The country’s most loved actor is pressured into taking on a role he doesn’t want to – as the (still living) President of the Republic of Egypt, where he is drawn into the highest political shenanigans. Eagles of the Republic played at Manchester Film Festival 2026.
Manchester Film Festival screened director Tarik Saleh’s previous film Cairo Conspiracy back in 2023, and Eagles of the Republic completes his Cairo trilogy (2017’s The Nile Hilton Incident was the beginning). Teaming up again with Swedish/Lebanese actor Fares Fares, Saleh continues his criticism of Egyptian politics in another thriller set in the capital city.
Fares plays Egypt’s most beloved actor George Fahmy, who is pressurised by the authorities into playing President El-Sisi in a propaganda film. George gets drawn in to the intrigues of the military high-ups, and finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a very dangerous situation, putting friends and family in peril.
Cards on the table, this film is right up my street, even though I can imagine that others might be a little less enthusiastic. But it has political intrigue, enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, it’s in a language other than English, and has a magnetic lead performance from Fares. In addition, the quietly ominous government man Doctor Mansour (a deliciously malicious Amr Waked) is a great character whom I would not to meet in real life.
It is a shame that the female characters, even though very well played by Cherien Dabis, Lyna Khoudri and Zineb Triki, are just pawns in the grand scheme; but then perhaps that is how Saleh has chosen to reflect the Egypt of his experience. I’m choosing to believe this rather than the alternative, which would be unfortunate.
But despite that I enjoyed watching this film a lot, and it was a perfect ending to my experience of this year’s Manchester Film Festival.
Eagles of the Republic played at Manchester Film Festival (19th – 29th 2026).
The country’s most loved actor is pressured into taking on a role he doesn’t want to – as the (still living) President of the Republic of Egypt, where he is drawn into the highest political shenanigans. Eagles of the Republic played at Manchester Film Festival 2026.
Manchester Film Festival screened director Tarik Saleh’s previous film Cairo Conspiracy back in 2023, and Eagles of the Republic completes his Cairo trilogy (2017’s The Nile Hilton Incident was the beginning). Teaming up again with Swedish/Lebanese actor Fares Fares, Saleh continues his criticism of Egyptian politics in another thriller set in the capital city.
Fares plays Egypt’s most beloved actor George Fahmy, who is pressurised by the authorities into playing President El-Sisi in a propaganda film. George gets drawn in to the intrigues of the military high-ups, and finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a very dangerous situation, putting friends and family in peril.
Cards on the table, this film is right up my street, even though I can imagine that others might be a little less enthusiastic. But it has political intrigue, enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, it’s in a language other than English, and has a magnetic lead performance from Fares. In addition, the quietly ominous government man Doctor Mansour (a deliciously malicious Amr Waked) is a great character whom I would not to meet in real life.
It is a shame that the female characters, even though very well played by Cherien Dabis, Lyna Khoudri and Zineb Triki, are just pawns in the grand scheme; but then perhaps that is how Saleh has chosen to reflect the Egypt of his experience. I’m choosing to believe this rather than the alternative, which would be unfortunate.
But despite that I enjoyed watching this film a lot, and it was a perfect ending to my experience of this year’s Manchester Film Festival.
Eagles of the Republic played at Manchester Film Festival (19th – 29th 2026).
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