Four Women of Egypt

90 min documentary by Tahani Rached filmed in 1997 about 4 Egyptian women and their dynamic friendship. One is a writer, a politician, an activist and a teacher.














This is one of the finest documentary I have ever watched from a Political perspective.

It's about 4 intellectual activist Egyptian women: Amina; a socialist/ not religious, Shahenda; a Muslim by label but more of an atheist who lost her husband to a political assassination, Wedad; a grounded Christian who is an author and a militant nationalist and lastly, Safynaz who is a political journalist and a very strict Muslim (I loved her character the most, it was hilarious how she would lose her mind when discussing Islam with Shahenda).

What I found particularly incredible about this documentary is the dynamics of their friendship, different religious backgrounds and different beliefs in Political systems, however, they were inseparable and the love they had for one another was so pure. Most of their ideas were diverse, nevertheless, that never diluted their deep friendship. Their arguments would be so intense and extreme at times, however, their tolerance levels would end their debate with a passionate laughter.

These women entered Nasser's days after the revolution in the 50's and they were politically passionate, faced personal tragedies and they shared national dreams that forced them to share prison cells too.

I found it adorable when Shahenda and Safynaz would talk about their experiences when they lived in the US. How they would tell Americans "we're cool, some of us drink, smoke, we even wear mini-skirts". Their life stories were too adorable especially when they were younger and how they tried to blend with the western world. Or Shahenda being the only young woman during a demonstration she was right at the front of the crowd demonstrating and back then, it seemed to be a very unusual behaviour (almost wrong for that matter).

Safynaz also said back in those days, if you didn't go to prison, you had to have a very good reason for not being in. Being in prison was something they took pride of "In conclusion, this documentary was remarkably moving, it made me laugh so hard as well as shed tears and it gives one a much better perspective of Egypt after the revolution in the 50's.

From a bigger picture; it shows that the whole world can live in harmony even if their views are extremely different.