Egypt: Children of the Revolution

January 2011 saw the impossible happen in Egypt. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Egyptians took to the streets in the name of freedom against one of the Arab world's most brutal and entrenched dictatorships & on Feb. 11, 2011 President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

The state of fear cultivated by generations of Mubarak's harsh rule was broken by a new generation brave and angry enough to risk their lives to bring it down. Children of the Revolution traces an extraordinary journey for three young activists from their dreams for a new future to the reality of the Egyptian revolution one year on.

Can a new Egypt be built on a bedrock of unresolved crimes and silenced victims? Or will the rage that had burned in thousands of cells for decades break the foundations of this fragile state?

 Produced by Angus MacQueen for the BBC.

The characters include:

Gigi Ibrahim
24 year old Gigi Ibrahim's face on the cover of Time magazine heralding her as one of the leaders of the revolution propelled her into international fame. A student supporter of socialism from one of Egypt's elite families her journey in the revolution is one of contradictions and passionate differences.

A recent graduate from the American University of Cairo, Gigi became an activist during her student days. She was inspired by some of the older generation of Egyptian political activists as well as younger bloggers and Internet activists. She was involved in protests in the period leading up to the revolution and was in Tahrir Square on the 25th January and every day following. 

Ahmed Hassan
Ahmed is the same age as Gigi but he grew up a world apart: unemployed disaffected youth. Ahmed's father died when he was in his early teens. He now lives with his mother and younger brother in a tiny crumbling apartment in the sprawling slum of Shubra.

 His area is a tough neighborhood, where most young men have no regular work and deeply resented Mubarak's regime. He had always despised the regime of Hosni Mubarak and when he heard, indirectly, about the 25th January protests and threw himself into the battle.

He was involved in all the key clashes in the ensuing days and only left Tahrir Square when he was arrested for 15 hours by the police. Ahmed represents the other face of the revolution, 'activists' from outside the twittering middle classes, who joined the protests and provided much of the backbone of the revolution.