After The Battle

Yousry Nasrallah's After The Battle (Egypt, 2012) - Moving beyond the one-dimensional us-vs.-them, now-vs.-then attitudes that instantly greeted and celebrated the Arab Spring revolutions, "After the Battle" focuses on the legacy of manipulation and issues like class, gender and corruption that still remain unresolved. Working on multiple levels, helmer Yousry Nasrallah mines popular cinema and artier forms through a seemingly simple story of two worlds, exposing hypocrisies in each. The pic resists pandering to either the international crowd or the local market, which means media buzz, along with its Cannes competition slot, will be vital for wide distribution. 2012CANic, 2012TOR. RATING: 7