THUGS ATTACKS DURING THE 2011 EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION

Kamaly, radio documentary by Rana Kamaly

THUGS ATTACKS DURING THE 2011 EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION

Lenght: 14 minutes and 30 seconds

Summery: Thugs attacks during the police disappearance in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Many thugs have taken the police absence as an opportunity to terrorize, harm and kill citizens.

People in the documentary: 

Amina Hassan

Ali El-Ghamery

Yousra El-Ghor

Salima Ikram

Omair Barkatulla 

Mohamed Selim

I used different styles (same music with small differences in the instruments played) of the Raafat El-Haga music by Amar Elsheriy.

This work by Rana Kamaly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Man on the street podcast

Man on the street podcast by Rana Kamaly

Good morning ladies and gentle men. Today in what do you think, our question is: do you think the Egyptian people have lost their trust in the military?

Some people have recently lost their trust in the military like Mona Basel, a journalism student.

Mona Basel: I think the people lost their trust in the army, even though at the beginning we used to chant in Tahrir square that the military and the citizens are one hand, but after wards they shocked us, you know and they went and electrocuted people in Tahrir square and started breaking up any protests that were being made, so I think the people did loose their trust in the military eventually.

Shady Khalid, an engineering student also has lost his trust.

Shady Khalid: I think that I don’t really trust the military, because we don’t have the feeling of the freedom of speech until now because I have many friends who are still in Tahrir square protesting and stuff like that and some of them are arrested because they are just expressing their ideas and stuff and I don’t think the system had changed a lot because the same people are working and just ignoring the people and ignoring our needs and our hopes of this country to be more good enough to live in.

But others like Yousra El Ghor, a mass communication student are still doubtful.

Yousra EL Ghor: I think the military plays like the role of the devil advocate, its because they say they are with the people but they are not really with the people they take orders from Tantawy and stuff like that and who knows if Mubarak is still empowering Egypt or giving orders to carry out. I think the fact that they say that they are here to protect the people and the citizens and stuff, and that the people get to see them on the streets and that they protect us, that’s a good thing for us but at the same time should we truly trust them?

Thank you for paying attention and wait for our new question tomorrow. Good-bye.

Rana Kamaly reporting to the AUC radio. 

Censorship in the AUC theater department

Theater censorship by Rana Kamaly

LEAD-IN: The recent revolution in Egypt on January 25^th had demands that went beyond politics and the ruling regime. Sarah reports.

Among the many demands of the Egyptian revolution was freedom of speech that was creating a problem even in the most liberal institute in Egypt. The suppression of freedom of speech echoed throughout the American University in Cairo that takes pride in calling itself a Liberal Arts Institute.

The university hosts each year a number of plays performed by students and while the play could even be a Shakespearean one, it has to go through a process of censorship.

Professor, Scriptwriter and Director, Mahmoud El Lozy of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts explains;

MAHMOUD EL LOZY: “We make three copies and we put it on disk as well and we send them to the Bureau of Censorship, which is attached to the Supreme Council for Culture. We send that in advance…several months in advance and they have a committee. They choose three readers. Each one writes their own report, makes his or her observations, decides to cut certain things if they feel like it according to guidelines that are not very clear. We don’t know if they’re there to protect morality or to raise the standard of art or to protect the political order. It’s not clear. They use all kinds of different arguments. And then eventually, it goes to the head of their committee and they write a report and they tell us what needs to be cut, that we have to observe moral standards of morality in costuming in gestures etc…and that we have to abide by the text as it is and they’ve stamped every page and they send it to us and they also ask us in this letter to inform them beforehand of the date of the last dress rehearsal so that someone can actually come and see and make sure that what we’re doing is what we’ve submitted and so we tell them when that will happen and then they send someone and that person comes and then watches the play and after that signs the text.”(:81)

Censorship guidelines come from state security, Al Azhar, the church or even the army.

El Lozy was particularly affected by censorship when a play he wrote in the year 2000 was completely banned as it presented Egyptian history in a way the censors did not like.

Theatre Program Director, Jeanne Arnold, elaborates saying that certain taboos such as intimacy between men and women and references to Egyptian politics are unacceptable.

