A reader last night went to see the new documentary Tahrir at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center:
Essentially this Italian filmmaker, Stefano Savona, who had been traveling to Egypt for years, saw what was happening in January and dropped everything to go shoot in Cairo. He did not have any interest in doing day-to-day journalism, so none of his footage made it onto the then-current media. That also allowed him the trust of a group of people who became the film's protagonists, and who several times protected him and his project from others who were suspicious of him. He left Tahrir Square periodically to recharge his batteries but tried to live and sleep there as much as possible (it was also the safest place to be). There is no narration or discernible storyteller's hand in the film either; it is almost pure cinema verite.
Anyway, as I had hoped, he emerged at the end with tons of professionally shot HD footage with surprisingly great sound, the likes of which I certainly hadn't seen before as far as first-hand account of what being in the square was really like. In fact, my whole video memory of those events is grainy webcasted AJE footage. There are so many occasions when he just walks through the crowd or lets them walk by him, or films the wonderful and funny chants people did, or just lets people talk (he barely understood anything they were saying either, so that makes it even more remarkable to see what he captured). Overall it's just an incredible and moving supplement to the experience we all had witnessing the revolution from afar/the web. And seeing it on the big screen affords you the opportunity to look over people's shoulders and take in the larger environment, or read people's faces – to generally immerse yourself in the film so that you feel, at least a little bit, like you were there.
Who knows if it will ever get picked up for a theatrical (or any) release, so that extra-immersive effect makes seeing it at the New York Film Festival all the more urgent. Here is the NYFF link. The next screening is tomorrow night at 9pm, and the director will likely be there again.
The Arabist's Ursula Lindsey reviews Tahrir and describes the above teaser as "the protesters fighting to defend the square from pro-Mubarak thugs." Below is a "completely different side of Tahrir: the funny, moving, poeting chants that inspired protesters came up with on the spot":
More dramatic footage here. Speaking of the NYFF, Dish editor Bodenner saw the Iranian film A Separation – "an Iranian Rashomon of searing family drama that turns into an unexpectedly gripping legal thriller" - and said it was excellent. Trailer here.
The Dish 