WHOSE COUNTRY? (Mohamed Siam, U.S., Egypt). 57 minutes. Rating: NNNN
The confusion and hopelessness surrounding Egypt’s revolution permeates this intimate, quizzical and troubling doc.
An unnamed police officer engages in a series of guarded conversations that span the years since the Arab Spring. He admits to engaging in the brutality and abuse of power – torture and frame-ups included – that inspired the events in Tahrir Square in 2011. He also claims to support the revolution since he, too, feels like a victim of an unjust system.
While viewing the events in Egypt through the officer’s perspective, director Mohamed Siam doesn’t necessarily trust a subject whose politics are fickle and motivations unclear. Those suspicions set the tone for an uneasy film that doesn’t get clear answers but gives us a sense of why Egypt is still in conflict.
May 2, 6:30 pm, Scotiabank 7 May 5, 11:30 am, TIFF 4 May 7, 4:00 pm, Scotiabank 13