Credits Director Jehane Noujaim Producer Karim Amer Editors Pedro Kos, Muhamed El Manasterly, Christopher De La Torre, Pierre Haberer, Stefan Ronowiscz Cinematographers: Muhammad Hamdy, Ahmed Hassan, Jehane Noujaim, Cressida Trew Composers: H. Scott Salinas, Jonas Colstrup Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Magdy Ashour, Ahmed Hassan, Ragia Omran, Ramy Essam, Aida Elkashef Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Mike Lerner, Sarah Johnson, Jodie Evans, Lekha Singh, Gavin, Dougan, Dan Catullo III, Ibrahim AlHusseini, Lisa Nishimura, Adam Del Deo, Khalil Noujaim, Alexandra Johnes, Jeff Skoll Technical Information Duration 104 minutes Screening format HDCAM Shooting format 1080p25 Video/Audio Color/Stereo Distribution & Production Partners Noujaim Films Maktube Productions Netflix Originals Worldview Entertainment Roast Beef Productions Participant Media Publicity North America, Latin America, UK, Netherlands, Nordics: Karen Barragan, Netflix Originals ([email protected]) North American Affiliates: West Coast - David Magdael & Associates- David Magdael ([email protected]) East Coast – Susan Norget Film Promotion- Susan Norget ([email protected]) DC - PR Collaborative- Jamie Shor ([email protected]) Sales North American Sales Dana O’Keefe ([email protected]) For all other areas, please contact Sabrina Chammas at [email protected] Awards Sundance Film Festival - Audience Award: World Cinema: Documentary (2013) Toronto International Film Festival - BlackBerry People's Choice Documentary Award (2013). IDA Documentary Association- Best Feature Award (2013) ArcLight Documentary Film Series - Jury Prize (2013) Carmel Art and Film Festival - Best Documentary (2013) Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal - Opening film and Audience Award (2013) Selections 86th Academy Awards - 1 of 15 films in the Documentary Feature category to advance in the voting process for the 86th Oscars® IDA Documentary Awards - Nominee - Best Documentary (2013) Independent Spirit Awards 2014 - Nominee - Best Documentary (2013) Satellite Awards - Nominee - Best Documentary (2013) Sheffield Doc/Fest - Tim Hetherington Award presented by Dogwoof and Doc/Fest (2013) National Board Of Review - Top 5 Documentaries of 2013 Social Media facebook.com/TheSquareFilm twitter.com/TheSquareFilm http://www.TheSquareFilm.com Quotes "OSCAR WORTHY … A remarkable portrait of Egypt’s false dawns and worthy of its Oscar buzz." "The Square thrusts you right into the heart of the daily struggle they lived." Time Magazine "Stunning! [A story] that has not yet been told with such rousing and heartbreaking clarity. Feels like a revelation." The New York Times "In Jehane Noujaim's documentary The Square, the Egyptian revolution is finally explained in a clear, wonderfully intimate and non-condescending way…a documentary we can all go back to again and again to better understand, empathize and identify with our Egyptian brothers and sisters." The Huffington Post Press Kit — Last updated Dec 5th, 2013 © 2013 Noujaim Films SYNOPSIS The Story of Revolution Behind The Headlines From the 2011 overthrow of a 30-year dictator, through military rule, and culminating with the forced military removal of the Muslim Brotherhood president in the summer of 2013, we follow a group of Egyptian activists as they battle leaders and regimes, and risk their lives to build a new society of conscience. The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing roller coaster. Through the news, we only get a glimpse of the bloodiest battle, an election, or a million man march. At the beginning of August 2013, we witnessed the second president deposed within the space of three years. The Square is a truly immersive experience, transporting the viewer deeply into the intense emotional drama and personal stories behind the news. It is the inspirational story of young people claiming their rights, struggling through multiple forces: from a brutal army dictatorship willing to crush protesters with military tanks, to a corrupt Muslim Brotherhood using mosques to manipulate voters. The activists in our film are armed with nothing more than cameras, social media, videos posted to YouTube, and a resolute determination to liberate their nation. The film is made in a cinéma vérité style, giving us an up-close view of revolution from the ground. New technologies show us that the voice of young people cannot be silenced in this digital age. Our characters are fighting an ancient war with new weapons. The Square was first released as an unfinished cut at Sundance in January of 2013, where it received the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary. Yet as the filmmakers were accepting the award, the characters of the film were back in the streets of Egypt fighting, as the first democratically elected