Behind High Walls: The Death of a Revolution

Nour Tarabieh
@nourtarts

Behind High Walls, a student film allegorizing the demise of the Arab revolution, has been well-received at international film festivals, where it won several awards.

A collaborative work between graduate and undergraduate students, the film is narrated by Karim, an activist who has died under mysterious circumstances. Taking place at his funeral, the film cuts back and forth between different events from his life.

Made under the supervision of Tania Kamal-Eldin, professor of practice at the Arts Department, the film is allegorical, telling the story of the rise and fall of the Egyptian revolution and its impact on the country’s youth.

“I think I can safely speak on behalf of the entire production crew in stating we are all incredibly proud of how well the film has been received and the accolades it has received from international film festivals,” said Frank Bartscheck, a director of the film.

Many challenges presented themselves during the production process. Securing the budget, Bartscheck revealed, was a particularly difficult obstacle to overcome.

“Behind High Walls was produced on a shoestring budget, which is a nice way of indicating there was no budget,” Bartscheck said.

Many of the students had to scramble to find and rent film equipment to use for the production.

In addition to the budget, the cast and crew also faced timing constraints.

“Our biggest challenge was time. […] When the semester ended in 2017, the film still needed work, but many people moved on. The project was on hiatus for a couple of years and for a time it seemed like we were never going to finish it,” said producer and co-writer Mohamed Hammad.

Thanks to the collaboration between old and new groups of students, they were able to keep the film going.

Most of the students involved in the production were film students at AUC, but many came from other departments. Tayam Amar, the lead actor, was a Theater student at the time of filming.

“It is a film about hope, despair, and societal differences. I noticed early on that the film’s message paralleled the film’s behind the scenes journey,” said Hammad.

Eventually, despite all the setbacks, they were able to finalize the film in 2018.

“I find there’s a strange synergy here in Egypt where against all odds, things fall into place in the final hour. Somehow, the students pulled it off,” said Kamal-Eldin, executive producer of the film.

However, due to the pandemic’s spread soon after the film’s completion, the cast and crew were not able to attend the festivals where their film was being shown.

“I never got the chance to go to any of the international film festivals and watch our film through the eyes of our audience, to see their reactions up close,” Hammad expressed.

It has been selected for more than a dozen international film festivals, and received a merit award for “Best Student Film” at the Canada Shorts International Film Festival in 2018. It was also selected as a finalist for the African Film for Impact festival in 2020.