Film highlights obstacles facing youth movements after uprising

Wednesday 07-10-2015 12:39 PM
Film highlights obstacles facing youth movements after uprising

Trailer of Citizenship Youth Film

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By Rahma Diaa 

The heady days following the January 2011 uprising in Egypt marked the pinnacle of optimism in the lives of Egypt's disenfranchised youth. Suddenly, the sky was the limit for young people who's only dreams were to secure the basic necessities of a decent life: bread, freedom and social justice.

In the aftermath, young people all over the country began to organize, forming tens, if not hundreds of youth initiatives in the hopes of turning their Utopian dreams to reality.

Capturing the spirit of the time, the Swedish Institute for Dialogue in Alexandria (SwedAlex) in collaboration with Arab Forum for Alternatives organized a 3-day workshop entitled “Citizenship Spring” in November 2013, with participation from representatives of youth movements.

This was the second workshop of the “Citizenship Spring – towards a constructive dialogue” project, the first of which was held in Fayoum a month earlier.

The project was concerned with the future of Egypt's political path, social work and local government, violence against women, campaigning and lobbying, communicating with media, defining citizenship as well as coordination and cooperation between initiatives and movements.

In an open discussion on the final day of the project, participants representing seven different youth movements  got together for a seminar titled “Youth movements after 25th Of January 2011 revolution – social issues”.

Borne out of the discussions that took place in the workshop was “Citizenship Youth”, a 15-minute documentary film produced by the Swedish Institute and co-directed by Islam Amin and Asmaa Nour, highlighting among other issues, the insurmountable obstacles faced by youth initiatives in their starry-eyed quest to change their world.

It tackles pressing issues such as the empowerment of women, the right to adequate housing, the displacement of Nubians and their demands to return to their land.

Amin told Aswat Masriya that the film aims to revive the value of citizenship in the broader sense.

 "Citizenship is not just a matter of equality between Muslims and Christians in rights and duties, it is a formula for coexistence among all sectors of Egyptian society," he said, pointing out the significance of the fact that it is co-directed by a man and a woman.

“This contributes to both the diversity of content perspective," he added. 

The film presented varying youth movements for minorities, said Nour, aiming to "illustrate the efforts of the most prominent movements that were born after the January uprising." 

Member of the People's Committee in Cairo's Bulaq Abul Ela Marwa al-Masry, also featured in the film, said that equality between men and women was one of the main causes adopted by the committee after the uprising.

"We stood against the attacks on women and attempts to marginalize us through extremist Islamists. We started by raising awareness about the importance of the role of women in our small community,” she said. 

Speaking on behalf of the Maspero Youth Union, Mina Samir stresses that addressing such issues is not only through revolutions or presidential decrees, “it happens through raising public awareness of citizenship issues and finding the tools to institutionalize citizenship rights."

Israa Ahmed, member of the Nubian Youth Union, advocated the right of return of Nubian families to their villages following the mass displacement to which they were subjected because of the construction of the High Dam in Aswan. 

 "We do not want to be separated, we want go back to our land," she said


“Citizenship Youth” will be screened at Alexandria's Creativity Centre on October 14 and at the Cairo Opera House's Hanager Cinema on October 15, as part of the 19th National Festival for Egyptian Cinema. 

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