Yehia, an Egyptian director from Alexandria goes to New York Read More »
Tag Archives: Youssra
Iskanderija, kaman oue kaman / Alexandria Again and Forever (1989) Youssra, Youssef Chahine, Hussein Fahmy, Drama
The film’s remarkable range of tone and style gives us evidence of an artist in full command of his craft. Read More »
Omaret yakobean / The Yacoubian Building (2006) Marwan Hamed, Adel Imam, Nour El-Sherif, Youssra, Drama
Cairo: a 70-year-old building of once-luxury flats with tenements on the roof. Zika, an aging libertine, feuds with his sister. Pius Haj Azzam takes a second wife, in secret, to satisfy sexual drive within religious bounds. Bothayna, poor and beautiful, supports her family, wanting to do so with dignity intact. Her former fiancé, Taha, the janitor’s son, humiliated by the police, turns to fundamentalism. Hatem, a gay editor, seduces and corrupts a young man from the sticks. Two brothers, Copts, one a tailor and one Zika’s factotum, connive for property. Allah is on most everyone’s lips, and corruption is in their hearts. European values, both refined and worldly, provide a subtext.
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