JEANNE ARNOLD: “One particular play we did that was a very American play had references to Pizza Hut, KFC, some other American institutions and corporations and they asked us to cut those references. I still don’t quite understand why but they did. There are restrictions on what kind of clothing women can wear. If anything is too revealing. We just have to feel our way through it. We know that certain things are going to be a problem. Obviously, anything related to Egyptian politics.” (:32)

As for outcomes of the revolution, El Lozy and Arnold say they have seen none.

JEANNE ARNOLD: “Now, I think is a time when AUC and the students in particular need to very much push back against this and create the opportunity for more freedom of expression.” (:17)


Reported by Sarah Diaa for AUC radio.

Listening journal # 2

Title of the documentary: Sucked into the tunnels beneath Las Vegas.

Produced: Adam Burke.

Presented: NPR'S day to day, USA, 2010

Length: 8.32

                   

                             Briefly describe the documentary: The documentary is talking about the homeless people that live in Las Vegas, undergrounds, underneath the casinos and luxurious places. Also how it is easy to spend a whole weekend in Las Vegas without spotting a sign of this phenomena or crisis.

                  Was the documentary interesting? Why or why not? The documentary was really very interesting. As the narrator chose a very interesting topic that many people don’t know about, or for me I didn’t know.

                  He also narrated the story in a very interesting way. He said it like a story, were he explained everything from what he sees, what time is it, how does it feel, smell, nature of people and the place it self. Also talking about the art gallery is very interesting because it makes you feel like you are there and how this place is special.

                   

                  How was the sound quality? The use of Nat sound?

The sound quality was very good, clear and coherent, and the sounds he used are very good as the sound of water they pass through and the sounds of insects makes you feel like you are there, as for example the sound of water increases when they say they are walking and decreases when they stop or slow down.

        

       Quality of the narrator’s voice?

       The narrator sound was good and very clear and his presentation was good. Also his writing made the story more interesting as he added a lot of descriptions and he made the audience feel like they were there.

        

       Was the documentary too long?  Too short?

       The documentary length was fine. If it were longer I would have lost concentration and if it were shorter I wouldn’t understand all the aspects and lives of the people down there.

Does the documentary begin and end strongly? Why or why not?

I think he should have started by interviewing one of the people living in those tunnels right after his introduction, so it makes the people get a feeling of who lives there and not just an observers view as the book writer.

And the ending should have been with a strong phase or question or may be an invitation to go experience the place for our selves.

Other observations/suggestions?

I think it would have been better to add more pictures of the tunnel and not just one and the rest is of him.

Also he could have started after his introduction and description of the place, which he did perfectly, with an interview or at least a description of one of the people there and later on he could have interviewed the book author. 

The Gingerbread Man

Hello children everywhere, today we have a new story, The Gingerbread Man.

The Gingerbread man by Rana Kamaly

Once upon a time, a little old woman and a little old man lived by themselves in a little old house by the side of the road.

One day, the little old woman decided to make a special treat.

“I will make a gingerbread man,” she said.

So the little old woman made a gingerbread man and put him in the oven to bake. But before long, she heard a tiny voice calling, “Let me out! Let me out!”

The little old woman went t the oven to listen. Then she opened the oven door.

The gingerbread man jumped right out! He skipped across the kitchen and ran straight outside.

The gingerbread man was on his way down the road before the little old woman and the little old man were out of the house. They couldn't run nearly as fast as he could.

“Stop! We want to eat you. Stop, little gingerbread man!” they cried, quite out of breath.

But the gingerbread man just sang, “Run, run, as fast as you can, you cant catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!”

Soon the gingerbread man met a cow. “Stop, little man!” mooed the cow. “You look very good to eat!”

But the gingerbread man just ran faster. And he sang, “Run, run, as fast as you can, you cant catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!”

The cow ran and ran, but she could not catch the little gingerbread man.

Farther down the road, the gingerbread man met a horse. “Stop, little man!” said the horse. “You look very good to eat, and I’m hungry!”

But the gingerbread man just ran faster. 

The horse galloped and galloped as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough to catch the gingerbread man.

“I have run away from a little old woman, a little old man, and a cow,” cried the gingerbread ma. And he sang as he ran, “Run, run, as fast as you can, you cant catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!”

The little gingerbread man ran on and on, going faster and faster. 

Our time is up for today.We shall continue The Gingerbread Man story tomorrow. Bye children.

