Screening in the TIFF Docs sidebar (formerly called Reel to Real), Toronto International Film Festival, is The Square (Al Midan) from director Jehane Noujaim.

A recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund (DFP) and a grant from Chicken and Egg Pictures, Jehane Noujaim’s The Square, follows a short line of recent documentaries (that we know of and have covered) that center on the ongoing struggle of the Egyptian Revolution, through the fall of Morsi recently. It follows its young protagonists on their life-changing journeys through the euphoria of victory, into the uncertainties and dangers of the ‘transitional period’ under military rule.

Director Noujaim’s previous work (which she co-directed with Mona Eldaief), a documentary titled Solar Mamas, was a BBC Storyville selection last year – one off 8 ground-breaking international documentaries that screened in November in 180 countries, that explored why, in the 21st century, 1 billion people still live in poverty.

Solar Mamas, now available on VOD, followed the remarkable story of Jordanian mother-of-four Rafea, who overcomes the objections of her patriarchal husband to train as a solar engineer at India’s Barefoot College.

The Square is produced by Karim Amer and executive produced by Geralyn Dreyfous, Sarah Johnson, Mike Lerner, and Jodie Evans.

Watch a preview of The Square below: