EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC World Cinema

Tarik Saleh’s latest film completes his Cairo Trilogy, which includes 2017’s dirty cop thriller THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (which won the Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic) and 2022’s exposé of murderous clerical corruption, CAIRO CONSPIRACY (awarded Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival). With EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC, Saleh sets his sights on the Egyptian film industry, and the pernicious co-option and corruption present under the regime of Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in power since deposing the democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 coup d’état. Fares Fares plays George Fahmy, the most famous actor in Egypt, nicknamed the “Pharaoh of the Screen,” who despite his public image as a happy family man, is secretly separated from his wife and dating the much younger Donya (Lyna Khoudri). Asked to play the role of Al-Sisi in a patriotic propaganda piece called WILL OF THE PEOPLE, Fahmy balks at the tackiness of the proposed film, but soon realizes he has no choice but to accept, which includes taking notes from the government’s on-set observer and de facto producer, Dr. Manssour (Amr Waked). Despite being unhappy with the project, Fahmy indulges in some perks that come from his proximity to the regime, including having a few strings pulled as personal favors and beginning a torrid affair with Suzanne (Zineb Triki), the beautiful and cultured wife of the defense minister. But Fahmy fails to see the role he’s really playing in a real-life drama more dangerous than anything put on the screen. –Todd Hitchcock