ABO ZABAAL 89

In the organizer's words:

ABO ZABAAL 89
D: Bassam Mortada, Egypt/DE 2024, OmeU | DCP | 83 min.

Bassam Mortada was only five years old when his father Mahmoud was arrested in their home in the middle of the night in 1989 and, like many other socialist activists, taken to the notorious Abo Zaabal prison. Using testimonies from his parents, close family friends, reconstructions and archive images, the director attempts to reconstruct his story and that of his family. ABO ZAABAL 89 is an introspective narrative that examines how the waves of political arrests in the 1970s and 1980s shook the lives of prisoners and their families in Egypt.

In the presence of the director Bassam Mortada

Cooperation: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Peace Education Center Cologne, German-Egyptian Society

Bassam Mortada was only five years old when his father Mahmoud was arrested in the middle of the night at their home in 1989 and taken away like many socialist activists to the infamous Abo Zaabal prison. Through the testimonies of his parents, close family friends, reenactments and archive footage, the director attempts to piece together his story and that of his family. ABO ZAABAL 89 is an introspective account that explores how the waves of political arrests in the 1970s and 1980s disrupted the lives of prisoners and their families in Egypt.
With director Bassam Mortada in attendance