Egypt

With all eyes on Egypt in the months following its recent democratic revolution, one of Egypt’s most prominent screenwriters, Mohamed Diab, presents a darker side of Egypt rarely seen by the outside world in his fifth and latest written feature, and directorial debut, completed just before the sweeping January protests.

Director Ahmad Abdalla invited

Anticipating Egypt’s youth-led January democratic revolution, Ahmad Abdalla’s story about Egypt’s long-supressed counterculture movement is set against the dense cityscape of Alexandria. The follow-up to his widely acclaimed debut, Heliopolis, the film tracks recently repatriated Khaled as he attempts to readjust to life in his hometown. Feeling alone and dispirited, he takes to the streets in search of something, anything, to connect to. What he quickly finds is a vibrant underground arts and music scene, long suppressed by the Mubarak regime.