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Cabaret Crusades: The Secrets of Karbala (2015)

Directed by Wael Shawky

“The crusades from an Arab perspective, played by puppets.”

Animation, History · 2h 00m

The crusades come to life in Egyptian artist Wael Shawky’s beautiful Cabaret Crusades. Inspired by the writings of Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, Shawky’s film trilogy explores the horrors of the medieval holy wars in the Middle-East – from an Arab perspective. With a cast made up entirely of puppets, the third part, The Secrets of Karbala (2014), centres on the period between the 7th and 12th centuries, covering the crusades as well as a dispute between two Islamic sects. Beautifully made of handblown Murano glass, the puppets have amazing expressive power, making the scenes full of violence, repression and torture all the more awe-inspiring.

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Cast

Aida Fahmy Aida Fahmy (voice)
M
Mahmoud Masaoud (voice)
K
Khaled ElZahaby (voice)
A
Adel Khalaf (voice)
A
Amed Khalil (voice)
T
Tarek Ismail (voice)
J
Jehad Abo al-Enein (voice)

Crew

Director
Wael Shawky

Details

Release date
2015-02-22
Runtime
2h 00m
Genres
Animation, History
Original language
EN
Spoken languages
Arabic
Countries
Qatar, Italy, Egypt, France, Germany
Production
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Qatar Museums Authority