Microphone: A journey thorugh the Alexandria’s independent musical movement.

While it is very interesting to sumberge yourself  in the local independent art scene of any city, Alexandria, a port city in Egypt is especially interesting because of the political ambient in the country that rages from repression of ideas, censorship of arts, subyugation of women and fundamentalist islam among other hurdles that musicians and graffitti artists have to endure to emerge as creators. The film also catches our attention because 90% of the acting crew are the same musicians that make the ”scene”. Microphone is a fictional story based on the true life of the characters. “I did’t write a script, I just left the characters tell me their stories, I didn’t give them any directorial orders on how to move or speak or anything. I think this film is made by them and their stories“ the director Ahmad Abdalla told the audience after the screening today at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film is centered around the musicians and a couple of love stories that happened around the lives of the people that are capturing and exploring the musical counterculture of this vibrant port city that ranges from Hip hop and rap of the Y crew to rock pop of Massar Egbari to the metal all girl Mascara that for obvious reasons prefered to hide their faces from the camera during the whole movie. The musicians’ interviews and the performances are an eclectic mix and very personal. Really worth watching.

Not all of us are aware that certain slices of Egyptian reality couldn’t be seen publicly, not even in a censored form in certain parts of the world (with Egypt among them) if they weren`t called fiction. Packing reality like this is often the only way to trick the authorities, or make people interested in what you need to say, but sometimes it is not enough. What the deleted scenes will be was a secret the makers didn`t want to share. You may hear those calls for changes, but when you ask about the details, the official answer humbly switches the topic to ¨a cinematographic revolution”. You might discover interesting truths and ask yourself some heavy questions dissecting the lyrics, or just paying some attention to certain lines.

Microphone Official Synopsis

Upon returning to his native Alexandria after traveling abroad in the United States for several years, Khaled discovers that time has altered and severed many of his prior relationships, namely between he and his former flame, Hadeer. Feeling alone and rejected, Khaled wanders the city and quickly stumbles into a new world: the underground arts scene. As he becomes increasingly enchanted with this counterculture movement, Khaled crosses paths with street hip-hoppers, rooftop rockers, graffiti artists and documentary filmmakers. Captivated by this diverse intersection of creativity, he attempts to pull together his limited resources in the hopes of supporting the onslaught of fresh talent. It is not long before his professional and personal life become completely immersed in music, film and art, a movement all the more extraordinary for it having not emerged from Cairo, Egypt’s bustling capital city.

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/massaregbari#ixzz11HFsPDlI