The correlations between religion and politics, as well as the social reception of events, are themes that the Egyptian artist Wael Shawky explores in his videos and installations. Between 2010 and 2014, he dedicated the three Cabaret Crusades films (The Horror Show File, The Path to Cairo, and The Secrets of Karbala) to the history of the Crusades, a theme that is still highly topical today, more than a thousand years later, due to the ongoing conflicts and wars over the city of Jerusalem. Based on the Battle of Karbala (680 C.E.), Shawky tells the story from an Arab point of view: From this other perspective, the story of the “liberation” of Jerusalem, which is familiar in the West, becomes a chronicle of mass murder, looting, and the lust for power. Glass marionettes on strings act literally as though by remote control, embodying questions about the possibility of political action, power, and manipulation.

The Stiftung Junge Kunst financially supported the shooting of the films in K20 and received one edition of the film in return.