Since the 1990s, a prominent genre of Egyptian comedy depicted people’s experience with politics and protest. Movies featuring comic superstars—such as Adil Imam, Mohamed Hineidi, Hany Ramzy, Ahmed Helmy, Ahmed Eid and Mohamed Saad—poked fun at the plight of ordinary Egyptians unexpectedly caught up in politics, and their interactions with activists, ideology, and grand ideas. Several comedies about January 25 employed similar motifs, representing a continuity of genre during turbulent times. At this event, we will watch scenes from comedies released between 2003-2012, and discuss similarities in how they depict themes such as poverty, social divisions, and state power.
 

Meir Walters is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. From 2012-2013 he was a Fulbright fellow in Egypt and a fellow at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) at the American University in Cairo. He is currently a guest researcher at NVIC.