EGY 1992 | Director: Ateyyat El Abnoudy | Camera: Emad Fareed | Editor: Mohammed El Sayyed | Line Producer: Abdul Hameed Ghoneim | Sound Recordings: Hassan Armin, Ahmed Abdel Raouf | Sound Mixing: Magdy Kamel | Production: Youssef Hassan, Abdul Rahman Mohsen, National Film Centre Egypt | Colour | DCP | 28 min | arab. OV with english SUB | Cimatheque Cairo

The importance of the Suez Canal in Egypt's national narrative can scarcely be overestimated. Atteyat El Abnoudy has repeatedly filmed in the area. The first ten minutes (of the film) report on the origins of the canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, accompanied by numerous historic photographs. Emphasis is placed on the enormous sacrifice that simple people, farmers, contributed to the construction work. Their heroic accomplishment is counteracted in the early 90s by a new profiting class that begins to suppress the hereditary population in the region when the coast proves to be suitable for tourism. A fishing harbour suddenly finds itself sandwiched between hotel piers; rich people from Cairo begin to block the canal road so that no one comes too close to their villas.

"We have nobody to turn to," the people lament, "should we complain to President Bush?" Their reference to the chief patron of globalisation indicates an issue that plays a role in many other contexts: Egypt's colonial past and its role in geopolitical alliances deeply affect people's everyday lives. (Bert Rebhandl, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 May 2021)