Clockwise, a short film written and directed by Egyptian filmmaker Sameh El-Tawil, will be screened for the first time on Wednesday 5 February at Munich’s Academy of Fine Arts.

The film will be shown as part of the Academy’s annual Graduates’ Exhibition. 

Sameh El-Tawil, a graduate of the Academy, tells Ahram Online that the idea for the film came to him after close observation of the latest political events and social changes unfolding in Egypt.

“The film is definitely inspired by the turmoil witnessed in Egypt throughout the past three years,” El-Tawil said, “but gradually as we made it, it came out as an abstract work that each viewer can interpret and relate to differently.”

The film, shot entirely in black and white and without any dialogue, runs for six minutes, in which the director poses a number of questions, relying mostly on physical expression.

“The title was chosen to imply that the actions portrayed in the film are out of sync,” El-Tawil explains, “since the norm is always anti-clockwise; it’s how the universe rotates and how Muslims are required to circle the Kaaba in Mecca, for example.”

“I wanted to tackle the political situation in my country without being direct, yet I believe anyone who watches the film will find something to relate to, even if they are not familiar with what’s happening in Egypt,” he continues. “The themes in the film are very generic; in a way it’s simply about life and death, but also about infinity and continuity.”

El-Tawil has been concerned with finding different and unusual yet striking ways to depict current Egyptian reality. The same issue was addressed in one of Al Tawil’s previous works, A442 Hz, which was screened in Medrar’s Cairo Video Festival in September 2013. 

“The film was an attempt to highlight how those who seemed or claimed to be the most capable were in fact the most incompetent of all, often leading to disastrous results,” he clarifies.

Clockwise stars Mohamed Shafik and Alaa Shaaban, and will be showing in the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 5 to 9 February.

Programme:
Wednesday 5 February, Thursday 6 February, Friday 7 February
2pm to 8pm (looping)
Saturday 8 February, Sunday 9 February
12pm to 8pm (looping)
Hall A. U1. 53, Academy of Fine Arts, Akademiestraße 2-4, 80799, Munich, Germany