Egyptian voters this month ratified a new constitution that enshrines the military , police and intelligence in positions of unprecedented power . Filmgoers elsewhere could watch `` The Square , '' Jehane Noujaim 's documentary about resilient revolutionaries -- youth , intellectuals and Muslim Brotherhood -- fighting for dignity , social justice , economic empowerment and freedom . Which is the true Egypt ? Both , but the second has been ignored by the Obama administration and much of the media . In Washington as in Egypt , there are two narratives : 1 ) The army has brought back stability , and the revolution is over ; 2 ) Egyptians have banished fear , if not the regime , and many who led and joined the revolution continue to fight for the same aspirations , while soberly acknowledging the challenges ahead . The second narrative comes to life in `` The Square , '' the Oscar-nominated documentary that tracks Egypt 's uprisings from the inspiring 18 days that began three years ago on January 25 , when protesters crossed Tahrir Square , to the crackdown on the Brotherhood camps last August . ( Full disclosure : I donated $ 90 to the Kickstarter campaign that supported the film , and I know director Jehane Noujaim and producer Karim Amer personally . ) Through the eyes of three revolutionaries who meet in Tahrir Square during the first protests in 2011 -- Ahmed Hassan , a young street vendor who emerges as a charismatic leader in Tahrir ; Khalid Abdalla , a third-generation activist and actor ( star of `` The Kite Runner , '' and founder of the post-revolution media collective Mosireen ) ; and Magdy Ashour , a member of the Muslim Brotherhood -- we see the events of the last three years unfold in fits and starts of optimism , betrayal , and disappointment . This is the Egypt that the Obama administration has forgotten . This is the Egypt that took Washington by surprise three years ago . True , the initial promise of those utopian 18 days when the country overcame economic and ethnic barriers to find common cause , has not been redeemed . No surprise . After decades of U.S.- backed authoritarian rule , Egyptians have no reliable independent institutions , only the ability to take to the streets in protest . And now the new military-backed constitution takes that away . Ahmed , Khalid , Magdy , and their compatriots in `` The Square '' -- such as Ramy , who is brutally beaten by the security forces for the crime of leading Tahrir in song -- demonstrate that this Egypt is resilient . They may not have learned to organize political parties and to take power in three years , a failing that left first the Brotherhood and then the military to fill that vacuum , but they also are not abandoning the struggle for their rights . Egyptian activists behind bars on uprising 's anniversary . Given the film 's portrayal of the military 's repeated attacks on protesters , beginning in March 2011 , it is difficult to understand the infatuation with Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the army , a sentiment that extends to liberals such as author Alaa al-Aswany . Recently returned from Cairo , `` The Square '' producer Karim Amer said in a talkback session , `` People are beginning to wake up and recognize what the regime is doing to divide Egyptians . '' In a tragic postscript to the film , Magdy Ashour currently is confined to his home -- a common fate for Brotherhood members -- unable to work for fear of arrest under the military 's condemnation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization . This is ironic , since Magdy sided with the revolutionaries against Egypt 's deposed president , Mohammed Morsy . The current Egyptian regime 's policy of outlawing a movement with millions of Egyptian supporters , one that supplied essential social services to the poor , can not end well . And where is the United States ? As usual , it has no impact . Having consistently abandoned those fighting for the goals of the revolution , the U.S. has steadily weakened its position of influence . Now the U.S. speaks to the military to no avail . While Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel dials el-Sisi to discourage growing repression , gaining nothing from their conversations , the U.S. is vilified in the Egyptian media . `` The Square '' should be a painful reminder for the White House , Congress , and State Department of the nature of the military regime the U.S. continues to back , . Egyptians , who already know this well enough , do not have the opportunity to see the film : It languishes in the state censorship authority . And no wonder . The military-backed regime surely does not want Egyptians to see the juxtaposition of army leaders promising `` not to harm a single Egyptian '' with the brutal beatings inflicted on protesters . The Oscars have done what the White House has failed to do : Recognize the ongoing narrative of Egypt 's revolution . Now the Egyptian authorities must allow their countrymen to see their own history . There are encouraging signs that the Oscar nomination has prompted them to review the film 's status . The Jumbotrons screening `` The Square '' in the Square can not come a moment too soon .
` ` The Square '' is filmmaker Ahmed Noujaim 's documentary about Egypt 's revolution . It 's seen through the eyes of the revolutionaries who meet in during the first protests . This is the Egypt the Obama administration has created , says Michael Schneider . Schneider : Film should be a painful reminder to the U.S. of the military regime it backs .