• FIFDH Paris 2012 / Thu 08 March / 12h00
• FIFDH Paris 2012 / Fri 09 March / 16h00
• FIFDH Paris 2012 / Sun 11 March / 22h30

This documentary attempts to portray a contested space in central Cairo. Bulaq Abu el-Ela is a neighbourhood laying just few hundred meters from the world-famous Tahrir Square, symbol of the recent Egyptian Revolution. Since 1979, people in Bulaq have lived in loom of eviction: Egyptian security forces demolish houses and transfer inhabitants to one of the new towns built on the outskirt of the city, in the middle of the desert, as the old regime had planned to carry out massive plans of so-called urban development known as ‘Cairo 2050’.

According to this plan, popular neighbourhoods in Downtown Cairo like Bulaq would be demolished to leave room for the construction of touristic facilities and 5-star hotels. However, since last February the revolution gave inhabitants of Bulaq a hope that their housing rights be respected, and that a new democratically-elected government would give up its plans to demolish the neighbourhood. Due to his proximity to Tahrir Square, Bulaq was directly involved in the popular uprisings that brought to Mubarak’s dismissal. Hundreds of demonstrators stormed into the neighbourhood, seeking to hide from security forces brutalizing protesters. Women from Bulaq responded offering food and opening the doors of their endangered houses to young revolutionaries.

Therefore, this documentary also investigates the ways in which the fortune of this popular neighbourhood intertwine with those of the so-called revolution, telling of some of the intimate aspirations that still bring people to take to the streets and claim their right to keep their homes.

FABIO LUCCHINI

Fabio is a young researcher of social and Muslim anthropology at the Parisian School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences. He is also a freelance writer and director and worked as a cameraman on «Rototom Sunsplash» produced in 2009. ´Bulaq´is his first film. At the moment Fabio is working as a writer on ´WebDoc´.  A project about informal settlements situated in the middle of the conflicts between the authorities and inhabitants of Delhi, Rio, Paris and Rome.

DAVIDE MORANDINI

Davide is a young freelance journalist living and working in between Rome and London. He wrote for several international online magazines, such as Frontline Club London or Il Sole 24 Ore. During his stay in Egypt, he worked as a photography journalist for the Egyptian magazine Bikya Masr. He graduated at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and specialized in ´Near and Middle Eastern Studies´. Bulaq is his first film.