Students can learn great lessons in democracy from the recent uprising in Egypt, said prominent documentary film maker Jehane Noujaim.
“It brings up a bunch of questions on how we think about democracy here, because we often think of it as a ballot box, rather than as checks and balances and a population holding a government accountable,” said Noujaim, director of the documentary on the Egyptian revolution “The Square.”
Noujaim spoke at the University of Central Florida in the Student Union on Tuesday to a group of eager listeners. The event was put on by UCF Global Perspectives and was opened to all students and members of the public. Noujaim covered the events that happened in Egypt, how she and her crew went about documenting it, and the principals that viewers can take away from the film.
“We were hoping, as we were making this film, that if “The Square” could stand for something, it could stand for this idea of continuing to challenge your government,” Noujaim said.
“The Square”, in reference to a major site of the revolution Tahrir Square, follows certain characters as the revolutionary events in Egypt developed. Noujaim said that it offered a viewpoint that many news organizations did not cover –a behind scene look from the prospective of those involved. She said that these events can be inspiring even to those who are not directly involved in Egypt.
“It’s an interconnected issue, so that when someone in the U.S., or Turkey or wherever, sees success happen on the ground in Egypt, that gives hope for success elsewhere,” Noujaim said.
Noujaim’s film falls in line with the Global Perspectives theme this year: what is global is local. The issues presented in the documentary are relevant to many issues developing in the United States, said Jessica Gagnon, the public affairs coordinator for Global Perspectives. Speaker fees would not be discussed.
Noujaim said that Egypt is in a founding, not a transitioning, period. She said that a change of consciousness has occurred in the people and that this is just as important as a change of power.
This change in consciousness is emphasized in her film as playing a vital role in democracy.
Throughout the speech, Noujaim showed clips from her documentary to reiterate her points. Some of the footage was graphic. The response from the audience was consistently one of disillusion.
The ballroom was very cold and the audience very still. They were continually attentive to the dramatic scenes playing out before them. Noujaim’s points were received; the impact was made.
Diane Lieu, a junior interdisciplinary studies major, said that she was overwhelmed by the realities of the issues presented. She described the coverage that many large news organizations offered on the revolution as providing faceless Egyptians fighting a revolution. She said that documentaries like these explain what is going on in a more personal manner.
“I’ve never heard the story coming from the people who were actually participating,” Lieu said.
Robert Fernandez, a junior political science major, considered the speech an educational experience. He said that he understood much more about the revolution after her speech. He especially liked how Noujaim described what it means to be a revolutionary, as one who is willing to put everything they have on the line for the principles that they stand for.
There were over 60 people in attendance. Some seats were reserved for members of the UCF Women’s Club International Group and for UCF Town and Gown.
Some of the students, like Nicholas Marshall, a senior political science major, were in attendance because their class was moved to the event. To them, this speech was class.
Throughout the speech, Noujaim shared anecdotes with the audience on some of her experience in making this film. She described an occasion when she travelled to Egypt shortly after the revolution started and found herself being interrogated by military police after they searched her car and found a copy of one of her previous movies titled “Egypt We’re Watching You.” She said she was questioned for several hours on her political film making and described the fear she felt.
She said that she tried to destroy the copy after excusing herself to the restroom during the interrogation. Later a restroom attendant came in to her interrogation room holding piece of the broken copy. In that moment she noticed a shift in her disposition.
“At that moment, though, there was something in me that broke, where I was saying, why am I lying and lying and lying, and denying about a film that I’ve made that I’m actually very proud of,” Noujaim said. “I think that that feeling of breaking the fear and deciding that you are going to be completely authentic about how you feel was a tiny piece that everybody who went down to that square felt.”
Noujaim speech demonstrated some of the characteristics that are relevant in any democratic society. The idea of constantly checking power is at democracy’s core. In documenting this revolution, Noujaim has captured the power that a group of people have in determining their own future.
“It was following this sort of wave that happened over the last two and a half, three years that we hoped to really tell the story of how change happens and how you keep fighting,” Noujaim said.
Written by James Diana
