678 (film)

Last updated
678
678 Film.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mohamed Diab
Written byMohamed Diab
Produced by Sarah Goher
Starring Bushra
Nelly Karim
Maged El Kedwany
Bassem Samara
Sawsan Badr
Ahmed El-Fishawy
Cinematography Ahmed Gabr
Edited by Amr Salah
Music by Hany Adel
Production
company
New Century Production
Distributed byRenaissance Egypt Company (2010) (Egypt, theatrical)
Global Film Initiative (2012) (US, all media)
Release dates
  • December 12, 2010 (2010-12-12)(Dubai)
  • December 20, 2010 (2010-12-20)(Egypt)
CountryEgypt
LanguageEgyptian Arabic

678 (released internationally as Cairo 6,7,8) is a 2010 Egyptian political thriller film written and directed by Mohamed Diab. The film focuses on the daily public sexual harassment of three women of different social backgrounds in Egypt.

Contents

Plot

Low-income government employee Fayza is sexually assaulted on her way home from work, first in a taxi and then a bus. At home, she resists her husband's attempts to be intimate. She attends a free weekly self-defence class, but instructor Seba forces her to leave because she denies being sexually harassed due to shame. On her way home, Nasr attempts to grope Fayza and she defends herself with a pin from her hijab, causing her to be removed from the bus.

After attending a football game, Seba is separated from her physician husband in the crowd and sexually assaulted. Her husband becomes distant due to guilt while her mother discourages her from reporting the assault due to shame and the likelihood that her attackers would not be prosecuted. The next morning she finds that she is having a miscarriage and separates from her husband due to lack of emotional support.

Nelly Roushdy is a young stand-up comedian. At a show, her fiancé Omar belittles her and turns the largely male audience against her. During her day job at a call centre, she is verbally harassed by a customer. Later, while crossing a street to visit her mother, a driver grabs her through his truck window, gropes her, and drags her alongside his vehicle. Aided by witnesses, she pulls the driver from the truck and delivers him to the police. The police file a report only due to Omar's insistence, and won't include a harassment charge. Nelly files the first sexual harassment lawsuit in Egypt. While Nelly is interviewed on television, she is congratulated by a female caller while a male caller victim blames and slut shames her. Omar supports Nelly but their families encourage her to drop the lawsuit, believing that it will harm their reputations.

On Fayza's next bus trip, she is attacked by Nasr again and stabs him in the groin before leaving the bus. Police detective Essam investigates the incident and accuses Nasr of groping. Fayza's husband confronts her about their lack of intimacy but she won't admit to the reason. Fayza stabs another assaulter on the street. The media begin to report a mysterious vigilante who targets molesters, and Fayza becomes more comfortable riding the bus. Seba's self-defence course has grown and moved to a venue that hosts comedy shows, bringing the three women into contact. They plan another attack but the opportunity doesn't present itself.

Essam identifies Fayza as a suspect and summons the three women to the police station. He tells them that Fayza will receive a life sentence if he arrests her, but believes that this will inspire other women to commit copycat crimes. He releases them with a warning.

Fayza begins walking to work. Her husband gives her flowers but she continues to rebuke his attempts at romance. Seba is harassed by a young boy who she catches and assaults. She tells her husband that she wants a divorce, revealing that she had a miscarriage and blaming him. Essam's wife dies in childbirth. Nelly tells Seba and Fayza that she will take responsibility for the stabbings. As they argue, Fayza gets angry and blames the other women for not wearing hijabs and appearing promiscuous. Seba says that this is backward thinking and cuts her long hair. Nelly tells the story of her assault at her next comedy show. On a bus, Fayza witnesses a woman being assaulted and does not intervene. Seba sees a man groping a woman and attacks him with a razor blade – Fayza confronts the man, her husband, over what he had done. Seba confesses to Essam but he releases her as no complaint was made.

At the hearing for Nelly's sexual assault lawsuit, Omar responds to the judge by shouting from the gallery that she will not drop her case. Essam, Seba and Fayza are also there, and the film ends with Seba and Fayza making peace.

