Eshtebak

Cairo, summer 2013: Egypt has undergone decisive changes with the Arab revolution and the first free elections – but now a military coup is dividing the country. Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters of the military are engaged in street battles, with the revolutionaries of Tahrir Square caught in the crossfire. The film follows a group of people who are locked up in a police transport vehicle. While they are forced to watch the violent clashes outside helplessly, the different political views and emotions of the people inside the vehicle also clash. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, disillusioned young people, and ordinary citizens engage in an ideological and physical battle. In the claustrophobic confines of the setting, Diab unfolds a panorama of Egypt under high tension in his second feature film after “Cairo 678.” In his film ESHTEBAK (CLASH), Egyptian director Mohamed Diab tells how the revolutionaries of Tahrir Square are being torn apart between the fronts. A group of people are crammed into a transport vehicle that is too small. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, disillusioned young people, and ordinary citizens engage in an ideological and physical battle.