The crimes of electronic piracy and network penetration have recently become more common, especially after technology has become more dominant in the features of our lives than ever before. The reliance on electronic means for storing and exchanging information has increased more than the old traditional methods. Thus, hackers have become more capable of penetrating computers and websites and stealing individuals’ personal data. What is more dangerous is the evolution of electronic piracy from a mere hobby to a job that aims to achieve material or political gains. They use advanced technologies to steal the data of dignitaries and institutions, seizing bank balances, threatening the vital facilities of the state, and revealing military secrets, causing a new type of war between nations; the technological wars.
International cinema realized the danger of piracy early on and found it a rich material that could be exploited in the film industry. So it presented dozens of cinematic and dramatic works that revolve around hacking. On the contrary, the Egyptian cinema’s balance of this type of crime was very poor. It dealt with cyber crimes in only one film produced in 2016, which is the movie “The Fourth Pyramid.” However, filmmakers have corrected this situation and were keen to discuss this crime in one way or another by presenting two new films recently shown in cinemas. Those films dealt with the danger of electronic piracy in our current era. They drew attention to the need to produce new and powerful films that reflect the magnitude of this issue on individuals and societies. Today, we review with you the three Egyptian films that dealt with piracy and electronic penetration.
The Fourth Pyramid 2016
It is the first Egyptian film to touch on this theme. It tackles the secrets of the world of hackers. The events revolve around “Youssef Hajjaj,” a student at the Faculty of Engineering who works as a taxi driver to help his mother after his father’s death. He is a young man who is fond of computers and technology. He began to use his passion to monitor the phone of his colleague “Nada,” the daughter of businessman “Salem El-Shafei,” whom he loves and wishes to marry, were it not for the great financial difference between them. So, he stalks her phone to be next to her in any crisis she faces. Youssef’s passion for technology began to turn into an obsession with electronic hacking and hacking of other people’s accounts, and he decided to use this obsession to take revenge on the bad guys and criminals. The turning point in Yusuf’s life was when his mother died due to greed and exploitation of a private hospital that refused to receive and treat her before paying a large amount of money as insurance. So, Youssef decided to hack the hospital owner’s bank account and transferred his 25 million pounds to charities’ bank accounts, causing his bankruptcy. “Youssef” uses the proxy “The Fourth Pyramid” and continues to hack the accounts of corrupt people. Finally, he hacked the account of an arms dealer, causing great damage to the arms mafia abroad, which reached his location and sent one of its men to get rid of him. So he kidnapped “Nada” after escaping his apartment. At the same time, the police are trying to track down the “Fourth Pyramid” with the help of a young man who works in a telecommunications company. After a long struggle, Youssef succeeded in saving Nada. He was surprised by the people’s sympathy. Still, the police stormed his house and confiscated his equipment, so he decided to stop working and disappeared among the people.
The film stars Ahmed Hatem, Tara Emad, Merihan Hussein, and Bayoumi Fouad. It is the first part of a series of films directed and authored by Peter Mimi under the title “The Underdogs,” which takes place in a common world, integrating some events and characters.
Al Arif 2021
The filmmakers tried to draw attention to electronic wars and piracy, given the sensitivity of this issue, especially after technology controlled all the details of our daily lives. Piracy operations may break the highest intelligence systems to control some countries, facilitate terrorist operations, and smuggle weapons or drugs. The film’s events revolve around Younis, an information security expert known to the security services as “Al-Arif” and working for the Egyptian intelligence. Then he is called again after the country was exposed to an international hacking operation to help arrest the terrorist and global hacker “Radi.” By utilizing his abilities to access information through technology and piracy. A long series of chases begin between Younes and Radi, who seeks to eliminate a feud due to their old enmity.
The film stars Ahmed Ezz, Ahmed Fahmy, Mahmoud Hemida and Carmen Bsaibes. The movie’s distinctive publicity attracted the audience. The lead characters used an innovative trick to promote the work by deluding their followers that their “Facebook” accounts had been hacked.
Musa 2021
The idea of hacking or piracy may not be the main driver in the business. Still, it did play a significant role in the events after the appearance of one of the surprise characters. The film is a science fiction movie about an introverted young man with a weak built, “Yahya Saleh Al-Khayat,” who has suffered from loneliness and bullying since he was a child. So he decides to take advantage of his academic excellence in the College of Engineering and invent a robot with supernatural capabilities to become his friend. He calls it “” Mousa.” However, things get out of hand when Yahya begins using the robot to take revenge on his father’s killers and the people. They bullied him in an attempt to change the world and rid him of evildoers. The confrontation begins between “Mousa” and Dr. “Fares Nassar,” a professor at the Faculty of Engineering, who is trying to prevent “Yahya” from continuing with his project. However, he supports “Yahya,” the lead character in cyberpiracy. Finally, “Youssef Hajjaj” from the movie “The Fourth Pyramid” makes an appearance. He performs a huge electronic penetration operation with a large group of hackers.
The film stars Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Iyad Nassar, Asmaa Abu al-Yazid, and several guests of honor, most notably Ahmed Hatem, Amir Karara, Ahmed Al-Awadi, and Dhafer Al-Abidin. It is the second part of the series of films “The Underdogs,” which joins the movie “The Fourth Pyramid” starring Ahmed Hatem. Another work, “The Angel of Death,” starring Amir Karara, is expected to be shown in 2022.