The Tentmakers of Cairo - TRAILER

http://www.der.org/films/tentmakers-o...

by Kim Beamish
produced by Non'D'Script
color, 94 min, 2015
in Arabic
with English subtitles

The Tentmakers of Cairo is a feature length observational documentary with unprecedented access to a small Egyptian community located in the heart of Old Islamic Cairo. The story spans three turbulent years, from Egypt's January 2011 revolution through to the June 2014 election of Abdel Fatah al Sisi as President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is a story of Egypt's revolution through the eyes of a group of Egyptians who are not only struggling to maintain their culture, but also simply trying to survive.

The world of our story is a small covered souk, or ancient Cairene market, flush with color. The sounds are of horses covered in Arab bling pulling wooden carts through the street; alongside the incessant beeping of motorcycle horns and the yelling of middle aged men on their mobile phones, "Inshallah, al Hamduillah! Meshie! Mesh!"

Visually striking, the camera moves through each and every scene as though it is a part of the conversation, a member of the community. The layered images match the multilayered story that emerges, as action takes place throughout the shot moving back and forth between the fore-, mid- and background.

Contrasts exist not only in the imagery where the brightly detailed and colorful art works clash with the dirt and grim of the street, but also in the societal differences, wealth and political views which the film addresses.

With the rise of Egypt's first freely elected President, Mohamed Morsi, his downfall and the ultimate election of Abdel Fatah al Sisi as Egypt's most recent saviour, each of our characters find themselves personally challenged by the circumstances facing the nation.

Ultimately our heroes become convinced that a return to the past with the election of the former military leader al Sisi, will be the only way to return to prosperity, regardless of the threat to liberty and freedom — once the core aims of the 2011 revolution.

The Tentmakers of Cairo is a journey into a part of Egypt many will never visit, well beyond the Pyramids and papyrus, and behind many of the images seen on the nightly news.