Cast

Reception

At the 2010 Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), the Muhr (young horse) Arab award for Best Actress was won by Bushra and Best Actor was won by Maged El Kidwaany for their roles in the film. [1]

The film won the Audience Award at the 2012 African Film Festival of Cordoba, and Best Narrative Feature at the 2012 Heartland Film Festival. [2]

Controversies

Controversies around the film include a threatened lawsuit by Egyptian pop singer Tamer Hosny for the film's use of his song, as he did not wish it associated with the subject matter. [3]

Attorney Abdel Hamid Shabaan made an attempt to block the film's exhibition at DIFF due to its "poor portrayal" of Egypt. [4] [5] The filmmaker denied any intention to defame Egypt, as he believes the issues narrated in the film are universal. [6] [5] [7]

Mahmoud Hanfy Mahmoud of the Association for Human Rights and Social Justice requested that the film be banned as potentially inciting women to injure men's genitals with sharp tools, but filmmakers argued that it did not encourage but merely documented the practice of some women carrying such tools for self-defence. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and/or a demand or request for sexual favors, making sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faten Hamama</span> Egyptian actress and producer (1931–2015)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women-only passenger car</span> Railway or subway cars intended for women only

Women-only passenger cars are railway or subway cars intended for women only. They are a result of sexual segregation in some societies, but also can result from attempts to reduce sexual harassment and assault such as groping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Egypt</span> Filmmaking in Egypt

The Egyptian film industry is today based mainly in Cairo, which is sometimes referred to as Hollywood on the Nile or Hollywood of the East, despite having its beginnings in the city of Alexandria in the early 20th century. A strong industry grew in Egypt with a high distribution rate among the Arab world, and Cairo produces around three-quarters of the Arab world's screen output. It has had a large effect on the African and Arab film industry since the early 20th century.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groping</span> Touching another person in a sexual way without consent

In a sexual context, groping is the act of intentionally touching another person in a sexual manner, usually without their consent. The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies, and the activity may be considered sexual assault or otherwise unacceptable. Touching a consenting person's body during sexual activity, a massage, or a medical examination is not usually considered groping, though the term is sometimes used to include clumsy, selfish, or inappropriate sexual touching. Areas of the body most frequently groped include the buttocks, breasts, vulva, thigh, penis, and scrotum. Gropers might use their hands, but pressing any part of their body against another person can be considered groping.

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Rape in Egypt is a criminal offense with penalties ranging from 15 to 25 years and a lifetime sentence if the rape included abduction. Marital rape is legal. By 2008, the U.N. quoted Egypt's Interior Ministry's figure that 20,000 rapes take place every year, although according to the activist Engy Ghozlan (ECWR), rapes are 10 times higher than the stats given by Interior Ministry, making it 200,000 per year. Mona Eltahawy has also noted the same figure (200,000), and added that this was before the revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelly Karim</span> Egyptian actress, model, and ballerina (born 1974)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass sexual assault in Egypt</span> Sexual assault of many women in Egypt

The mass sexual assault of women in public has been documented in Egypt since 2005, when Egyptian security forces and their agents were accused of using it as a weapon against female protesters during a political demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo on 25 May. The behavior spread, and by 2012 sexual assault by crowds of young men was seen at protests and festivals in Egypt.

Mass sexual assault is the collective sexual assault of women, men and sometimes children, in public by groups. Typically acting under the protective cover of large gatherings, victims have reported being groped, stripped, beaten, bitten, penetrated and raped.

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References

  1. "2010 Dubai International Film Festival Winners". Vimooz. New York City. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  2. "Two years on, 678 is the controversial movie still racking up awards". Albawaba. 23 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. تامر حسنى غاضب من مخرج فيلم 678 [678 film doen't smear Egypt's reputation] (in Arabic). EgyTv. 2010-12-09. Archived from the original on 2010-12-11.
  4. "678 film doesn't smear Egypt's reputation". Horeytna. 2010-11-12. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  5. 1 2 "Film shines spotlight on Egypt's sexual harassment". The national. 2010-12-14. Archived from the original on 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  6. "678 film doesn't tarnish Egypt's reputation, the whole world is suffering from sexual harassment". The national. 2010-10-09. Archived from the original on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  7. "Does not defame Egypt". NDP. 2010-12-14.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. "Citing potential harm to men's 'sensitive spots,' activist urges film ban". Al-Masry Al-Youm. 2010-12-27. Archived from the original on 2011-02-02. Archived from the original in Wayback Machine