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EGYPT'S MODERN PHAROAHS

By Jihan EL-TAHRI

NATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AFRICA (NFVF) - as FIN

Documentary - Completed 2015

“Egypt’s Modern Pharaohs”: An autopsy of Egypt’s contemporary history from 1952 to 2011 including its role on the international stage. Political, military and religious key characters, and personalities from the civil society, will provide an in-depth understanding of how revolution became inevitable.

- Year of production
- 2015
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- SOUTH AFRICA, EGYPT
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Jihan EL-TAHRI
- Writer(s)
- Jihan EL-TAHRI
- Producer(s)
- Rehad DESAI
- Synopsis
- On January 25th, 1952, downtown Cairo was burnt to the ground, the mobs demanded the departure of British colonial rule and called for « Bread, Freedom and Social Justice ». 59 years later, on the exact same day, the same anger was displayed and the same slogans brandished – this time against Egypt’s elected President.
  
  For six decades, Egypt’s post-colonial leaders forged a system that harnessed military and religious powers, struck a delicate balance in foreign relations and muzzled a complacent civil society. What led the docile Egyptians to mass revolt ?
  Did the hopes of Independence turn into an oppressive system crushing its own people ?
  
  Egypt’s Modern Pharaohs follows the trajectory of the rise and fall of the post-colonial state – seen through the Egyptian prism – it will recount vivid moments weaving the struggle for power between the Army and the Muslim Brotherhood. This power dance has until today defined Egyptian politics.
  
  The story takes the spectators on a journey into the heart of Egypt’s rich modern history. Through specific events we will get to know the inside story of Egypt’s leaders and their entourage, identify with its people and understand how and why the 2011 Revolution became inevitable.
  
  This story will provide the tools to decipher the current upheavals in Egypt and in the region as a whole.