Film and Counterculture in the 2011 Egyptian Uprising

1. Introduction -- 2. Counterculture as War Machine: Egypt 2011 -- 3. Film and Politics in Egypt -- 4. Countercultural Films -- 5. Conclusion.-. This book examines how film articulates countercultural flows in the context of the Egyptian Revolution. The book interrogates the gap between radical politics and radical aesthetics by analyzing counterculture as a form, drawing upon Egyptian films produced between 2010 and 2016. The work offers a definition of counterculture which liberates the term from its Western frame and establishes a theoretical concept of counterculture which is more globally redolent. The book opens a door for further research of the Arab Uprising, arguing for a new and topical model of rebellion and struggle, and sheds light on the interaction between cinema and the street as well as between cultural narratives and politics in the context of the 2011 Egyptian uprising. What is counterculture in the twenty-first century? What role does cinema play in this new notion of counterculture? Preface Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction Narration Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality Rebellion The (Re) Making of Counterculture Culture as Second-Order Observation and Culture as Rhizome First-Order Observation vs. Second-Order Observation: The World of Actuality vs. The World of Possibility Culture as Memory: The Most Topical Operation of Objection Culture as Rhizome The Line of Flight The War-Machine References Chapter 2: Counterculture as War-Machine: Egypt 2011 References Chapter 3: Film and Politics in Egypt The Monarchy and the Birth of National Cinema Nasser Era Sadat Era Mubarak Era and Egyptian Neorealism Youssef Chahine’s Chaos (2007): An Uprising Is at the Door Censorship Under Al Sisi Regime References Chapter 4: Countercultural Films 2010–2016: Close Reading Ahmad Abdallah’s Microphone (2010) Narration Opening Credits (00:00:07–00:03:36) and the First Sequence: Documentary or Feature? Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality “For a Woman It Is” (00:27:54–00:30:42) Rebellion Project Ceen: Project Tahmeer (01:11:54–01:13:13) Ahmad Abdallah’s Rags and Tatters (2013) Narration: Running Scared—The First Sequence (00:00:47–00:10:00) The Odyssey Begins (00:08:50–00:14:20) Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality No Strangers Allowed: The Third Sequence (00:14:37–00:16:37) “So, People know What Happened.”: The Last Stage of the Journey (01:02:00–01:20:02) Rebellion The Prodigal Son Comes Home: Silence as Force (00:17:29–00:22:14) Louder Than Words: Thou Shalt Not Be Heard (00:58:49) Hala Lotfy’s Coming Forth by Day (2012) Narration The First Sequence (00:01:12–00:04:28) Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality Preparing the Dead (24:37:02–32:43:17) Rebellion To Catch Up with the Light? (50:32:59–59:56:22) Death and All Its Friends (01:00:10–01:04:30) Coming Forth: The Ending Tamer El Said’s In the Last Days of the City (2016) Narration The Opening Sequence (00:01:10–00:05:40) The Second Sequence: Time and Film (00:05:40–00:08:10) Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality On Natural Forgetfulness and the Real (01:09:17–01:09:33) Green Is the Color (01:10:40–01:12:44) Rebellion Of Life, Death, and War A Tale of Three Cities Mohammed Diab’s Clash (2016) Background Narration The First Block (00:01:00–00:22:30) The Second Block: Many Clashes and Always Division Third Block: What Did Not Happen Cinematic Language and the Representation of Reality The Xs and Os Rebellion The Death of Politics and the Return of Censorship The Police New Egyptian Cinema References Ahmed Abdallah’s Microphone (2010) Ahmad Abdallah’s Rags and Tatters (2013) Hala Lotfy’s Coming Forth by Day (2012) Tamer El Said’s In the Last Days of the City (2016) Mohammed Diab’s Clash (2016) New Egyptian Cinema Chapter 5: Conclusion References Appendix A Filmography (The 2011 Uprising) Appendix B Filmography (New Egyptian Cinema) Index