- Social:
actor and activist
PROFILE
Khalid Abdalla
Guest
FROM Khalid Abdalla
Which Way, L.A.?
'The Square:' Filming the Egyptian Revolution as It Happened In January of 2011, Egyptians took to Cairo's Tahrir Square to lead what became a revolution. One experienced documentary filmmaker was there, and she kept filming for more than two years, shooting away during several unexpected transformations of the Arab Spring. Jehane Noujaim, who grew up in Cairo, documented the fall of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi, and then his removal from power last summer. Her documentary, The Square , is now getting Oscar buzz. Kim Masters, host of The Business , KCRW's weekly program on the movie industry, sat down with Noujaim and actor-and-activist Khalid Abdalla, who appears in the movie.
To the Point
'The Square:' Filming the Egyptian Revolution as It Happened In January of 2011, Egyptians took to Cairo's Tahrir Square to lead what became a revolution. One experienced documentary filmmaker was there, and she kept filming for more than two years, shooting away during several unexpected transformations of the Arab Spring. Jehane Noujaim, who grew up in Cairo, documented the fall of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi, and then his removal from power last summer. Her documentary, The Square , is now getting Oscar buzz. Kim Masters, host of The Business , KCRW's weekly program on the movie industry, sat down with Noujaim and actor-and-activist Khalid Abdalla, who appears in the movie.
The Business
Making 'The Square' The new documentary The Square gives a gritty, inspirational street-level view from inside the Egyptian uprising. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Control Room) and actor/activist Khalid Abdalla -- who appears in the movie -- talk about how and why they engage in the revolution whose hub has been in Cairo's Tahrir Square since January, 2011. Noujaim shot the film for over two years with little financial backing, and threats from the police and military. She premiered the film at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2013, where it won an Audience Award, but that version wasn't the full story. The revolutionaries were back in the streets demanding change. After the festival, Noujaim and her colleagues returned to Cairo to record the events of this year which led to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. They then recut the movie -- on the road out of the country so as not to have their footage taken. That version of the film is now in theaters in New York and Los Angeles and will be streamed on Netflix in January, 2014. 'The Square's producer Karim Amer, director Jehane Noujaim and actor/activist Khalid Abdalla
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