As If We Were Catching a Cobra

The controversy sparked by the publication of several cartoons about Mahomet in a Danish newspaper in 2005, gave the Syrian filmmaker Hala Alabdalla the idea for this film: to question the role of the political cartoon in countries like Egypt and Syria, both with a remarkably restrained freedom of expression. Between 2010 and 2012, while the director was doing her research, the so-called Arab Spring gained strength and many of the cartoonists, who had already been interviewed, participated in the riots. Alabdalla decided to contact them to nourish her work during this historic moment. The material collected is what became the documentary film we present. (El Riviera Maya Film Festival)