What Is To Be Done? (2010)

It's the end of summer in Mafrouza, a shantytown in Alexandria (Egypt). Preparing tea, preaching, messing around, making babies, dancing, singing, swimming... The camera follows the people of Mafrouza as they patiently reconstruct themselves and the world around them. They show some kind of an incredible strength of life, some kind of a crazy capacity for happiness, that enables them to grin and bear the harshness of the material conditions. This may sometimes appear to be pure miracle, but turns the neighborhood into a space of vitality and freedom. What is to be Done? is the third part of the Mafrouza film project that includes 5 installments, shot along two years in the area. Each film can be seen independently.