This lecture presents excerpts from an experimental film which builds its storyline on recordings from Speak2Tweet. Speak2Tweet, a platform created over one weekend when the Internet was shut down during the initial days of the Egyptian revolution in 2011, provided Egyptians with the opportunity to voice their emotions through voicemail messages despite Internet cuts. A significant tool towards a more democratic system, Speak2Tweet achieved something entirely different from the tools preceding it. It reached out to people all over the country, not only the expected demographic of young, tech- savvy revolutionaries. Rather, Egyptians were using it to vent their fears, express their hope, recite poetry, sing songs, and express their love and concern for their country knowing that the world was listening. An accumulation of emotionally moving recordings preserved the moments of the fragile emotional state of the Egyptian psyche.
The film itself weaves selected Speak2Tweet messages prior to the fall of the Mubarak regime on February 11, 2011 and juxtaposes them with the abandoned structures that represented the long-lasting effects of a corrupt dictatorship. The film attempts to depict the harsh reality of the physical state of the city and address the role that the urban infrastructure plays in instigating unrest amongst its inhabitants. It reveals the hopes and fears of a people who have yet to discover the outcome of their revolution within the context of their crumbling surroundings.
For more information about the film click here.
