Bandido/Abo Zaabal 89 (103')*
The Organizers
ALFILM Festival - Berlin
“I always felt he betrayed us by leaving me, my mother, and the struggle.” In search of understanding and healing, filmmaker and activist Bassam Mortada delves into the legacy of his father’s imprisonment and torture in Abo Zaabal prison in 1989, reconstructing the traumatic events that divided his family and finally led to his father departing to Vienna. While rooted in Egypt’s turbulent political history, the film remains a deeply personal exploration of a child trying to understand how his family was torn apart.
Mortada uncovers how his parents’ political activism shaped their lives as he films his efforts to renew and restore relationships with them. Through intimate conversations, archival footage, theatrical monologues and his father’s cassette tapes from exile, Abo Zaabal 89 shows the impact of the “big” history of Egypt on the “small” history of his family.
About Organizer
16th ALFILM - Arab Film Festival Berlin Taking place between the 23rd - 30th of April 2025 at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, City Kino Wedding, Kino in der KulturBrauerei, SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA, Wolf Kino, Spore Initiative and Gretchen, the 16th edition of ALFILM features a wide selection of feature films, documentaries, and short films, while masterclasses, panel discussions, talks, special screenings, and a closing party round off the varied programme. As in previous years, the festival promises audiences a cinematic experience of artistic merit and relevance to timely issues across two program sections. ALFILM Selection highlights the richness of the contemporary Arab cinema landscape with film productions from the past two years. In ALFILM Spotlight Canceled Futures, Endless Pasts: Speculative Fiction on and Archival Subversions of the (Post)colonial Condition, the genre of speculative fiction and the subversive use of the archive are at the centre of an artistic examination of the (post)colonial entanglements of the Arab region. Complete programme at https://alfilm.berlin/.
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