Abo Zaabal 89

Filmmaker Bassam Mortada confronts a buried family trauma, revisiting his father's arrest and torture in search of reconciliation and truth.

Director:
Bassam Mortada

Genre:
Documentary

Year:
2004

Duration:
83 minutes

Rating:
16+

Country:
Egypt, Germany

Language:
Arabic (Egyptian Dialect)

Subtitling:
English

Cinematography: Maged Nader

Editing: Ahmed M. Abo el-Fadl

Production: Kismet el Sayed

Awards: •Best Feature Documentary Award – Cairo International Film Festival – Cairo, Egypt – 2024 | •Africa No Filter Special Jury Award – Cairo International Film Festival – Cairo, Egypt – 2024 | •Special Mention – International Critics' Week – Cairo International Film Festival – Cairo, Egypt – 2024

Début Status: Jordanian Première

Film Eligibility: Ahmed M. Abo El Fadel is a first-time editor

Synopsis

At age five, Bassam Mortada visited his father Mahmoud in Abo Zaabal prison. Raised by his activist mother after Mahmoud’s exile to Vienna, Mortada grew up feeling abandoned and conflicted. In this deeply personal journey, he revisits the trauma of his family’s political past through tapes, archives, and conversations. The film explores how Egypt’s history fractured one family and how memory becomes a path to healing.

Director’s biography

A filmmaker and co-founder of SEE MEDIA production. His first feature documentary. 'Reporting...a Revolution’ in 2012 was about January 25th Revolution. It premiered at the Berlinale in Berlin in 2012. Bassam is dedicated to working on neglected narratives, social injustice and activists’ biographies.