Filming Revolution is an "interactive documentary database"[1] about filmmaking in Egypt since the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Online since November 2015, it was previewed in Egypt at Globalizing Dissent[2] on March 7 2015, launched in January 2016 at the Whitechapel Gallery London, it consists of interviews with 29 filmmakers, artists and activists, shot in Cairo in late 2013 and mid 2014 by filmmaker and scholar Alisa Lebow. The project was realised as a website by Kakare Interactive, with the interviews divided into segments that are linked as clusters around themes such as citizen journalism, allowing users to build their own pathway through the site.
History edit
Lebow told Jadaliyya that
In 2012, I curated a screening program for the Istanbul Film Festival called “Filming Revolution” that brought some contemporary films and filmmakers from Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria into dialogue with revolutionary films from other eras and countries, such as The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo, about the Algerian Revolution; Leila and the Wolves (Heiny Srour, 1984), from Lebanon; and They Do Not Exist (Mustafa Abu Ali, 1974), from Palestine[3]… As a film scholar, I knew that film had played a key role in all of the revolutionary movements of the twentieth century. I was excited to see how it would transform and be transformed by this period. So I devised a project where I could actually do the research to find out what was going on, starting in Egypt; miraculously, I got the funding to carry it out.[4]
Interviews were undertaken in Egypt in late 2013 and late 2014. Lebow told Mada Masr that "I do know programmers and artists and curators and thinkers who’ve done a lot of work in the Middle East, and many of them have contacts and connections in Cairo, so the initial circle of people I was put in touch with were people in the international circuit already - people showing in biennials or connected to the Berlin Film Festival, or people who had become known since the revolution having put out early work."[5] Subsequently, she moved beyond the sphere of established artists through her production co-ordinator, filmmaker and activist Laila Samy.[6] The project focuses on documentary and independent experimental filmmakers making films, digital archives and installations.
Participants edit
Participants included a number of already established filmmakers such as Marianne Khoury, who had worked with "godfather" of Egyptian cinema, Youssef Chahine[7] and internationally-exhibited artist Lara Baladi. Actor and producer Khalid Abdalla, best known internationally for his role in the film adaptation of The Kite Runner, provided a link to video activist collective Mosireen, including filmmaker Tamer El Said, as well as to Jehane Noujaim's documentary The Square, in which he is one of the key subjects.
References edit
- ^ http://i-docs.org/2016/01/18/an-appetizer-for-filming-revolution-at-i-docs-2016/
- ^ https://globalizingdissent.wordpress.com/filming-revolution/
- ^ Lebow, Alisa (2014), "Filming Revolution: Approaches to Programming the 'Arab Spring'", in Dina Iordanova (ed.), Film Festivals and the Middle East, Stefanie Van de Peer, Saint Andrews Film Studies, ISBN 978-1-908437-11-2
- ^ "Filming Revolution: An Interview with Alisa Lebow". Jadaliyya. 2015-11-15. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
- ^ "Q&A on Filming Revolution, a new Egypt-focused interactive website". Mada Masr. 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
- ^ "Q&A on Filming Revolution, a new Egypt-focused interactive website". Mada Masr. 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
- ^ Khoury, Marianne (2015-11-01). "Working with Youssef Chahine" (Video). Filming Revolution. Retrieved 2016-01-21.