Film: Forbidden
by Amal Ramsis
Egypt 2011
Documentary, 67 min
Film: The Trace of the Butterfly
by Amal Ramsis
Egypt 2014
Documentary 68 min
Discussant:
Hoda Salah (Berlin)
This event is part of the Arabic film series “Beyond Spring”, organized by Mayadin Al-Tahrir e.V., EUME and the Werkstatt der Kulturen.
Synopsis “Forbidden”
Three months before the January 25th uprising, clandestinely the director of this film ban shooting her first scenes in the streets of Cairo. Like this she had to hide from the eyes of the police, often sheltering in homes of the friends and acquaintances that we see in the film discussing acts and thoughts that are typically forbidden in Egypt. The film is a testimony of the situation before the January 25th revolution and beyond. It explores the very meaning of the word "forbidden," which punctuates many aspects of Egyptian daily life.
Synopsis “The Trace of the Butterfly”
October 9, 2011: During the clashes of the so-called Maspero massacre, 20-year-old Mina Daniel dies alongside 26 other Coptic Christians. For his sister Mary, Mina’s death meant not only the end of a life, but also the start of something new. Over a period of two years, Mary Daniel is accompanied by the director on a journey through Egypt’s revolution. She documents years full of frustration and triumph and even more deaths.
Hoda Salah is an Egyptian-German political scientist and teaches at the Philipps-Universität Marburg. Her research interests are political Islam, and the women’s movement, Policies related to sexuality, religion and revolution and transformation processes in the Arab world.