The film describes the political and economical corruption in 70s’ Egypt, through the relationship between a powerful man and his wife’s ex-fiance.
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.
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...?
Set in 1881, a year before the start of British colonial rule, it is based on the true story of the Abd el-Rasuls, an Upper-Egyptian clan that had been robbing a cache of mummies they have discovered at tomb DB320 near the village of Kurna, and selling the artifacts on the black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members made a crucial decision when the Antiquities Service arrived.
The first Sultan of Egypt and Syria leads the Muslim military campaign against the invading Christians from Europe during the Third Crusade.
The play tells the story of four siblings trying to stop their father from leaving his family for another woman after one of them accidentally finds a love letter from an unknown woman to their father.
The widowed Wafaa lives with her teenage daughter Salma and her sister-in-law Azza in her late husband Kamel's remote house. When Kamel's former cellmate comes to offer his help, the three women are hesitant to accept at first, but they end up falling for him and competing for his affection.
A young man is shunned by his friends after he starts an affair with a dancer.
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.
Dr. Hashem, a well-known plastic surgeon in his mid-forties, has been unable to commit to a romantic relationship for quite some time. Over the years, he has grown very close to two girls but finds enough reasons to avoid them. However, he is now unable to resist a third girl, Ruba, who is twenty-five years younger than him.
Masry el Araby is an American-Egyptian citizen who travels back to his home town (in Egypt) after living in the US for 20 years. He has this idea of Egypt being a wonderful and amazing country, but the idea soon crashes as he faces reality. After arriving in Egypt, Masry is treated badly when he uses his Egyptian Passport. But then when he starts using his American Passport as an identification card, he is paid with a lot of respect. He faces many problems as he loses both passports.
Sheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking hash with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house.
The story of the friendship that develops between two men with quite different world views. One, a water carrier whose wife has died twenty years before, spends his days thinking about her. The other, who works in the funeral business, spends his life in the pursuit of pleasure because he recognizes that death will bring an end to all enjoyment. They meet and become friends. Through this friendship the water carrier is encouraged to change his morbid way of thinking and to enjoy life.
Set in the 14th century. Under their leader Timur, the Tartar hordes invade the Middle East and take over areas as widespread as Persia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Syria. A lowly woman from a harem (Lubna Aziz) rises to lead the Egyptians against the invaders.
Refat is a teacher with a heart disease, who marries the poor girl Salwa, despite the opposition of his mother who is trying to persuade him to divorce her in exchange for his share in the inheritance. Salwa resorts to holy people hoping to cure her husband.
Attia (Yehia al-Fakharani) works as a simple employee, after his mother-in-law threatens to break his engagement from her daughter because of his delay in getting an apartment. He travels to his hometown to sell his inheritance. There he falls in love with Kharyia (Leila Alawi) daughter of Kamal Bey (Farid Shawki) who bought his land.
Rescue police receives a report on the killing of a leftist journalist in her apartment. The prosecutor moves to the scene of the incident and tries to reach the murderer.
The story unfolds in Alexandria, where Haj Ali Eskandarany is revered as the city's leader for his benevolence towards the humble and needy, and his care for everyone. However, a bitter conflict ensues between Haj Ali and his son Bakr, whose aspirations for power and wealth without effort stand in stark contrast to his hardworking cousin, Younis. Bakr competes with Younis also for the affection of Qamar, the woman he loves. As tensions escalate, Bakr commits a significant error, resulting in his expulsion by his father.
When Hassan Bahlal, a young unemployed man, calls the National Security Agency to report a fire that is to break out in a factory the next day, a new chapter in Hassan's life begins as he tells the officer he has foreseen the incident in a dream.
Freed after spending years in prison, an activist's homecoming turns into a dark affair as his disillusion clashes with his family's expectations. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment.