Al-qahira menauwwara bi Ahlaha + Cairo Streets

Youssef Chahine, famous for being an Alexandrian, turns to the city he lived in and where he
made most of his films - Cairo. He weaves between fiction and documentary, all the while
keeping his filmic voice honest and clear. It´s important to note that the original title of the film is
Cairo is Illuminated by its People. It is the people that create the city symphony. A decade later,
it is also the people that become the motif present in Taïa’s Cairo Streets. In the film he
searches for a lost love within random conversationsand the in the nooks and crannies of the
city. In both films, the capital becomes the protagonist, caring and harsh simultaneously. An
image of a society hungry with desires in the face of oppressing structures. Stories of Cairo from
the 90s to the 2000s to now, while Cairo grows, decades apart, it somehow stays the same, an
overbearer, true to its Arabic name Qahira - the city that crushes.
This program is to celebrate thecentenary of Youssef Chahine born in 1926, passed away in
2008 leaving behind a great legacy of Egyptian cinema.