Clash (Eshtebak in Arabic) is by Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab, who depicted the political conflict in his country in a way that could be comprehended universally. The movie has received strong criticism locally, but has caused heavy applaud in Cannes. Such criticism was not new to the daring filmmaker, who already discussed controversial topics like sexual harassment in his previous films.
The movie takes place in a small bus (and was actually shot in a bus), and discusses a much bigger battle of that between the supporters of the Muslim brotherhood, and those backing the military. The bus is located in Cairo, in the year 2013, right after the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt.
Diab created the movie with the help of a talented team, including Egyptian superstar actress Nelly Karim.
For spectators who were not necessarily aware of the political instability that occurred in Egypt during that period, the film presented the conflict in an objective manner. The story doesn’t take any side and portrays the contradicting views of both movements.
Editor’s note: We were especially impressed by the performance of Nelly Karim who is constantly proving that she is a class A actress.