Although the authorities have tried more than once to erase them, the graffiti in Cairo's streets keep on resisting, as the creativity and imagination of artists refuse to be defeated. One of Egypt's most zealous artists is Sherif Abdel-Meguid, the writer and photographer, who recently made a film called Hetan (Walls) about graffiti. "Graffiti are drawings that allow intellectuals to communicate with the ordinary man in the streets," as he puts it. Abdel-Meguid was inspired to make his film after noticing how the State media took the side of Mubarak's regime, ignoring what was really happening on the ground and accusing the revolutionaries of being thugs and spies. “Graffiti are the real media of the revolution. They are one of the rights that the revolutionaries grabbed after the revolution, as they became free to express their opinions by drawing on walls," he explains. The 52-minute film looks at what happened in the Egyptian streets during and after the revolution, by means of photos taken by Abdel-Meguid. These photos have captured the most rebellious graffiti in the capital's streets, as well as the vision of certain intellectuals, like the novelist Alaa el-Deeb and the artist Mohamed Abla. “These graffiti are a very spontaneous way of expression. They are like a talk show when the audience can give their opinion, only this time they draw their opinion on walls. “What happened in the Egyptian revolution was great and nothing in the world can give this revolution and its martyrs what they really deserve, but we as artists are doing what we can," he adds. Last August, Abdel-Meguid entered Hetan in the long, short and documentary films competitions, held by the National Centre for Cinema. The film also includes photos from Alexandria and indeed most of Egypt's governorates, not just Cairo. He has yet to decide whether he is going to write a book about the graffiti in these photos, although in 2011 he published a book about the revolution's graffiti, which inspired him to start writing the script for Hetan. In his documentary, Abdel-Meguid tries to highlight something that no-one knows: the graffiti artists are doing a great job. "I started making the documentary last March, shooting the graffiti artists while they were drawing, although I'd written the scenario before the events in Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November 2011," he stresses. One of the most important scenes in the documentary is the one where graffiti artists are seen busy at work again in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, after the Government erased the graffiti from the walls there, according to Abdel-Meguid. The documentary also includes Ultras Ahlawy demonstrations 40 days after the Port Said Stadium massacre, in which more than 70 of their friends were martyred. The film is written and directed by Helmi Abdel-Meguid, with montage by Ahmed Faisal and music by Akram Mourad.
