In 2011 thousands of Egyptians took to Tahrir Square in Cairo to call for the removal of their president Hosni Mubarak. Vowing to remain in the square until their demands were met, the revolutionaries called for freedom from a regime that for 30 years had imposed state of emergency law under which human rights were routinely violated.
From Mubarak’s fall from power, the introduction of a military fascist regime and its replacement by a religious equivalent, The Square (2013) documents Egypt’s struggle to redefine itself as the Egyptian people return again and again to Tahrir square to demand justice and freedom from oppression.
Through Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim‘s verite style, the viewers is transported to Tahrir Square, seeing through the eyes of the six revolutionaries – sharing in the exhilaration of revolutionary change, and the fear and pain of violent suppression.
A camera, Noujaim proves is a tool of revolution – footage of atrocities inflicted by the state, like those this film captures, reaching an international audience through social media were instrumental in Mubarak’s removal. The Square itself is a testament to the power of the people by being the first crowd-funded film to be nominated for an Oscar.
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