Cairo -

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's criticism of the movie "Terror and Kebab" sparked wide reactions on the communication sites, in one of the few occasions in which Sisi refers to a work of art, especially since the film has been around for three decades.

During the launch of the national project for the development of the Egyptian family, yesterday, Monday, Sisi said that the movie "Terror and Kebab" made the citizen an opponent of the state, not an opponent of negativity, adding, "We are supposed to make negativity an opponent, the citizen does not really work."

Al-Sisi referred to the year 2011, which witnessed the January revolution, saying, "They pacified the country in 2011, and if it were not for the generosity of our Lord, our Lord has given us abundantly. He who goes will not return (what goes does not return)."

The Egyptian president's statements came when comparing the country's economic situation with other countries such as Finland and Singapore, commenting on the poor services in Egypt.

interest in art

And this is not the first time that Sisi has referred to a cinematic or dramatic work, and its role in educating the masses, as he previously praised the movie “The Corridor” (2019), and praised the performance of the artist Mohamed Farraj, noting that he expressed the courage of the Egyptian who does not falter in the face of the challenge, And he sent a very good message, he said.

Al-Sisi praised the series “The Choice 2” last year, commenting that the drama dealt with many events that happened to Egyptians during Ramadan, and stressed that the drama should present more than that and deal with many events after the Egyptians overcame them.

The movie "Terror and Kebab" tells the story of an Egyptian citizen (Adel Imam) who goes to the Tahrir Complex to transfer his children from one school to another. He collides with the government bureaucracy, and he accidentally gets involved in an armed robbery of the compound, and others who suffer injustice join him.

The famous film presented the theme "Citizen Against the Government", with the participation of a group of comedians, most notably Adel Imam, Yousra, Kamal Al-Shennawi, Ashraf Abdel-Baqi, Ahmed Ratib, Inam Salousa and Alaa Wali Al-Din, written by Wahid Hamed and directed by Sharif Arafa.

It is not important that he does not like terrorism and kebabs. The important thing is that those who wrote about the greatness of Waheed Hamed do not back down and write about his narrow-mindedness.

May God rest.

— Ahmed Ragab (@Ragab) February 28, 2022

Terror and Kebab https://t.co/SsghhTFvBU pic.twitter.com/jFta6Fv972

— Nagwa (@Nagwa_RD) February 28, 2022

reactions

The statements provoked reactions on the communication sites, where the tweeters on Twitter expressed their fear that the critics' pens would turn from praising the author of "Terror and Kebabs" Wahid Hamed to criticizing him and talking "about his narrow horizons."

Others expressed their love for the film, watching it over and over again, and indicated their fear that it would be banned from showing on Egyptian television and Egyptian satellite channels, and that film production would turn to show the citizen a negative opponent.

Tweeters circulated some of the sentences that were said on the tongues of the film’s heroes, expressing their difficult conditions and suffering, and the “Script” page on Facebook commented that Waheed Hamid presented in the film that the highest ambition of the poor is a good lunch, and that was the reason for their overwhelming joy when the hero of the film asked The government should bring them kebabs.

This movie is amazing.. Could it accurately express the state of the country and the people and their problems and demands that led to the January revolution 19 years before it happened (production 92).. Even when it was chosen for the Tahrir Complex in particular..


the first time I saw it after the revolution, I couldn't believe myself

— Dr.

SM (@KashSM) February 28, 2022

space of freedom

The regime of former President Hosni Mubarak allowed a space of freedom for filmmakers to criticize the government, without prejudice to the person of the president. “Terror and Kebab” and other Waheed Hamed films kept pace with the regime’s policies in allowing some freedom to vent, and “safely” sided with the citizen. The ministers attended the "Terror and Kebab" presentation.

political comedy movies

The trio Waheed Hamed, Sherif Arafa and Adel Imam presented a group of the most important films in their cinematic history in the nineties of the last century, characterized by addressing the issue of justice and injustice to the citizen in different ways, the films: “Playing with the Adults” (1991), “Terror and Kebab” ( 1992), "The Forgotten" (1993), "Birds of Darkness" (1995), "Sleeping in Honey" (1996).

In his book, "The Eloquent Farmer", issued on the occasion of the Cairo International Film Festival honoring Waheed Hamed in 2020, its critic Tariq El-Shennawy published an article on the movie "Terror and Kebabs", noting that the film criticizes the government and the government smiles at it, seeing in it what cures its heart of people, and finds People where it heals Gllhm them.

against the people and the government

Al-Shennawi believes that it is a difficult equation to be with the people and the government, and against the people and against the government at the same time, as the filmmakers laughed at the government, to the same extent that the government laughed at the people.

Hamed tried not to exceed the space of freedom available to him, and restricted this audacity when he felt that there was a light that prevented him from approaching. Al-Shennawi also criticized calling the film terrorism, "because what we saw was not terrorism, unless this is the opinion of the government represented in the Ministry of Interior."

The book also reviewed Hamed’s films with Sherif Arafa, where Al-Shennawi saw that the “Birds of Darkness” crossed the red lines, presenting the eternal embrace between corruption, terrorism and negativity, “The Birds of Darkness reached beyond the red line, and the creators of this film shed flashlights on the birds of darkness in our lives. , and more."

While Al-Shennawi saw that “sleeping in honey” dropped the thick Urdu that restricts our ability to speak and silences our mouths and our feelings, and “playing with adults” was able to achieve the elements of boldness, comedy, fun and content together, referring to Adel Imam’s sentence on the hero’s tongue, “I am the eye of the people, I am not an eye.” Government".

it was an article

Waheed Hamed tells that "terrorism and kebabs" was initially an article he wrote for Rose Al-Youssef magazine, where he was writing about the Liberation Complex, and saw that all government interests were in the Liberation Complex, so what would happen if the complex was burned?

Hamed put the article on his desk. Producer Essam Emam came and read it. He told Hamed that this article was a movie that he would buy.

Hamed adds that he did not publish the article, and wrote a film entitled "No Retreat, No Surrender", and the name was changed at the suggestion of one of the decoration workers to "Terror and Kebab".