A Muslim engineer loves his Christian neighbor in 1970s Cairo — religion, family, and desire collide.
Abbas is a young Muslim man who studies engineering. He is caught between two extremes: his ideas, which see religion as restricting freedoms, and his religious father, who pushes him to practice religious rituals by force. Abbas loves his Christian neighbor Yvonne, but the difference in faith prevents them from marrying. On the other hand, his cousin Laila loves him and is in a constant state of dialogue with him.
Acting
Nour El-Sherif's simmering restraint as a man torn apart.
Direction
Aldin's quiet observation of Cairo's class and faith tensions.
Director
Ahmed Diaa Aldin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Sadat's 'open door' era, the film captures Egypt's identity crisis between Nasser-era secularism and rising Islamist currents. The Christian-Muslim romance was still borderline-taboo on screen.
Nour El-Sherif and Sohier Ramzy became one of Egyptian cinema's most iconic real-life couples after this film — their on-screen tension had audiences wondering what was performance.
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