I Want a Solution (1975)

The Second Wife

A story in the Egyptian countryside about an unjust mayor who controls everything in the village with his power.

Rayya and Sekina

In Alexandria a terrifying phenomenon of the disappearance of women, spreads terror in the city. Police work to unravel its secrets. Officer Ahmed is preparing a plan to uncover who's behind it and it turns out to be the gang of Raya and Sakina, who were targeting women to steal their jewelry.

Whom Should We Shoot?

The film describes the political and economical corruption in 70s’ Egypt, through the relationship between a powerful man and his wife’s ex-fiance.

Dananeir

A concubine to a ruling family is challenged when the family is overthrown.

Wife Number 13

Murad Salem is a rich man who is used to getting what he wants whenever he wants it. When he meets a beautiful woman in Alexandria, he wants her as wife number thirteen. He buys himself into the heart of the woman, until a well-meaning, former fiancée of her husband tells her just how many times he has been divorced. The new bride launches into a series of ploys that keep her away from the marriage bed.

Cairo 30

Mahgoub is a villager who moves to Cairo in search of a better life. When he enlists friend Salem's help to find him a job, Salem not only gets him a job at the ministry where he works but he finds him a bride as well. But the bride is the mistress of Qasem Bek, who will be visiting her once a week.

The Beginning and the End

Set in the suburbs of Cairo in the late 1930s, the story follows a middle-class Egyptian family grappling with the hardships of life after the death of their father, their sole breadwinner. The mother and her four children—three brothers and their sister, Nefisah—struggle to avoid slipping into poverty. They all go in different directions which aren't exactly good.

A Man in Our House

A Man in Our House is a 1961 Egyptian film about the resistance to British rule in Egypt which ended in the exile of King Farouk in 1954 and the rise to power of Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Between Heaven and Earth

In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.

The Rebels

A sick doctor is admitted to an isolated sanatorium located in the middle of a desolate desert. As a patient, he becomes aware of the discrepancy that exists between the conditions of the privileged patients, who are well-treated, and the poor ones, who particularly suffer from a lack of water. With the help of the doctor, the poor patients rebel and undertake to restore justice and order in the hospital.

Alexandria… Why?

Amid the poverty, death, and suffering caused by World War II, 18-year-old Yehia retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of studying filmmaking in America but struggles to pursue his dream, given the constraints of his life in the middle class and the horrors of war.

Jamila, the Algerian

Djamila, a young Algerian woman living with her brother Hadi and her uncle Mustafa in the Casbah district of Algiers under the French occupation of Algeria, sees the full extent of injustice, tyranny and cruelty on his compatriots by French soldiers. Jamila's nationalist spirit will be strengthened when French forces invade her university to arrest her classmate Amina who commits suicide by ingesting poison. Shortly after the prominent Algerian guerrilla leader Youssef takes refuge with her, she realizes that her uncle Mustafa is part of this network of anti-colonial rebel fighters. Her uncle linked her to the National Liberation Front (FLN). A series of events illustrate Jamila's participation in resistance operations against the occupier before she was finally captured and tortured. Finally, despite the efforts of her French lawyer, Jamila is sentenced to death...

The Choice

When a free-spirited sailor is found murdered, his twin brother, a famous novelist, is the prime suspect. Investigators uncover a possible liaison between the dead sailor and the writer's wife, and also learn that Sayed's successful fictions owed much to the inspiration of his brother Mahmoud's adventurous life. Just as the evidence against the writer seems overwhelming, Mahmoud turns up alive. But why are the twins never seen together...?

The Thief and the Dogs

This film, inspired by Naguib Mahfouz' The thief and the dogs, tells the story of Mahran, a thief who quickly ascends to be the head of his gang. However, his second in command conspires against Mahran to take his position and his wife. After his prison term, Mahran is thirsty for revenge. But being chased by the police and by his new enemies destines him to a tragic life in hiding.

Sunset and Sunrise

In the wake of the Cairo Fire, Essam feels guilty for betraying his friend Samir by messing around with his wife Madiha. Essam decides to take revenge on Madiha's father who pressured him to marry her to avoid a scandal.

The Postman

Abbas, a resident of Cairo, is appointed by the government to hold the office of supervisor in a post office in a small village in Upper Egypt.

Kit Kat

Sheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking hash with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house.

Your Day Will Come

With her husband terminally ill, a wife becomes the target of her husband's friend who wants her money so bad that he kills his friend and proposes to his newly-widowed wife.

The Sinners

Actress Sanaa Kamel is found murdered on her bed, and an investigation starts, taking into account everyone of the guests she hosted at her apartment the night she was killed: her jealous fiancé, a school instructor, a corrupt market manager, one of Sanaa's friends who works as a contractor, and a stud who was Sanaa's secret lover. As the investigation progresses, all the conclusions about the characters are always under question.

The Night of Counting the Years

Set in 1881, a year before the start of British colonial rule, it is based on the true story of the Abd el-Rasuls, an Upper-Egyptian clan that had been robbing a cache of mummies they have discovered at tomb DB320 near the village of Kurna, and selling the artifacts on the black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members made a crucial decision when the Antiquities Service arrived.

Cairo Station

Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.

House No. 13

Sherif visits a psychiatrist for his illness who exploits him to commit a murder by hypnotism.

Rise to the Abyss

Abla travels to France and gets recruited by the Mossad under the pretext of working as a journalist. By the time she discovers the truth, she's already in too deep. As Abla recruits her fiancé, an engineer in the Egyptian army, the General Intelligence Directorate assigns Khaled to arrest her.

