In Alexandria, Fatma needs money for her youngest son's weekly kidney dialysis. She travels to Cairo to beg away from home, after she collects enough money she returns to discover her son's death. She decides to protect her two daughters from poverty so she returns to Cairo to continue to beg.
Acting
Sawsan Badr's face holds entire civilizations of grief.
Direction
El Hagar shoots poverty without poverty-porn voyeurism.
Cinematography
Cairo's chaos vs Alexandria's claustrophobia as emotional geography.
Director
Khaled El Hagar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Egypt's 2011 revolution, the film's healthcare critique became painfully timely. Director El Hagar faced censorship battles.
Sawsan Badr, a comedy star, took this role against type; her casting subverted audience expectations of maternal warmth.
EG
