Happily Ever After

In the midst of the chaos of Egypt’s Arab Spring, filmmaker Nada Riyadh falls in love with Ayman. The initial euphoria makes way for doubt, anxiety and blame – a metaphor for the disappointing trajectory of events in Egypt. When Ayman decides to leave the country because of the deteriorating social and political conditions, she feels she cannot join him. Nada spares neither herself nor her boyfriend during their Skype conversations and his visits back to Egypt. Her analysis of both the relationship with him and her beloved Egypt cuts to the bone, with the camera constantly aimed at either herself or Ayman – even when it’s clear he’s not in the mood. She continues to film even when they're in bed or in the bathroom. The unrelenting documentation of this faltering love affair is intercut with her footage of a time when anti-government demonstrations unified otherwise irreconcilable elements of Egyptian society.