Tahrir: Liberation Square
North Africa & the Metropole
•
1h 32m
Directed by Stefano Savona • Documentary • 2011 • 90 minutes
'Soon after the first reports came about the occupation of Tahrir Square, filmmaker Stefano Savona headed for Cairo, where he stayed, amidst the ever-growing masses in the Square, for weeks. His film introduces us to young Egyptians such as Elsayed, Noha and Ahmed, spending all day and night talking, shouting, singing, finally expressing everything they were forbidden to say out loud until now.
'As the protests grow in intensity, the regime's repression becomes more violent, with the terrifying potential for massacre never far away. TAHRIR is a film written in the faces, hands, and voices of those who experienced this period in the Square. It is a day-to-day account of the Egyptian revolution, capturing the anger, fear, resolve and finally elation of those who made it happen.' (New York Film Festival description)
—'The sense of urgency never flags; neither does the protestors' deeply affecting pride in being Egyptian and finally taking control of their destiny. As one woman says, 'We have our dignity back.'' -Jay Weissberg, Variety