Daniel Anthonipillai (40175288) 11/26/21

ANTH-322: Film Review

Some films and documentaries like Palestinian Wedding, Umm Kulthum- A Voice Like Egypt,

and Slingshot Hip Hop discuss concepts that deals with social issues in the Middle East and the

Arab world. The film to be reviewed is Electro Chaabi, which was directed by Hind Meddeb in

June 2013. This film discusses the music founded in the lower districts of Cairo and how it

influences the streets and how it is influenced from its previous political situations. What is

important to know is that this film was released after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, therefore the

review will also discuss the issue of implementing political opinions and history.

The 2011 Egyptian Revolution, also known as the 25th of January Revolution, was a time

where Egyptians mobilized mass protests where they demanded former president Hosni Mubarak

to resign from office and remove the dictatorship from the regime. Mubarak has led Egypt into a

poor political, social, and economic situation for thirty years; it became a police state which was

led by the police/state intelligence called the Mukhabarat. The revolution has allowed a liminal

moment for both the upper and lower classes, along with other religions to unite against the

regime. It is as if class distinctions were almost blurred. Mubarak imprisoned activists, cultural

producers, artists, and even attacked the cultural scene, critiques and dissonance of both the army

and government. As a result of the revolution, Mubarak resigned and left the office on February

2011.

However, it did not stop there. In 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood took over the parliament.

The brotherhood originated in the mid-1920s and 30s in a struggle against the British monarchy

and colonization. Members were even jailed and persecuted by previous presidents, including
Anwar Al-Sadat who was allegedly assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The brotherhood

tried to tackle the constitution in 2013, their plan did not work because of the voting majority and

the constitution’s mobilization by millions of Egyptians. Abdel Fattah el-Sissi took over Egypt,

he was much worse than Mubarak, and he was targeting academics. Both el-Sissi and Mubarak

shared a common goal in the removal of exposure and cultural expression of their reigns. With

an understanding of the background and situation leading up to the film, now is the time to

discuss about the film itself and the themes revolving around it.

As previously mentioned, Electro Chaabi was released in 2013 which addresses the 2011

Egyptian Revolution. Viewers learn that in the poor districts of Cairo, Mahragan is born.

Mahragan, meaning festival, is a new rebellious and subversive sound that DJs and mixers create

that would as a result bring in a lot of dancing and block the streets. Braving religious

prohibitions and social norms, this new sound is a breath of freedom for the youth of these poor

districts. The thing about this form of music is that it usually plays in weddings. Mahragan would

break the social norms of music groups, belly dancers, donations and a singer. This would pit the

youth against the police as Mahragan is all about people or joy, and brutal honesty as it would

never represent a change in reality. Mahragan brings about this truth that the media doesn’t really

care about the lower class. It is usually made for someone loved in the neighbourhood, Mahragan

gathers a nice group, expresses what is seen, and is a real freedom of speech. Chaabi is another

form of music, which is freedom influenced by the West. It has an influence on the Middle East

and speaks to both a social and cultural change. Chaabi means popular which comes from the

populist group, people that live close to tradition. Both genders cannot be together when dancing

since that would create conflict. The subject and/or purpose of Chaabi has to be crazy enough in

order to get people dancing.

 Two themes that the film tackles with include representations and the struggles over identities.

With the film viewers see how misrepresented the lower classes are. Looking at the case of how

Mahragan was formed, the upper class would have weddings and the low class would be the

ones to entertain the guests with music (sometimes the upper class due to regulated social

norms). It is highly important to note that the upper class is also a part of the government and the

past opposition they represent when talking about the reigns of Mubarak and el-Sissi. Because

Mahragan is associated with the lower class, the upper class consider this art as deviant.

“Mahragan is simultaneously perceived as something intrinsically Egyptian by shabi groups and

potentially dangerous by the more Westernized middle and upper classes.” (Garcia & Pàmpols,

p.93, 2019)

Identity is a struggle not just for the musicians but also for the country. Because of the music

that was created by rappers and other musicians are focussed on the politics occurring in Egypt

and the previous experiences of the 2011 Revolution, the government persecutes them which

would strip away their former identities. Mahragan has the same effect and it also opens up a

new identity found in the dance. According to Polly Withers (2021), various styles of dancing

invert heteropatriarchal norms. Looking at Mahragan, this and many other styles of music

provide symbolic and physical resources that results in this dialogue amongst the crowd which

would challenge both the collective and individual identities.

To me, the film does a good job in explaining the struggle as to how the truth would be set

free. I noticed a shift of music when it came to upper and lower classes. Similar to what Gilbert

and Sullivan (2018) discuss, using the context of popular culture, in a specific period there is an

opposition a lower-middle class to that of the more elite view of music. The higher classes back

then would use their original foundation to convey the conventional meanings they wanted to
express. With Chaabi and Mahragan, the view of music shifts to a more traditional and modern

take that would emphasize and empower the lower class. This way they would be able to express

their own modern take through Mahragan and the dance that it supports. Personally, what the

documentary should’ve probably discussed was how does Mahragan and Chaabi hold up

compare to the music found in rave culture. What I wanted to know was if artists from Cairo

move away rom the Middle East, will they receive the same treatment in other places like the

United States or Russia? As a part of our respected communities, do we have similar music that

would remove social and cultural norms like rap?

Bibliography

Hall, Stuart. 2018. “Popular Culture, Politics and History.” Cultural Studies (London, England)

32 (6): 929–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2018.1521623.

Sánchez García, J., & Feixa Pàmpols, C. (2020). In My Name and the Name of All People Who

Live in Misery: Rap in the Wake of Revolution in Tunisia and Egypt. YOUNG, 28(1), 85–100.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1103308819868334

Withers, Polly. 2021. “Ramallah Ravers and Haifa Hipsters: Gender, Class, and Nation in

Palestinian Popular Culture.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 48 (1): 94–113.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2021.1885852.