Season 1 • Episode 30
LatestA young man (Mohammed Ramadan) travels from Qena to Cairo for work, but the only job he can find is as a painter. He is constantly running into trouble, as he deals both with his extreme poverty and his desire to live a decent life for his mother. His world gets turned upside down when he finds himself way in over his head, and it becomes clear that he must find a way out before it is too late.
Acting
Ramadan's transformation from comic actor to shattered everyman.
Direction
Fakhr's unflinching Cairo — no romanticized poverty here.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during Egypt's 2013 political turbulence; the series' focus on economic desperation rather than politics was itself a political choice that critics debated.
Ramadan reportedly lived in a Qena workers' hostel for two weeks to prepare — the paint-stained hands in episode 3 are his own from actual labor.
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