Power, a double-edged sword that cuts own hand!

Cairo Conspiracy (aka Boy from Heaven; 2022)
Director: Tarik Saleh

What started as a guide for mankind to live in symbiosis with Nature and his fellow beings has come to this. Religion used to be a solace for the broken-hearted and for broken dreams. It is unbelievable how some doe-eyed ignorant (read stupid) voters in some Eastern States of the Malaysian Peninsula are hoodwinked into believing that a vote for the Islamic party is a ticket to secure a place in Jannah in the afterworld. Can you get any stupider than that? Not to forget the self-centred foot soldiers who want to re-instate the past glory of the Levant kingdom without a thought for the innocent collateral damage just because they want to spend eternity with virgins (or grapes in the new revised version of the scriptures!). The only problem is that, in a body-less afterlife, they would not have a body for bodily pleasures.

Recently, the cabal of non-god-believing leftists took it upon themselves to destroy the career of an 87-year-old Tibetan godman with his 80 years record of unblemished career by ridiculously editing his innocent grandfatherly encounter with a worshipper to give it a pedophilic overtone. 

Religion has turned into a political tool, a money-churning machine, a puppet string to control the masses (with a silent 'm') besides fulfilling its traditional role of being the opiate of choice to the public. It herds its followers to think collectively without taxing the grey cells or changing the status quo. Thinking outside the box is not encouraged. Decision-making is best left to the elitists, the clerics, as they know what is best for mankind. They are the moral guardians, which they enforce with iron fists and supposed zero-tolerance.

Unlike Plato's Republic, modern democracies are not ruled by philosophers. Following the shenanigans of the Church in Europe, there became a distinct separation between governments and the Church (or other religions in other countries). Following Khomeni's establishment of a true Islamic Republic in Iran, increasingly, many clerics have been slowly exerting their influence. Invoking the name of God seems to cow all believers into submission. In most countries, clerics and politicians become strange bedfellows; one leeching on the other for power. The dynamics between these two unholy unions are anything but sincere. There is constant Hawkeye surveillance on the other and an ongoing ploy to reign in the other's control of resources.

The Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker, Tarik Saleh, had no plans to make this movie as the storyline seems to undermine an institution considered most prestigious amongst the Sunni sect, Cairo's al-Azhar University. His previous film, 'Nile Hilton Incident' (2017), got him in trouble with the Egyptian authorities for painting the Egyptian police as corrupt. And Saleh was not welcomed in Egypt. So, most of the shooting had to be done in Turkey and Sweden instead.

Adam, a son of a fisherman from a small town, is chosen to study at al-Azhar University. His freshman year saw the sudden death of the Great Imam. He soon finds himself a pawn in the skullduggery of the appointment of the new Imam. He has to assume the role of the Secret Service to discover the clandestine activities of opposing factions in trying to win the coveted position over.

He finally realises that power is a double-edged sword that can cut one's own hand.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.