“Film, as an art form, doesn’t want you to think, it wants you to feel”: Tarik Saleh on Cairo Conspiracy

Cairo Conspiracy, the latest feature from Swedish/Egyptian filmmaker, Tarik Saleh, is a film which simmers with the political intrigue of 1970s New Hollywood while posing questions of a very modern, theological nature. It follows Adam (a refined performance from Tawfeek Barhom), the son of a fisherman, and the first in his family to be able to read and write. His talents in literacy are such that he is accepted into the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the supreme educational institution in the Islamic world. Shortly after Adam’s arrival, the university’s Grand Imam dies, and the young student subsequently becomes unwittingly embroiled in a power struggle at the summit of Sunni Islam.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of talking to Salem about his singular vision for the project and how his dual national identity fed into it, as well as the director’s broader cinematic philosophy.

Matthew McMillan

Cairo Conspiracy is released in UK cinemas on 14^th April 2023. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for Cairo Conspiracy here: