A music video for the Egyptian artist Ahmed Mado about the right to speak about what matters: censorship and politics.
- Format
- Music video
- Year
- 2022
- Running time
- 3:26
- Role
- Director and cinematographer
- Camera
- Sony FX3VHS cameraInsta360 One X2
- Shoot
- 4 to 5 months, unhurried schedule
- Crew
- Around 20 people
- On screen
- The artist's fellow students, the sound engineer, airsoft players and other participants
Idea
Garah is Ahmed Mado's statement about what it means to speak out loud when you are told to stay silent. Censorship and politics are not the backdrop here but the plot: a man with a microphone against a force that decides what can be said. We had to tell it without slogans, through imagery.
Visual language
The video is built from three textures:
- Sony FX3: a clean, cinematic image
- An old VHS camera: grainy, "archival" footage that looks like a recording no one was supposed to see
- Insta360 One X2: a distorted spherical perspective in which the world closes in on the hero
Black-and-white images with rare red accents hold it all in one tone.
Production
We shot it over 4 to 5 months, without rushing, with around 20 people involved. The special forces were played by airsoft players: exact weapon replicas and full gear gave the scenes authenticity.
The other roles went to people from the artist's circle: on screen are his fellow students and the sound engineer who recorded and mixed the track. The video is built around Ahmed Mado's real circle of people.
There is a documentary about the artist
Just feel it. Short film
Film · 2021 · 4:29
A short documentary about Ahmed Mado: an Egyptian who studies medicine in Russia and makes music.
