SLIFF BUZZ '13 - CAIRO 678

Addendum: now that the festival is over, here is a YouTube version with English subtitles.
Thank you SLIFF for bringing such vibrant films to St. Louis!

From the filmmaker, Mohamed Diab’s YouTube channel, the trailer:

The film seems viewable at this point on this site – Mohamed Diab, 2012, Egypt, 100 min.

My Review:
Based on real events, the film follows the separate lives of three Cairo women – played by three compelling actresses.
At first each story is presented as a single strand; slowly though, as through the perspective of some Brechtian “Distancing/Alienation Effect,” each saga ends up related to the others.
As the women meet each other, sexual harassment appears to be the pervasive and inescapable fabric of Egyptian culture, and once more, the personal becomes political.
The tension between oppressive conditions and the need to rebel has been portrayed cinematically many times before (as in such classics as Eisenstein’s Potemkin and Ruy Guerra’s Os Fuzis), but here, in the land of the Arab Spring, the awakening of consciousness of this small band of Amazon warriors makes for a most resounding thriller.

The Trailer:

An Interview with Mohamed Diab:

From the Global Initiative website:

Synopsis Three Cairene women from different backgrounds join together in uneasy solidarity to combat the sexual harassment that has impacted each of their lives. We begin on an overcrowded bus line, dreaded by Fayza as a daily site of humiliation and anguish. Responding to a self-defense talk by Seba, whose own assault has driven her marriage apart, Fayza fights back—and soon has a police detective searching for her amid public panic. Meanwhile, Nelly, an aspiring comic, faces pressure from family to drop a lawsuit against her attacker. Mohamed Diab’s deftly braided narrative tells a gripping, timely social tale through its patchwork of interconnected lives and deeds.

About the Director
Mohamed Diabwas born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1977. Having migrated to Egypt, he studied commerce at Suez Canal University in Ismailia before pursuing film at the New York Film Academy. Prior to making his directorial debut, he was writer of four films (Real Dreams, The Island, The Replacement, and Congratulations). Cairo 678 is his first feature film.

Reviews
“Perfectly timed to coincide with the massive protests that recently engulfed Egypt, Mohamed Diab’s Cairo 678 is a blunt but powerful portrait of three women of varying social backgrounds rebelling against the sexual harassment endemic to that country’s culture.” –Hollywood Reporter
“Cairo 678 is an important film — one all women should watch and all men should pay attention to.” –Huffington Post
“In his directorial debut, Mohamed Diab gives us a glimpse into the hearts and minds of three women from Cairo whose daily lives are affected by their traumatic experiences. From the initial incident to the lasting effects on their families and personal lives, the viewer follows them as they search for some kind of justice.” –Seattle IFF

Festivals and Awards
Best Narrative Feature, Heartland Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
Best Actor; Best Actress, Dubai International Film Festival
Silver Hugo Best Film, Chicago International Film Festival
Best New Director, Egyptian Oscars
Rotterdam Film Festival
Durban International Film Festival
International Selection, Luxembourg City Film Festival
Official Competition, Sydney Film Festival