Microphone

Ahmad Abdalla's 2010 Egyptian film follows Khaled, back in Alexandria. A mural across from his flat catches his attention, and as he pursues it he comes to know the city's underground arts scene: musicians, filmmakers and graffiti writers. The subject is not being granted permission. The groups cannot find a place to play, a hall to exhibit in or any support; the narrative does not tie this to the obstruction of a single institution but shows it as an everyday blockage. Real musicians and artists appear in the cast and some passages were shot close to documentary. The film opened shortly before the uprising of 2011 and has since also been treated as a record of the atmosphere of that moment. Who it's for: those who like Egyptian independent cinema and films about a city's art scene. Who it's not for: viewers expecting tight plotting; the film proceeds in fragments.