Square in Cairo. Thousands of men, women and children are there with a united goal: they want the Mubarak regime to fall. The Revolution against Murbarak began because of the social injustices that the people of Egypt had suffered over the past 30 years. The recent fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia had given Egyptians courage to stand up and protest. "You feel the jostling, taste the dust" In this film we are ‘on the ground’ though the hand-held camera that takes us right into the centre of Tahrir Square: the action, yelling, chanting, violence, blood and rock fights. You feel the jostling, taste the dust, smell bodies and blood. This visually exciting and important film follows the erratic and dangerous actions of the people that begins as a peaceful protest and culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak eighteen days later. Three young activists are the main characters who weave through the film and tell a story of protest, liberation and concern. They have ideals, belief, education, energy. They are on their phones contacting everyone they know to spread the word, encouraging them to come to the square and be part of the revolution. See a trailer of the film here

The crowds get larger and more tenacious. Mubarak gives a speech to the people imploring them to leave Tahrir and to “help me make the Guinness Book of Records”, as the longest serving elected President of Egypt……30 years in October 2011. The people listen, are appalled and stunned by what they hear: a man out of touch. The chanting, the singing, the protesting continues. More and more people come to the square, defiant and courageous. "We are Egyptians". The Muslim Brotherhood makes a patronising appearance at a rally of thousands to promote their agenda. The three young activists are concerned that the party will not allow a secular state, in spite of their promises to do so if they come to power once Mubarak is gone. Kentucky Fried Chicken is handed out for free Contentious, daily life in Tahrir continues with prayers, people sleeping, talking in groups. Kentucky Fried Chicken is handed out for free. Nobody is hungry. There is awareness that the revolution is leaderless…..not organised. Who will succeed, what will happen when, not if, Murbarak goes? The peaceful protest turns violent when the Murbarak regime release over 1000 prisoners from jails. They are given 5000 pounds, guns and knives and told to support Murbarak and destroy the protestors. There are deaths and massive injuries. The frenzy of bodies being removed is seen in blurred vision, because the revolution has now become a blur. The protestors break up the tiles and road pavements to be used in the fights - us against them. A particularly strong scene shows a young woman gathering up the ‘stones’, as many as she can carry in a jacket, and walking with determination and purpose to get to the ‘front lines’. She reaches a point and dumps the rocks for all to see. There are many takers to pick up the stones.   We see the ‘makeshift’ headgear that the protestors have contrived to protect themselves from the stones that are being thrown by protestors and the ‘thugs’: cardboard, plastic rubbish bins, or whatever has been found for protection. Many protestors now have bandaged heads, bloodied faces, bruises, are hobbling with canes. The doctors and nurses treating the wounded in the square are bloodied and bandaged themselves. The young people ask to the camera, “who created this chaos, us or them”? There are moments of doubt. Murbarak resigns. The cheers go up and party goes on for hours. Exhaustion rules.  A final chilling scene shows a woman and others looking at the camera and giving a warning: “beware we aren’t being fooled”. What do they know?

Photo above: courtesy Visions du Réel