ABO ZAABAL 89
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Bassam Mortada was only five years old when his father Mahmoud was arrested in the middle of the night at their home in 1989 and taken away like many socialist activists to the infamous Abo Zaabal prison. Through the testimonies of his parents, close family friends, reenactments and archive footage, the director attempts to piece together his story and that of his family. ABO ZAABAL 89 is an introspective account that explores how the waves of political arrests in the 1970s and 1980s disrupted the lives of prisoners and their families in Egypt.
Cooperation: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Friedensbildungswerk Köln, Deutsch-Ägyptische Gesellschaft Köln
ABO ZAABAL 89 Direction: Bassam Mortada, DCP, OmeU, 83 min
Guest
Bassam Mortada is a director, producer and activist. He studied at the Jesuite Cairo Cinema School. As an independent filmmaker, he worked with independent institutions and activists to document their lives, struggles and work. In 2008, Bassam joined Al-Masry Media Corporation, which established the first independent web documentary television in Egypt. He trained a team of young video journalists who creatively produced new stories that went viral. His first documentary REPORTING...A REVOLUTION premiered at the Berlinale 2012 and toured many festivals worldwide. Bassam then founded his own production company “See Media Production” with Kesmat EL Sayed. There he developed his creative documentary ABO ZABAAL 89.