PART OF THE STROUD FILM SOCIETY PROGRAMME

Another film from Tarik Saleh who made The Nile Hilton Incident: a movie about the official corruption in Egypt which triggered the Tahrir Square uprising. His new film is a conspiracy espionage drama satirising the corruption of the church and state. A subtle character piece comparable to the intense conspiracy thrillers of John le Carre.

It starts when Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), the son of a poor fisherman, receives a scholarship to a prestigious university in Cairo, the power base of Sunni Islam. His family sees it as a gift from God, but Adam’s fortune sours when the school’s Grand Imam dies.

Fearing a hardline replacement, the government tasks secret serviceman Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares) with recruiting a spy, which is how Adam finds himself caught between a rock and hard place in a film that shows how the politicisation of religion – and vice versa – is the great poison of our times.

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£8