(The picture is from Ladybird publication the gingerbread man)

In the new Egypt i believe.....

In the new Egypt i believe that every one should be who they really are... by Rana Kamaly

All that stood before me and making my imagination come to reality, was that absurd fence, that looked fragile, but yet I couldn’t over come it. I shock the fence out of irritation and thought, “why is it always that something has to prevent me from what I desire the most?” and then I stopped with an intimidating thought, “what if this fence wasn’t there, what if it is only inside my head, What if it was my own mind that is preventing me from what I desire the most?”

I think and rethink. I wait and keep waiting for that unexpected, unbreakable power, that will come and set me free from the world I trapped my self in; I keep waiting for that thing that will change my life for ever; That thing that will destroy my human limitations and set my soul free.

I know for sure that many of us Egyptians have this fence, because of cultural and social limitations. Many times we are pushed to fit into certain stereotypes, created by society. It prevents us from being who we really are. But yet many of us keep waiting for that power to break the prison of limitations and push us to be free.

I believe that the treasure of power we are all craving for, is hidden deep inside us. Waiting for us to accept it, appreciate it, embrace it, and set it free to make us who we are. 

Sometimes we forget that the impossible is just an opinion. we refuse to believe that any idea, started with an impossible phrase. Just like the eagle that believed all his family were ducks never imagined he could fly.

I believe that in the new Egypt we should all set out inner lights and energies free; open our eyes to the things we rejected or were afraid to see; and let our inner lights guide us throw building this country, without trying to deem the lights of others.

 

Here is an oath that I believe all Egyptians should make:

Am going to live every moment as imperfectly as I can and make it count; I am going to make my own new foot prints; Never again will I choose to close my eyes from the truth no matter how hard it is; I will never try to deem the lights of others or try and make my light shine brighter than them; I will love, appreciate, respect and accept everyone as they are. And I will build a new Egypt that is livable for everyone.

To all-Egyptians start being who you really are, who ever that might be. 

So please people go get lost and see where you are going to end up. Because we discover new places, only when we are lost. Just keep following your dreams, and never give up. As the step of victory might be the one you decided to give up on.

Journal #1: World Vision Report

Title: Tourism Standstill in Egypt

Producer: Assia Boundaoui.

Length: 4.52

http://www.worldvisionreport.org/Stories/Week-of-February-19-2011/Tourism-Standstill-in-Egypt

This feature is talking about the effects of revolution on tourism and the people who make their living from the tourism industry.

Since the revolution started many people have lost their jobs as a result of a seemingly declining economy, and ahead of these people are all the people who are associated with tourism. As many tourists went back home or canceled their trips.

Like this man khamis now cant find the money for a whole day supply of food and many others are in the same situation. But still they remain optimistic and hope for a better future.

The article is really interesting, because she describes everything from the sands and pyramids to the things in the shops, which made the feature comes to life and makes me feel like I am there. Also the background sounds of horses and the man speaking in Arabic makes the feature like a movie in the listener’s imagination were he/she can hear and imaginably see and feel what’s going on.

But I think that the writer or narrator generalized that all the Egyptians are happy, while that’s not true because I know for a fact that many are not happy, specially the ones who lost their jobs. As a proof of that, we can say that many of the people who drove their camels and horses into Tahrir Square were from the tourism sector. And in defense to what they did in spreading chaos, I remember hearing on a TV show one of the camel or horses owners called and said, that they were told that people in Tahrir are protesting and if they did nothing their jobs will be on the line, so they drove their camels and horses to stop it. so not all of them were pro the protests, but many attempted to stop it.

So she might have considered talking to pro and against the protests to get the listeners to see different points of view.

I cant deny, that its really interesting that she ended the feature with a question: “how long will it take for the change to come and for how long will people remain optimistic about the future?” by ending the feature with questions, she made the listener think about what he/she just heard and continue wondering, long after the feature is already done.

Other than that the voice and language was so clear, also the speed the narrator talked was very understandable, with a calm nice voice. And the length is good for the topic, because if it was shorter, I wouldn’t have known all I am supposed to know, and if it was longer I would have been a bit bored.

The website is a very friendly and easy website, as I am not a very technology friendly person, but yet the website was easy to deal with.

My first

this is my first trial post :)