El FAYLQ : A film that reveals the crime of kidnapping 500,000 peasants in World War I and wins the Alexandria Film Festival

In a historic first, the first short film about the story of the "El FAYLQ" during World War I was screened during the 40th Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries. The film won the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Film in the Egyptian Youth Film Competition.

The film narrates the details of the crime of kidnapping 500,000 Egyptian peasants by the British Army during World War I, where the British Army made a financial offer to persuade the peasants to join the war. When the peasants categorically rejected the offer, the British Army resorted to kidnapping them and forcing them to sign volunteer agreements under duress. During these events, 100 Egyptian peasants were killed during the battles between the Ottoman and British armies, and El FAYLQ was forced to wear British military uniforms, where they were pushed to the battlefront to become a bait to distract the Ottoman Army, while the British Army attacked from the other side, which made El FAYLQ a victim in this maneuver.

The film also deals with the overlap of these events with the 1919 Revolution, where the rural revolution led by the peasants was more violent and influential than the urban revolution led by leader Saad Zaghloul.

The premiere of the film at Amir Cinema in Alexandria witnessed a huge audience turnout, where it was greatly admired by the audience. Artist Khaled Sarhan also praised the success of the film and the great effort made by the work team, pointing out the clear creativity of the young director Rowan Mohamed, who directed the film with high professionalism.

The film constitutes a distinctive addition to Egyptian documentary cinema, as it narrates unknown aspects of the history of Egyptians in World War I, and revives the stories of the sacrifices made by farmers during the war.