Cairo Station

Bab el-Hadid

Director: Youssef Chahine
Country: Egypt

1958 | 73 min. | Arabic
Subtitles: German, English
FSK | Nicht geprüft / No clearance

Cast_ Youssef Chahine, Hind Rostom, Farid Shawqi Screenplay_ Abdel Hay Adib, Mohamed Abou Youssef Camera_ Alvise Orfanelli Producer_ Gabriel Talhami Rights_ Misr International Films

A classic of Arab cinema: a delusional love story shakes the train station of the Egyptian capital.

Qenawi, played by director Youssef Chahine, works as a newspaper boy at the Cairo train station, barely scraping by. He suffers from a club foot and feels lonely and rejected. His only distractions are pin-up photos and his affection for a saleswoman he meets every day among the confusion of his workplace. When he confesses his love to her, she rejects him – with dramatic consequences.

This harrowing work is one of the most important African films ever made. With a bold touch, it transforms the traditions of classic Egyptian cinema into an intense, genre-busting noir melodrama.

Director

Youssef Chahine (1926-2008) was one of the defining voices of Arab cinema. He made a total of 37 feature films, including milestones such as ›The Land‹ (1970), ›Return of the Prodigal Son‹ (1976), ›Alexandria... Why?‹ (1979), and ›Alexandria Again and Forever‹ (1989).

Screenings