CAIRO - Although it is agreed that Egypt's January 25 revolution was ‘unscripted', one scriptwriter insists that he predicted it in his film Sarkhet Namla (Screams of an Ant), which is due to hit local cinemas very soon. Tareq Abdel-Galil is infamous for controversial films such as Zaman el-Kelab (The Era of Dogs) and the two biopics, Abul Arabi and Zaza. In Sarkhet Namla, Abdel-Galil condemns the regime of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, as being riddled with corruption, abuse of power and oppression. The idea for Sarkhet Namla first flashed into the scriptwriter's mind in 2009. Although the censors scowled at many of the scenes and much of the conversation in the movie, Sarkhet Namla was approved in March last year. Abdel-Galil immediately told the film's director to get the cast down to the studio as soon as possible. They concluded filming Sarkhet Namla in October, three months before the Youth Revolution. The scriptwriter proudly describes his movie as a cry of protest and a call for young Egyptians to revolt against a corrupt and oppressive regime. “Moreover, the final scene depicts the ‘hero' leading a mass demonstration and chanting patriotic slogans in condemnation of the former regime,” he says. Mass demonstrations are also an important theme in the film, likely to appeal to the youngsters who camped out in Al Tahrir Square. “The protests in the movie are against former icons of the ruling party, who corrupted political life,” the delighted scriptwriter adds. Regardless of its serious theme, Sarkhet Namla, like the scriptwriter's former achievements, is cast in the comic mould. But he stresses that it is black comedy. We are introduced to a miserable citizen, who, unable to overcome his family's acute poverty, decides to meet the President and tell him that his misrule, abuse of power and corruption are to blame. The devastated citizen is very disappointed when told that the President is unavailable and his burly guards swish him away. Perhaps Sarkhet Namla acts as a catharsis for the scriptwriter himself, not just millions of other oppressed and frustrated citizens. “The film represents the sufferings of all Egyptians under Mubarak. Like them, I suffered from oppression and was the victim of injustice. Everybody knew how much he hated and despised his citizens. The feeling was mutual,” he comments. In his comic film Zaza, the scriptwriter came up with an astonishing and brilliant suggestion that the ex-President would not get more than 10 per cent of the votes, if the presidential elections were fair and transparent. But the scriptwriter confesses that he would not have believed it two months ago if someone had told him that Mubarak was about to be toppled after ruling Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years. “It was astonishing, incredible.”
