Part of the African Diaspora International Film Festival

In the award-winning documentary Abo Zaabal 89, filmmaker Bassam Mortada explores the trauma and alienation resulting from his father's arrest and torture in Egypt's notorious Abo Zaabal prison in 1989.

Raised by his activist mother after his father's subsequent exile, Mortada confronts the family's fractured past through archival tapes and intimate interviews, delicately weaving his personal quest for reconciliation into Egypt's turbulent political history.

The film is a powerful testament to the intergenerational scars of political persecution and the universal search for healing.

83 minutes | Egypt | 2024