Video | Avant-Titre: “Lift like a girl”… yet not at the Olympics

In this episode of Avant-titre, Bassam Mortada engages with Egypt's history of weightlifting in the Olympics through his viewing of the feature documentary "Lift like a girl" (Mayye Zayed, 2020). Offering intimate access to the lives of female weightlifters in Egypt, the film follows young Zebiba, who trains on the street with Captain Ramadan, the father of weightlifting champion Nahla Ramadan. The Tokyo Summer Olympics this year came at a frustrating time for weightlifting in Egypt; the country has been barred from participating and management of the sport is under scrutiny. The gold medal in weightlifting won by a Qatari national of Egyptian origins has further been a source of anger, especially as the barred weightlifters' previous records predicted multiple Olympic medals for Egypt. Related issues have been brought to attention: Egypt's interest in sports, the creation of champions, corruption, lack of support, favoritism, and the thwarted dreams of sports heroes. This video takes us back and forth through the worlds of cinema and sports, examining ways they mix and revealing much about the image of champions.