This complicated and surreal autobiographical film explores the personal life and fantasies that have shaped the motion pictures of Youssef Chahine. Taking a stand for democracy, Yehia (Chahine’s on-screen alter ego), joins a hunger protest which has rallied together the entire Egyptian film industry. As the strikers mount their demands, the director becomes overwhelmed by his infatuation for Amir, the young actor whose career he launched with the film Alexandria… Why? But this obsession is soon overshadowed by his interest in Nadia, the beautiful ingénue whom he decides to cast in his next feature.
The final chapter of Chahine’s Alexandria Trilogy.

Cairo 1947: the cholera epidemic in full swing. The beautiful Lavandiere Saddika lives with her paralyzed husband and her little son Hassan in a basement. She dreams of Prince Charming and assiduously frequented the cinemas. One day Hassan Okka be reduced to home, the seductive monkey trainer who easily discovers the woman in the sacrificed mother. But Hassan is achieved by the terrible disease Saddika and will do everything possible to save his little son. ——IMDB

Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.

1995 anthology film by 41 different directors