Before the Arab Spring, there was the winter of discontent. Egyptian independent filmmaker Ibrahim El Batout returns to the first wave of Tahrir Square protests with the intertwined stories of a political dissident (Amr Waked), a TV journalist, and a state policeman. While the historical outcome is known-and the square has since been the site of further prodemocracy protests-Winter of Discontent thoughtfully and poetically evokes the uncertainty and terror of the period leading up to the anti-Mubarak protests of January 25, 2011. Crucial parts of the story play out on state television, security cameras, and YouTube, underscoring just how this revolution was televised.