The fictional film, titled “A Century and Six Years,” revolves around Sheikh Hareth, a grandson of Islamist leader and Hitler devotee Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who travels to Germany to meet a grandson of Adolf Hitler in order to discuss and renew Hitler’s old promise to the Al-Husseini regarding the “freeing of Palestine.”
The film won a Jury Prize and a mention for best actor at the Sharqiyah International Film Festival in Oman, participated at the Cairo Francophone Cinema exhibition, and is scheduled to be screened at the Kairouan Cinema Days Festival in Tunisia this upcoming month of February – according to the Egyptian Filmmakers Syndicate, which celebrated the achievement of the Egyptian creators on their website and Facebook page.
The film was also supposed to participate in the Emirates Film Festival scheduled for late February and early March. However, Egyptian creator Mohamed Nassef asked to withdraw from the event earlier this week without providing any details for the reason.
The film’s promotional poster showcases a Nazi flag in the background with the fictional Sheikh in the front.
Moyhee Dorgham, the main actor of the film who played the role of the Sheikh, did not bother to hide the creators’ conviction and orientation, commenting that “we are just an independent team frankly speaking with no budget managed to do that film which reflects our beliefs towards our enemy…(sic.)”
In another comment, he combined what appear to be his two most loathed enemies, arguing that “the (Muslim) Brotherhood are the Jews of Egypt,” while in a third post, he referred to Adolf Hitler as “the leader.”
The actor who got the mention for best actor for his role in the movie, Pierre-Luc Brassard, is no fan of the Jewish state or Jewish people either. A self-described resident of Egypt of Quebecoise origin who also works in the field of fashion and modeling, he expressed antisemitic views several times on his social media platforms, including an accusation that “Jews learned from the Nazis how to slowly exterminate a population,” also blaming “the Jewish state” numerous times of deceiving the world and perpetrating state terrorism.
Film accused of 'propagating Zionist narrative'
Not everyone was excited by this film, however. A couple of commenters accused creators of “propagating the Zionist narrative” or “spreading Netanyahu’s propaganda” regarding Arab support for Nazism, suggesting they focus on making films regarding the Nakba instead.
The film, produced in April 2023 and self-aggrandizing as “prophesizing the current events in Palestine,” echoes the historical meeting between Adolf Hitler and Hajj Mohammad Amin Al-Husseini in 1941. Al-Husseini was a religious cleric installed by the UK during the British mandate as the main Mufti (Muslim jurist) of Jerusalem.
As a charismatic religious leader with much following and impact, he incited against the Yishuv, led violent pogroms against Jews such as the Hebron massacre of 1929, and used his influence to spread antisemitic theories and anti-Jewish hatred in his battle against the Zionist institutions. Al-Husseini also imported and appropriated much of the Nazi propaganda through his radio shows and sermons even after he escaped to Europe in 1937, and infamously offered Nazi Germany help in their quest to exterminate Jews, even founding units of Muslim soldiers for the Waffen SS.
Antisemitism and admiration for Nazism are not new in Egypt. A hotbed for modern and classical antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 website claims that at least 75% of the population in the largest Arab state harbors antisemitic views, including the idea that Jews have too much power in global affairs and economy.
Similarly, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Cairo International Book Fair regularly shows classics such as Mein Kampf and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on sale. Historically, Egypt has been a bountiful source for antisemitism, as both the religious Muslim Brotherhood and the more secularist nationalist forces promoted anti-Jewish sentiment during the last century, leading violent riots against the local Jewish community, translating and propagating antisemitic texts, and leading the ancient, once thriving Jewish community of the country of the Nile to shrivel into virtual nonexistence.
So far, the film has not been screened outside of the aforementioned festivals; however, the creators wrote that they believe it would gain more track and be available on further platforms in the future.