Blog Archives

The Bathhouse of Malatily (1973)

The film is an adaptation of the novel Samar Habib by Ismåeel Walieddin. author of Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations. The main character, Ahmad, leaves rural eastern Egypt for the city hoping to become economically self-sufficient, gets an apartment for his parents, and obtains a law degree. He and his family are refugees from a town occupied by the Israeli army, Ismaåilia. Ali, the owner of the Malatily Bathhouse, offers to let him stay there for free. Ahmad encounters several characters there, including Naåeema, a prostitute who he becomes obsessed with, and Raouf, a homosexual man...

Al-Karnak (1975)

In the 1960s, the lives of three college classmates, Ismail, Zainab, and Helmy, take a dark turn when the three of them are arrested and tortured as part of the repressive and violent practices that were employed by the General Intelligence Directorate back then.

Omar's Journey (1986)

Omar lives on the money of his wealthy jeweler father. The father ask him to deliver a jewelry bag to a customer in Tanta. His car breaks down and he gets robbed by a truck driver and his helper. Omar rescues him at a rural Gas station and accompanies him on his journey.

Until Things Get Better (2007)

A film highlighting the issue of street children and the marginalized social class living under the pressure of economic conditions in a shanty district. Nahid escapes from her stepfather’s harassment only to become a victim of a horrible rape incident. She then becomes a dancer.

Shafiqa and Metwally (1978)

Downtown Girls (2005)

Story of two working girls and their adventures in the city.

Houseboat No. 70 (1982)

Documentary filmmaker Ahmed El Shazly is working on a new film about a cotton gin. When a worker who reveals to him what's happening in the gin is killed, Ahmed and his sweetheart are determined to uncover the truth.

ملف في الأداب (1986)

Saeed, the officer in the arts police, is shocked at the beginning of his service by his chief’s decision to save the investigation of the case of Aliya Hanim, as it relates to the officials and turns into a person who is rigid. When the counselor, master, gives the officer information that some workers visit an apartment and practice fancy, he tries by all possible means to prove the charge against them, even by falsehood.

Shafiqa and Metwally (1978)

The Emigrant (1994)

The biblical tale of Joseph is told from an Egyptian perspective in this interesting character study. In this film, Joseph is called Ram. Ram, tired of his family's backward superstitious life, and tired of being picked on by his brothers, wants to go to Egypt to study agriculture. His brothers travel with him across Sinai, but then suddenly sell him to Ozir, an Egyptian who works for a Theban military leader, Amihar. Amihar is impressed by Ram's drive and personal charm and so grants Ram some desolate land outside the capital...