president announced that he was granting himself powers greater than their previous dictator. With these unexpected events, we knew that the story was not over, so we returned to the streets to capture what would become the second part to the story — the battle against the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi’s removal by the Egyptian army. We witness the incredible sacrifice these activists endure on the road to freedom. Through the voices of these daring revolutionaries, we understand why they believe that it’s worth risking life and limb for ideals and the future of the country. This documentary takes us on a transformational journey into this historical revolution first-hand through the eyes of both secular and Muslim Brotherhood protagonists, who once stood united with one another against a brutal regime. The audience watches as the country splits, and those who once ate together, slept next to each other, and joined forces in Tahrir Square to fight for dignity and social justice, are forced to stand opposite one another, divided by politics, on the streets of Cairo. The Square is a live developing story of the quintessential struggle for freedom and democracy, of people putting everything on the line to fight for their rights against institutional powers. Egypt has become a battleground of ideas, and the films shows that it is the most devout of Muslims that will take to the street to fight the abuse of religion to create a fascist state. For the first time, Muslims in vast numbers are fighting against political Islam. The complexity of what is happening here cannot be summed up in a news report. What happens in Egypt will dramatically affect the rest of the Middle East and the world. Our goal for audiences is to experience the evolution of a revolution in the 21st century and understand what these activists are trying to say: civil rights and freedoms are never given away, they are fought for. Historically, this has always been the case, from the Civil Rights movement to the fight against Apartheid. But how does this fight begin and sustain itself and ultimately become successful? This film shows that true change in a society does not begin with a majority, but the relentless and ongoing commitment of individuals to those principles of change. DIRECTOR: JEHANE NOUJAIM Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim has worked on various documentaries in both the Middle East and the United States. Before graduating from Harvard, she was awarded the Gardiner Fellowship for Mokattam, an Arabic film she directed about a garbage- collecting village near Cairo, Egypt. Jehane then joined the MTV News and Documentary Division as a segment producer for the documentary series Unfiltered. She soon left her position at MTV to produce and direct the feature documentary, StartUp.com. The critically acclaimed film won countless awards including the DGA and IDA awards for best director. Jehane continued to work on numerous documentaries as a cinematographer including: Born Rich, Only The Strong Survive, and Down From The Mountain, before directing Control Room in 2004. Control Room, which also met with critical acclaim, is a documentary that exposes the difference in media coverage between the Arab and Western world during the United States’ war with Iraq. Control Room opened in theaters internationally and broke box office records for a documentary on Middle East Affairs. It was for this film that Jehane won the coveted TED Prize in 2006, previously awarded to Bono and President Clinton. Each TED Prize winner is granted a wish to change the world. Jehane’s wish was to create a day in which the power of film could bring people from all over the world together to form a global community and perhaps form a new understanding of each other. This day was Pangea Day; a live video-conference featuring music, film, and speakers that took place in Cairo, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, as well as other cities, in over 100 countries. Jehane has continued to work in the U.S. and in the Middle East on films as an executive producer for such films as Encounter Point and Budrus. She has also co-directed Egypt: We Are Watching You, which premiered as one of the ten films in the Why Democracy Series focusing on contemporary democracy around the globe. In 2012, she co- directed Rafea: Solar Mama, an award-winning film about a Jordanian woman who travels to India with the dream of becoming a solar engineer. The Square, the Sundance Audience Award-winning film chronicling the heart of the Egyptian revolution, is her 5th feature-length documentary. AWARDS FILMOGRAPHY The Square (Documentary) Director, 2013 Prior to The Square Startup.com Rafea: Solar Mama (Documentary) • Directors Guild of America: DGA Award (2002) Director, 2013 • Double