Amal

Director Mohamed Siam wanted to make a film about youth, anger and change, and decided to tell the story of Amal, a 14-year-old from Cairo, Egypt. The result is a coming-of-age documentary that begins in 2011 with the Arab Spring and follows Amal’s experience of the protests at the Tahrir Square in Cairo. Amal is encouraged by her follow protesters to stay home because she is a girl, but she refuses to be silenced and restrained. Director Siam catches on camera how she furiously throws herself into the revolution and screams at a police officer before she is brutally pulled by her hair across the street.

The film follows Egypt’s development over the course of five years, seen through the eyes of Amal. As the country changes, so does Amal and her view of the political situation. Amal thus becomes a powerful symbol of a generation and its attempts to find its place in the junction between the dreams of change following the Arab Spring and the harsh realities in Egypt.

Amal opened the prestigious documentary festival IDFA in 2017 to strong reviews. Supported by Sørfond and co-produced by Ingrid Lill Høgtun from Barentsfilm, the film has previously screened during Arab Film Days 2018 in Oslo.

Mohamed Siam is an Egyptian director, producer and cinematographer. His documentary debut, Whose Country? screened at festivals worldwide from 2016 and onwards. Amal is his second film.