Moulid festivities are a popular tradition anchored in Muslim societies dating back centuries. Intended to celebrate the birth of the Prophet and his lineage, they vary widely in content and form between regions and communities in the Muslim world. The Moulid has become a hallmark of Saïda Aïsha, one of Cairo’s colorful and popular neighborhoods, and a source of pride for its inhabitants. They stage a carnivalesque showcase, with grotesque sketches, floats, street theater, gender reversals, exaggerated body parts, song and dance. Beautifully filmed, Hassan el-Geretly’s short documentary captures the passion and joy of a neighborhood in a unique moment of popular play. In Arabic w/English subtitles.

Screenings will be followed by a conversation with Jonathan Shannon (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College)

Founder and director of the famed Egyptian theater troupe al-Warsha, Hassan el-Geretly graduated from Bristol University (UK) with a degree in Drama and French and earned a post-graduate diploma in media production from the Sorbonne in Paris. He began to work in France at the Centre Dramatique National du Limousin, but in 1982, he repatriated to his native Egypt. His work in theater included assisting Youssef Chahine on two films, Weda'an Bonapart (Adieu Bonaparte,1985) and Al-Yaom al-Sadess (The Sixth Day, 1986), and Yousry Nasrallah on Sariqat Sayfiyyah (Summer Thefts, 1988).

He founded el-Warsha in 1987, and presented adaptations of Peter Handke, Dario Fo, Franca Rame and Harold Pinter. His adaptation of Jarry’s cycle Ubu performed for two years (1990-1992) with great success. The short documentary on the Moulid celebration in Saïda Aïsha, a well-known popular neighborhood of Cairo, is at the heart of el-Warsha’s mission, namely to draw inspiration from and celebrate popular folkore. Chants from the Moulid were borrowed in on of el-Warsha’s most successful and acclaimed performances, Ghazir el-Leyl (Tides of Night, 1993).