Cairo Conspiracy Unveils the Destinies of Angels

Release Date：Jan/27/2023

Genre：Drama/Thriller

Director：Tarik Saleh

Cast：Tawfeek Barhom、Josef Fares

Viola's Rating：7.3

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its shortlists for the 2023 Oscars in 10 categories on Dec 21, 2022. Out of the feature films from 92 countries and regions, 15 international films advanced, including Sweden’s official Oscar submission Cairo Conspiracy. Although it isn’t one of the finalists, Cairo Conspiracy is still worth watching, and was released limited on Jan 27, 2023.

Set its background in Cairo, Egypt, this dramatic thriller tells the story of Adam, the son of a fisherman, who has been offered the privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the center of power of Sunni Islam. Adam soon becomes a pawn in the conflict between Egypt's religious and political elites.

 “Angel” is the codename for informant in Cairo Conspiracy, but there isn’t any advantages or protection for them because they’re college students. As the name angel suggests, it’s better if the informant has no background at all, pure as an angel. The Arabian title of the flick is translated as Boy from Heaven. However, these college students are only used as pawns. The codename then becomes a sarcasm in the movie.

Corruption is everywhere, and Cairo is no exception. Even though Cairo Conspiracy isn’t based on a real story, the Egyptian Swedish director Tarik Saleh is banned from entering Egypt. Therefore, the motion picture was filmed in Turkey. As a fiction, Cairo Conspiracy depicts what could be like if such corruption happens in Egypt, and the director’s understanding of the culture, politics and religion make it very convincing.

Al-Azhar University is an academic institution, but it’s still affected by political power. Education is the easiest and the most powerful way to plant concept seeds into young generation’s mind. This is exactly the reason why the university is called the center of power. Controlling Al-Azhar University, reaping actual political power is merely the next step.

Besides the dark side of the politics, Cairo Conspiracy also utilizes the special religious culture in Islam world. Between the two biggest branches of Islam, Sunni is the gentler one, but ISIS and the Taliban are Sunni fundamentalists. The tabooed manual “Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen” was mentioned in the picture as a contrast to Adam’s purity. Even the difference between chanting and reading Koran was pointed out.

Tarik Saleh didn’t shoot Cairo Conspiracy to insult Egypt or Islam countries, but to explore a new creative possibility. If James Bond and Jason Bourne can exist in MI6 and CIA, why can’t Islam countries have their own intelligence feature films? Cairo Conspiracy not only challenges the limitation of art in its corresponding culture, but also unveils the destinies of angles both in the film and real world.

Picture Credit: IMDb