Last night Mohamed Diab‘s Clash, set against the backdrop of Egypt’s 2013 revolution, screened at City Kino in Wedding as part of the Arab Film Festival.
Clash, Arab Film Festival, Berlin
" data-orig-size="1000,563" sizes="(max-width: 551px) 100vw, 551px" aperture="aperture" />The story follows the journey of a police van as it travels through the riotous streets of Cairo during the chaos of 2013. The van becomes filled with people from all sides; Muslim Brotherhood protesters, anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters and everyone else caught up in between.
The van becomes a microcosm of Egyption society, and like Egyptian society, it is fraught with divisions and violence. As the van moves along, picking up young and old, male and female, the heat inside rises. At one point it becomes so hot that the people trapped in it risk suffocation — a frequent occurrence during the revolution.
Those inside the van, like the audience, have no idea where the van is going. Limited to the tight, crowded view from the inside with only the narrow windows and grate in the roof providing glimpses to the world outside, we feel as powerless and apprehensive as the characters. The van moves relentlessly on, pelted by rocks, targeted by shooters, and rocked by protesters and helpers, even though there seems to be no destination. The prisons, after all, are full.
Egypt, like the van, is undergoing a violent upheaval, and the people in it have no choice but go with it. Families are split up, friendships broken, and new alliances are formed. In the end, however, all descends into turmoil, confusion, and tragedy.
The 8th Arab Film Festival Berlin runs from 31st March to 7th April 2017.
Filed under: Berlin, Film, Life in Berlin