Friday, January 17, 2014

#TheSquareFilm : And An Egyptian Film makes to it the #Oscars For this First time

And The Square has become the first Egyptian film to be nominated for an academy award in history.
Yes The Square made to the finals. It is being nominated for Oscar best Documentary feature for 2014. I am extremely happy more than you can imagine.
 
It is worth to mention that The square has not been screened yet in Egypt. It was supposed to be screened from couple of months ago in Cairo but its screening was cancelled. The censorship board ironically has not approved it yet. The film’s director Jihane Noujaim told Jon Stewart about that. It is not a big secret both the army and police will reject such film especially it got unseen raw footage from clashes like Maspero , Mohamed Mahmoud and Cabinet HQ. This is why the Censorship board has not approved yet and we all know it.  

 We will not ignore the fact that the current regime won’t like such film to be screened now because it is not advisable to inspire people anymore when you keep repeating in the media day and night that 25 January revolution is a conspiracy and you teach their children in their history books that revolutions do not bring change.
Already except for Ahram Online and Shorouk News as far as I have only mentioned the news in Egypt that Jihane Noujaim’s film has reached to the OSCARS. In fact there is nothing about it in our media today. Of course they do not want to spoil the big feast of democracy. 

Unfortunately I know with the current conspiracy theory ultra-nationalism wave in the country now all what the Square film crew will get from Egyptian media is attack. I will not be surprised to find the talk show hosts calling this documentary an American Zionist attempt to defame the Egyptian armed forces and to bring down the State as the Oscars are controlled by the Zionist lobby to the end of that attack. 
Ironically our media will ignore the fact that in the same category another documentary called “Dirty Wars” by Jeremy Scahill about the dirty military operations of the US army in Afghanistan , Somalia and Yemen is nominated and nobody has accused its makers of anything and the film was screened in US easily. 
Even some began to say that The square has no chance in the academy awards in front of other documentaries just like our revolution itself, well it is enough to be nominated and revolutions just do not die.
We do not have Netflix in Egypt. Some of us are waiting it to hit the torrents while others are hopeful that it would be screened commercially in Egypt next 25 January 2014 after the permission of the censorship. Already I doubt it especially with the footage
If you are in the States , then you are luckier than us in Egypt because you can see this film before us in Netflix.
I am praying that The Square will win and the Revolution Continues.

10 comments:

  1. Some ideas for the upcoming celebration of the third anniversary of the emancipatory January 25 (not June 30) Egyptian revolution:

    1. Upon entering Tahrir square, setup equipment and play this very film repeatedly in the square of heroic deeds. Let the world see the country at its best.

    2. Borrow ideas from the Ukrainian protestors. They recently have been holding up mirrors against forces coming to suppress them. Consider doing the same on January 25 to force the barbaric police to look at the images they are projecting out.

    3. Invite every democratic political force that believes in the revolution to peacefully reminisce about what took place on the grounds in the heart of Cairo not very long ago. Promote an end to the bitter hatred and recriminations that are destroying the country.

    4. Choose and announce a revolutionary presidential candidate on this date. The Tiananmen protestors voted to determine their collective course of action in some cases. This may not be realistically achievable in the divided and polarized atmosphere that plagues Egypt, but wouldn't this be a great time to announce a real challenger to Sisi? Someone worthy of the presidential chair, not a military loon.

    5. Layout a revolutionary platform for both the presidential candidate and for an associated political party/alliance.

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    Replies
    1. No offence, but none of these won't work yet.

      The military will be in control of the Tahrir Square in Jan25. They do have real popular support at the moment.

      For now it's a waiting game. Waiting to get El Sisi as a president, and waiting for him to fail. There is no alternative, the Egyptians are too jubilant to get a new "strong man" for the top job.

      Once they see that no strong man is capable to bring stability, the revolution takes place again, hopefully.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, the military will have Tahrir totally bolted down on Jan25 I can promise you.

      Delete
  2. Of course its a big conspiracy against Egypt. Having the movie winning the Oscar will even be threatening card against the Army and the instability of the country. Don't you see it yourself?

    Zeinobia, we are living in the age of fear in Egypt. I am no longer safe to post on this blog with my Real name and Profile. You know your blog is under surveillance by state security.

    And.....Yasqot yasqot 7okm el 3askar


    Psalms 9:9 - The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amr Mosa Constitution put the country under military rule. We pray that the military leadership will be good to Egypt, the Civilian and the poor...otherwise.... The Revolution Should Continue

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  4. How wonderful to find this Zee, thanks. I already watched it with my husband on Netflix, (they have the whole documentary) there, and it was wonderfully cinematic and done very well. And yes to chicken, I hope they do start quivering in their shiny boots :( They've destroyed the trust of tourists in that country. The greatest country on the planet!

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  5. Not to spoil it for those who are going to watch it on Netflix or wherever, but when it captioned "Spring of 2011",the govt building next to the Cairo Museum was not burned in that footage. That means, we were there last during Easter of 2011, because we saw it burned out. Just after the attack on the citizens in Tahrir for protesting against the military rule. That is the time (in memory of those brave souls), who were taken into the museum to be tortured or whatever they did to them then. .....it's a real timetable of history here. I'll see if we have a photo of the burned building next to the Museum from this time. Excellent job they did, really wonderful cinema. I wish I knew how to post that photo here as I would if I could. But in the flick, it's not shown as burned that I could make out.

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  6. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201249220985908&set=p.10201249220985908&type=1&theater

    Photo of the burned building next to the Museum :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. the criticisms start: (Washington Post - Max Fisher from the Foreign Affairs desk) article:
    ‘The Square’ is a beautiful documentary. But its politics are dangerous.
    www.washingtonpost.com
    The Oscar-nominated film contributes to Egypt's poisonous atmosphere of polarization and distrust.

    He does make some good points too. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/17/the-dangerously-one-sided-politics-of-oscar-nominated-documentary-the-square/?wpisrc=nl_wv

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  8. It seems Egyptians want to take a break from political turmoil. Its almost as if he was already President. I hope that doesn't mean debate becomes outlawed.

    If El Sissi becomes President it will be not much different than if Gamal Mubarak was handed the Presidency by his father. Gamal is something of a moderniser, business entrepreneur, etc.. but not a legitimate candidate.

    El Sissi will struggle to take Egypt back to the time before the upheaval if that is what he wants to do. I am not really a fan of Putin but I give him credit for stabilising Russia at a time of uncertainty and giving it direction.

    This is probably the best El Sissi can do but if he does not allow opposition then his legitimacy will be questionable. It looks like exile is the fate of the democratic opposition to any form of military rule.

    Its been almost 3 years and nothing has been done about the economy. Nothing. The Brotherhood did nothing and the Army has done nothing (its not their area of expertise). The people who have the ability and knowledge to affect the economy have been kept far from power by the religious groups first and now the security/military faction.

    Russia had oil ,luckily ,which made Putins task easier. Egypt has other assets but still its going to be difficult without a competent economic team.

    ReplyDelete

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