This thesis examines the impact of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution on Egyptian cinema in curating what I call a revolutionary aesthetic. The project also provides an overview of the history of Egyptian cinema and its relationship with politics under different regimes. The artistic space enabled and enhanced by the 2011 Revolution is rooted in the rich cinematic tradition of Egypt and has influenced not only independent cinema but also mainstream and commercial cinema, particularly in terms of visual aesthetics and technical aspects. The films examined are: Dreamaway (El Helm el-Baeid, Marouan Omara and Johanna Domke, 2018), Décor (Ahmed Abdallah, 2014), The Blue Elephant (El Fil el-Azraq, Marwan Hamed, 2014), Sheikh Jackson (Amr Salama, 2017), Withered Green (Akhdar Yabes, Mohammad Hammad, 2016), and Feathers (Reesh, Omar ElZohairy, 2021). This thesis adopts a close textual analysis of the films, to reveal a new avenue for artistic expression, innovation, and transformation in Egyptian cinema. These films employ revolutionary aesthetics in their complex narratives that address political issues and challenge prevailing ideologies. Their cinematography is innovative and transformative, uncovering tensions that are prevalent in the minds of Egyptians but usually concealed by religious and moral standards. The cinematic realism in the mise-en-scène of the films also helps convey issues of corruption, poverty, and radicalization in contemporary Egypt. This thesis argues that Egyptian cinema is transitioning into a new era marked by an artistic approach to exploring societal struggles and complexities.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse female political participation in the 2011 revolution in Egypt with the help of a radical feminism theoretical framework, which effectively ensures that the female participation is analysed from an intersectional point of view. The research will be conducted as a desk study. In order to do this, the research will specifically look at the means of mobilisations used by female protesters, as well as examine the reasons why women chose to join the protests throughout Egypt between January 25 and February 11, 2011. Furthermore, the strategies used to overcome challenges and obstacles in and after the revolution will be analysed. The main result of this research is that women to a large extent used and benefited from ‘online activism’ on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube both in the lead-up to and during the revolution. The research will show that women gained legitimacy during the protests by not pushing for a gender-specific agenda, but instead joined the protest under the common battle-cry of ‘bread, freedom, and dignity’ as well as taking up traditionally female roles during the protests. Moreover, the thesis will argue that the wide spread practice of female genital mutilation as well as the staggeringly high prevalence of sexual harassment and gender-based violence are severe hindrances for women to access the public sphere, and will show how the post-revolutionary government in Egypt effectively worsened the socio-political climate for women.

The Egyptian 2011 revolution is presented in media - as well as statements made by organisations participating in the overthrowing of Hosni Mubarak's regime - as a social media revolution. Despite the fact that internet has been shut down on the government's order on 28th January, just after three days of street protests, therefore forcing the social media revolution to go offline. This paper describes the role of social media in the events of the beginning of the revolution via qualitative content analysis. It focuses on the official Facebook communication of two prominent anti-Mubarak organisations - We Are All Khaled Said and April 6th Youth Movement - in the period between 9th January and 11th February, from the day of first invitation to a 25th January protest to the day Hosni Mubarak resigned. I have identified following sub-themes in the revolution-themed posts: 25th January - the nature of the event, the role of the activist group, organisation, internet shutdown, safety measures, propagation, news reporting, Facebook and event evaluation. The result of my research is that Facebook - albeit important - was only one of the tools of communication, propagation and organization actively employed by both of the anti- Mubarak groups. While useful - and actually promoted as a tool to save Egypt by...

The Egyptian 2011 revolution is presented in media - as well as statements made by organisations participating in the overthrowing of Hosni Mubarak's regime - as a social media revolution. Despite the fact that internet has been shut down on the government's order on 28th January, just after three days of street protests, therefore forcing the social media revolution to go offline. This paper describes the role of social media in the events of the beginning of the revolution. It focuses on the official Facebook communication of two prominent anti-Mubarak organisations - We Are All Khalid Said and April 6th Youth Movement - in the period between 1st January and 11th February, the day when Hosni Mubarak resigned. The result of my research is that Facebook was only one of possible tools of communication actively employed by both of the organisations. While We Are All Khalid Said used Facebook not only to spread information but also to coordinate demonstrations - as well as constantly promoting Facebook as the tool that ignited the revolution, the activist group wasn't able to breach the internet blockade, and after the renewal of internet connection, it started using its Facebook account mainly as an information platform - which was the role that Facebook played for April 6th Youth Movement throughout...