Runtime: 80 min
Directed by Anna Kipervaser
Cairo in One Breath examines the conflict between tradition and modernity as an ancient oral tradition gets replaced by a wireless signal. The story develops through the interconnected lives of five characters as the 1,400 year-old tradition of the adhan, Muslim call to prayer, is transformed with the Adhan Unification Project wherein thousands of voices are replaced by one.
As one muezzin begins the call, another joins seconds later from a neighboring mosque, and then another, until the echoing of thousands of diverse voices envelops the 83 square-mile city of Cairo, hushing and transforming the soundscape five times each day.
Implementation of the Adhan Unification Project began in August 2010, disallowing recitation of the adhan from individual mosques; instead transmitting one muezzin's voice from a radio station to the 4,000 official mosques in Cairo through wireless receivers.