“Cairo Station is a pressure cooker of lust, jealousy, and psychosis.”—Jamie Russell, BBC 

In March 2018 Misr International Films launched a restoration project to mark the 10th anniversary of famed film director Youssef Chahine’s passing. Join us for a screening of one of the twenty restored films and hallmarks of Arab cinema, Cairo Station (Bab el Hadid, 1958). While at first, the film was poorly received, with people walking out of cinemas due to its exploration of sexuality, within 20 years it went on to achieve international recognition and was screened at Cannes Film Festival when Chahine was given a life achievement award in 1998. 

FILM SYNOPSIS: A young Youssef Chahine plays the character of Qinawi, a crippled newspaper vendor, who falls in love with Hanouma (played by Hind Rostum), an attractive woman who sells soft drinks to train passengers. To his dismay, she is in love with a strong and respected porter at the station, Abu Serih (played by Farid Shawqi), who is trying to unionize the station’s workers. With dreams of marrying Hanouma and moving back to the countryside to live a peasant life, Qinawi develops a psychosexual obsession with Hanouma.

Cairo Station, directed by Youssef Chahine, written by Mohamed Abu Youssef and Abdel Hay Adib, Arabic with English subtitles, black and white; 77 minutes.