Ten years have passed since the massive protests across Egypt erupted to put an end to the Muslim Brotherhood’s one-year rule in 2013 and yet the June 30 Revolution still inspires filmmakers and dramatists.
There are many works that feature the political events in Egypt before and after the June 30 revolution. For example, the third part of the series El-Ikhtiyar (The Choice) shown during Ramadan 2022 with Yasser Galal as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The 30-episode series showed how President Sisi, who was defense minister at that time, saved Egypt from the destructive plans of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The final episodes of the series documented the participation of millions in the June 30 revolution to overthrow Mohamed Morsi. The series, directed by Peter Mimi, presented real scenes of demonstrations in across Egypt. In one scene, Defense Minister Abdel Fattah El Sisi tells Major General Abbas Kamel: “People protested because they feared for their future. This puts the armed forces in a position of great, historic responsibility.”
In the following scene, Khayrat el-Shater, one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, addresses a meeting saying: “The number in the streets is beyond everyone’s imagination. We must punish all who protested. Everyone must know that we will not leave this country except with bloodshed. They will see real violence and all armed men in Sinai and in our headquarters must start moving.”
Another series that tackles the June 30 Revolution Part four of the series Selsal el-Dam (Chain of Blood) directed by Mostafa el-Shal features the period from the revolution of January 25, 2011 to the revolution of June 30, 2013, with which the series ends and the fall of fascist Muslim Brotherhood rule.
It shows how the Muslim Brotherhood used religion to influence ordinary people in order to reach power. Another movie featuring the June 30 Revolution is Gawab I’tiqal (Letter of Arrest) directed by Mohamed Sami which premiered in 2017.
It tells the story of Khalid (Mohamed Ramadan), who joins a terrorist group but tries to stop his brother, Ahmad, from joining. When Ahmad is murdered, Khalid vows to avenge the death of his brother.
The film deals with the psychology of the terrorist from his childhood.
Also, El-Meshakhasaty 2 (Master of Disguise, 2016), starring Tamer Abdel Moneim, is one of the first films to discuss the events of the June 30 Revolution. The film is a comedy covering the period between the January 25 and June 30 revolutions with focus on the time of Brotherhood rule in Egypt.
It starts with the security authorities asking the master of disguise to impersonate ousted president (Mohamed Morsi) and a number of the Brotherhood leaders to save the country from the increasing control of the Muslim Brotherhood. The film highlights the great success achieved by the June 30 revolution, and sheds light on Morsi’s speeches.
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