Amid the poverty, death, and suffering caused by World War II, 18-year-old Yehia retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of studying filmmaking in America but struggles to pursue his dream, given the constraints of his life in the middle class and the horrors of war.
Yehia
Shukri Murad, Yehia's Father
Yehia's Mother
Mohsen
Ibrahim
Sarah Sorel
Adel Bey
Thomas "Tommy" Friskin
Nadia
Shaker Bey, Mohsen's Father
Grandmother
Morsi
Sorel
British Ambassador
Princess Chahinour
The Sheikh
Elly
29 Nov 1937
A courier is sent to deposit a cash amount to the bank but he arrives late. He goes to a hotel to spend the night and keeps the money in the hotel safe, but he gets confused with the Prince of Kandahar and who admires him and insists on keeping this confusion to reveal his enemies.
17 Apr 1961
Rebel Ibrahim Hamdy assassinates a pro-colonial Prime Minister but is arrested and hides with a fellow university student, who initially refuses but eventually accepts him. Abdul Hamid Khatib meets Samia and her cousin, and Ibrahim uses the situation to hasten Samia’s marriage, which she rejects. Nawal, the youngest daughter, becomes the liaison between Ibrahim and his colleagues, helping him escape. Abdul Hamid tries to inform the political police of Ibrahim’s location, but Samia stops him. The head of the political police suspects them and punishes them to find Ibrahim. Ibrahim refuses to leave the country, returning to fight colonialism and participating in an operation.
23 Sep 1952
Sherif visits a psychiatrist for his illness who exploits him to commit a murder by hypnotism.
23 Sep 1976
Actress Sanaa Kamel is found murdered on her bed, and an investigation starts, taking into account everyone of the guests she hosted at her apartment the night she was killed: her jealous fiancé, a school instructor, a corrupt market manager, one of Sanaa's friends who works as a contractor, and a stud who was Sanaa's secret lover. As the investigation progresses, all the conclusions about the characters are always under question.
09 Apr 1930
Zeinab, a simple worker in a farm falls in love with her supervisor but she is forced by her family to marry a rich man
02 Jan 1955
Khadiga lives in a poor neighborhood with her parents. She tries to save up money so she could marry her sweetheart Taha. Taha buys a lottery ticket in hope of winning a lot of money, but it ends up in Khadiga's religious father's hands who throws it away. The ticket gets picked up by the town's fool, who gets lucky and wins, driving the town into chaos.
15 Mar 1971
When a free-spirited sailor is found murdered, his twin brother, a famous novelist, is the prime suspect. Investigators uncover a possible liaison between the dead sailor and the writer's wife, and also learn that Sayed's successful fictions owed much to the inspiration of his brother Mahmoud's adventurous life. Just as the evidence against the writer seems overwhelming, Mahmoud turns up alive. But why are the twins never seen together...?
09 Dec 1958
Djamila, a young Algerian woman living with her brother Hadi and her uncle Mustafa in the Casbah district of Algiers under the French occupation of Algeria, sees the full extent of injustice, tyranny and cruelty on his compatriots by French soldiers. Jamila's nationalist spirit will be strengthened when French forces invade her university to arrest her classmate Amina who commits suicide by ingesting poison. Shortly after the prominent Algerian guerrilla leader Youssef takes refuge with her, she realizes that her uncle Mustafa is part of this network of anti-colonial rebel fighters. Her uncle linked her to the National Liberation Front (FLN). A series of events illustrate Jamila's participation in resistance operations against the occupier before she was finally captured and tortured. Finally, despite the efforts of her French lawyer, Jamila is sentenced to death...
09 Nov 1959
In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.
02 Jan 1968
A sick doctor is admitted to an isolated sanatorium located in the middle of a desolate desert. As a patient, he becomes aware of the discrepancy that exists between the conditions of the privileged patients, who are well-treated, and the poor ones, who particularly suffer from a lack of water. With the help of the doctor, the poor patients rebel and undertake to restore justice and order in the hospital.
06 Nov 1972
Well off widow working Mother "Mona" is struggling raising 6 kids at different ages ranging from elementary school to University graduating students. The day she thinks to bring a new husband home proves to be a very difficult task.
03 Feb 1969
Based on Tharwat Abaza's short story, 'Shey min al Khawf' takes place in a rural Egyptian village. Atris' reign of terror on the villagers is put to the test when a public act of defiance is carried out by Fu'ada, the object of his affection.
31 Oct 1960
Set in the suburbs of Cairo in the late 1930s, the story follows a middle-class Egyptian family grappling with the hardships of life after the death of their father, their sole breadwinner. The mother and her four children—three brothers and their sister, Nefisah—struggle to avoid slipping into poverty. They all go in different directions which aren't exactly good.
31 Oct 1966
Mahgoub is a villager who moves to Cairo in search of a better life. When he enlists friend Salem's help to find him a job, Salem not only gets him a job at the ministry where he works but he finds him a bride as well. But the bride is the mistress of Qasem Bek, who will be visiting her once a week.
19 Nov 1951
With her husband terminally ill, a wife becomes the target of her husband's friend who wants her money so bad that he kills his friend and proposes to his newly-widowed wife.
01 May 1952
An adaptation of Mohamed Hussein Heikal novel. At the beginning of the 20th century, Zainab, a peasant girl, falls in love with Ibrahim al-Khouli, who works on the Pasha's estate. Her father stands in the way of this love and insists that she marry Hassan, a wealthy young man. Ibrahim is called up for military service and leaves the village, leaving Zainab saddened and suffering from tuberculosis, which Hassan's family refuses to treat. Ibrahim returns from military service, is pained by her condition, and tries to help her.
29 Dec 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.
02 Jan 1986
A simple minded peasant was recruited in the Egyptian army where he was deceived to believe that political activists are his homeland enemies, but not for so long.
10 Dec 1944
A woman seeks revenge on the man she thinks killed her husband but falls in love with him in the process.
02 Jan 1986
The film puts the lights on the struggle of youngsters to afford a proper life for marriage. Through their small incomes, and the ordeal of finding a house in crowded Cairo, so it follows a young couple's longing for their simpliest dreams - to be together.