The Dream of Shahrazad

Using the metaphor of Shahrazad -- the princess in the NIGHTS who saves lives by telling stories to the murderous Sultan Shahriyar -- and filmed before, during and after the so-called "Arab Spring", it weaves together a web of music, politics and storytelling to explore the ways in which creativity and political articulation coincide in response to oppression. A series of unforgettable characters all draw their inspiration from the NIGHTS and, like Shahrazad, put creativity to new political use... A charismatic conductor uses Rimsky-Korsakov's SCHEHERAZADE suite as a tool for political education, leading up to a final performance at Istanbul's Topkapi Palace -- and, in time, to the Gezi Park protests of 2013. A young Lebanese woman makes peace with her past by learning the art of storytelling in Egypt and becomes an internet activist in the process. An older visual artist who is obsessed with THE NIGHTS finds his "dream of Shahrazad" manifesting through the appearance of a beautiful young storyteller. An Alexandrian storyteller joins forces with a Cairo theatre troupe, meeting with the mothers of martyrs of the January 25 Revolution and turning their testimonies into new storytelling performances...