Launched in February 2011, Tahrir Monologues is a project for collecting and presenting real stories of individuals’ experiences during the first 18 days of the democratic uprising centered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in subsequent resistance efforts. It was first presented as a stage play in May 2011, with 25 performances in Cairo, Alexandria and El Minya, and a 2012 staging in Geneva.
Director Ahmed Abdallah (Microphon, Heliopolis) and Egypt’s Qabila TV filmed live performances to create this film version of Tahrir Monologues, allowing the project’s organizers to make these personal stories, never told in media or historical accounts, more accessible to viewers worldwide.
This free screening of Tahrir Monologues takes place on the third anniversary of the start of the Cairo uprising, and is presented in conjunction with the current Arab American National Museum exhibition Creative Dissent: Arts of the Arab World Uprisings, on display through Feb. 9 in the museum’s Lower Level Gallery.
Free guided tours of Creative Dissent will be available before the film screening, beginning at 6 p.m.