#Builders of egypt review tv

112 members of the Egyptian parliament demanded that several sex scenes be cut because the scenes may “damage Egypt’s image.” The current residents of the Yacoubian building also threatened legal action because they found the film offensive. The film was criticized for showing the underbelly of Egyptian life. “The Yacoubian Building” is the first feature by filmmaker Marwan Hamed and is based on an equally popular novel by Alaa Al Aswany. Watching “The Yacoubian Building”, you get the idea of the building as a microcosm of Egypt itself, an overheated pot ready to boil over. The law applies to those who can’t afford to get around it. What all these sub-plots add up to is an aggregate portrait of corruption in Egyptian society – the extreme divisions between rich and the poor, and the convenient exploitation of the have-nots by the privileged classes. She’s grown tired of her boyfriend, Tahya, who gets caught up in Muslim extremism. Yet another subplot concerns Bosnaina, who lives in one of the rooftop apartments and cleans Zaki’s rooms. Zaki is forced to move into his office - which he used for many romantic encounters. Eventually, after Zaki gets rolled by a prostitute and loses his sister’s ring, the sister kicks him out of the apartment. Zaki Pasha, an aging playboy, lives at the Yacoubian on money from his family. Another resident, Hatem Rasheed, is a newspaper editor who harbors a secret: He’s gay and involved with a handsome young soldier. Haj uses his wealth to buy the hand of a beautiful widow. But his religious persona proves distant from his personal life.

Among the contemporary residents of the Yacoubian Building is Haj Azzam, a strictly religious, self-made businessman. The taboo subjects “The Yacoubian Building” touches made the film a sensation inside Egypt. One reviewer called it “the Arab world’s Brokeback Mountain” Nevertheless, it became the official entry to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. As the most expensive film in the history of Egyptian cinema, the film became immensely popular and controversial in Egypt. The building serves as the platform for an elaborate soap opera. Much of this was due to the influx of the rural poor into the urban Cairo metropolis. The building’s character changed to include the poor working classes which took even the rooftop storage rooms as living quarters. Originally built by Armenians that housed a wealthy clientele, there was a shift after 1952, in a coup which overthrew King Farouk and installed Gamal Abdel Nasser as Egypt’s president. The film opens by tracing the building’s history. Its central conceit is the Yacoubian building - an actual building that stands in downtown Cairo. As in all oppressive societies, the official reality is often distant from the reality experienced by the oppressed. Yet it explains much of the frustration and despair that motivates the current revolt by Egyptians from all walks of life. “The Yacoubian Building,” a rare Egyptian film to get any kind of American distribution, is overlong and schematic episodic and melodramatic and sometimes the acting goes way over the top. To stay up to date on the stories that matter.Ī film doesn’t need to be great to help make a revolution. Rosalie David was the first woman professor in Egyptology in Britain, and the first to receive an OBE in recognition of her services in Egyptology.WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information.

#Builders of egypt review tv

Prof David is the author of numerous books and articles on mummies and the religious practices of the ancient Egyptians, a presenter of TV and radio programmes, and an extremely popular lecturer all over the world. Her research work into this disease, a scourge in the ancient as well as the modern world, was recognised recently with a prestigious award from the Anglo-French Medical Society. Prof David was the former Keeper of Egyptology at the Manchester Museum, and is Director of the International Mummy Database and Director of the Schistosomiasis Investigation Project.

The Distance Learning Course in Egyptology has proved equally popular. For over 25 years her Certificate Course in Egyptology has been consistently oversubscribed. She is Director of the KNH Centre for Biological and Forensic Studies in Egyptology at The University of Manchester. PROFESSOR ROSALIE DAVID OBE has achieved world renown for her pioneering work in investigating mummies using non-destructive techniques. The Distance Learning Cou From Ancient Egypt Magazine: From Ancient Egypt Magazine: PROFESSOR ROSALIE DAVID OBE has achieved world renown for her pioneering work in investigating mummies using non-destructive techniques.