Filming Revolution: A Meta-Documentary about Filmmaking in Egypt since the Revolution
Filming Revolution is an interactive data-base documentary about independent and documentary filmmaking in Egypt since the revolution. Practicing a new type of film studies, the project brings together the collective wisdom and creative strategies of media-makers in Egypt before, during and after the revolution. The website consists of 30 interviews with Egyptian filmmakers, artists, activists and archivists, discussing their work and their ideas about how (and whether) to make films in the time of revolution. The video interviews with the activist-practitioners were conducted in Egypt between 2013-14. In addition to the lively interview material, the project features examples of the work discussed and short interactive articles about all of those interviewed and the themes raised in the interviews. To prepare the material for this project, Lebow edited all of the video interviews into short thematic segments and has worked with a talented coder to devise an original platform whereby algorithms link the material by theme, person, or project. Filming Revolution (funded by the Leverhulme Trust with additional support provided by the University of Sussex) is currently being expanded and reconfigured for the online publication of the project by Stanford University Press as part of their new digital humanities initiative. The launch date for the SUP publication is January 2018.