Empire M

Well off widow working Mother "Mona" is struggling raising 6 kids at different ages ranging from elementary school to University graduating students. The day she thinks to bring a new husband home proves to be a very difficult task.

Bit of Fear

Based on Tharwat Abaza's short story, 'Shey min al Khawf' takes place in a rural Egyptian village. Atris' reign of terror on the villagers is put to the test when a public act of defiance is carried out by Fu'ada, the object of his affection.

Struggle on the Nile

Naïve young Muhasab is asked to accompany his more dependable friend, Mujahed, on a voyage up the Nile to Cairo. Once there, they will sell their boat, the "Bride of the Nile," in order to buy a barge that will make their village elders more competitive in business and trade. But a ruthless business rival is determined to see that the men never reach Cairo. Matters become even more complicated when Nargis, a scheming carnival dancer, is discovered hiding out in the cargo hold of the "Bride of the Nile."

The Shame

A family inherits their father's drug business which leads to their undoing.

Saladin the Victorious

The first Sultan of Egypt and Syria leads the Muslim military campaign against the invading Christians from Europe during the Third Crusade.

Passion and Revenge

A woman seeks revenge on the man she thinks killed her husband but falls in love with him in the process.

The Innocent

A simple minded peasant was recruited in the Egyptian army where he was deceived to believe that political activists are his homeland enemies, but not for so long.

Why, O Violet?

A portrayal of the lives of four friends who have different dreams and aspirations; Ahmed falls in love with a girl he saw once, Sayed gets in trouble when he sells the laboratory animals, Abbas who is married to a woman that doesn't love him, and Ali who works in illegal operations.

Diary of a Country Prosecutor

Based on the novel by Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim, 1937, Diary of A Country Prosecutor records the daily activities and tribulations of a public official appointed to act as a village justice in the countryside.

Visitor at Dawn

Rescue police receives a report on the killing of a leftist journalist in her apartment. The prosecutor moves to the scene of the incident and tries to reach the murderer.

Gone with No Return

Attia (Yehia al-Fakharani) works as a simple employee, after his mother-in-law threatens to break his engagement from her daughter because of his delay in getting an apartment. He travels to his hometown to sell his inheritance. There he falls in love with Kharyia (Leila Alawi) daughter of Kamal Bey (Farid Shawki) who bought his land.

We the Students

Directed by Atef Salem.

People Of The Top

Zaatar is a thief who works for Zaghloul the owner of an import and export company. Zaghloul exploits Zaatar and makes him smuggle goods from customs. Zaatar gets to know Siham,the sister of officer Mohammed, and they fall in love and he starts working on his own and competes with Zaghloul.

The Land

Set in 1933, the mayor informs the peasants that the share of irrigation of their land will be split equally between them and feudal lord Mahmoud Bey. The peasants send Mohamed Effendi to submit a petition to the government. Mahmoud Bey then proposes a project that would require taking part of the peasants' lands.

Return of the Prodigal Son

Freed after spending years in prison, an activist's homecoming turns into a dark affair as his disillusion clashes with his family's expectations. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment.

Oh Islam

Set in the 14th century. Under their leader Timur, the Tartar hordes invade the Middle East and take over areas as widespread as Persia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Syria. A lowly woman from a harem (Lubna Aziz) rises to lead the Egyptians against the invaders.

Mr. Omar

Gaber Effendi is a simple employee at Ezbet Omar al-Alfi's, expelled by the head of the family after Jabir discovers that there is fraud in the accounts of the estate. Gaber meets with Berlanti, the wife of Omar Bey's, noting a great similarity between him and her absent husband in India, Omar. Following the advice of a legal advisor, Omar Bey's family believes that he is still alive and living in India. By chance, Jaber Effendi goes to Omar's house and is seen by the family and gets married, but Omar finds out the truth and tries to exploit the resemblance to seize wealth, but ultimately fails.

A Song on the Passage

Set during the Six-Day War, the connection between a group of Egyptian soldiers on a passage in the desert and the command center drops. They try to survive despite the enemy attacks and lack of ammunition and supplies.

The Leech

A rural mother sells her only cow in order to enroll her son, an imam (Shukri Sarhan) at Dar al-Uloom College. When an imam arrives in Cairo, he rents a room in the Citadel area from a domineering woman named Shafa'at (Tahiya Karioka) who is fascinated by his youth and vitality and lures him into practicing vice with her. As a result, he stumbles in his studies and health. At this time, a girl whom she and her father knew from a young age helps him to get rid of all the corruption in which he lives, and her father advises him to stay away from intercessions, but the intercessions plots against him in an attempt to stay with her.

The Nightingale's Prayer

This compelling tale of love and betrayal, set in the upper Egyptian countryside, follows the story of Amna as she plots her revenge on the engineer who destroyed her family's honor.

Soft Hands

A prince of the former royal family finds himself without a meaningful role in post-revolutionary Egyptian society. Based on the play by Tawfiq el-Hakim.

The Mother of the Bride

This magnificently madcap comedy classic stars Egyptian film legends Tahiya Karioka and Emad Hamdi as Zeinab and Hussein, overworked parents who get little relief from the never ending demands of their seven mischievous children. When their eldest daughter, Ahlam, meets a dashing young man at a party, it's love at first sight and wedding plans must quickly be arranged. As preparations get underway, Zeinab and Hussein are soon overwhelmed by the elaborate and costly requests made by the groom's extravagant family. While tending to the needs of their other six children, Hussein and Zeinab must consider unconventional means to obtain the funds for a ceremony that the newlyweds will be proud of.

The Wife of an Important Man

When Mona marries the seemingly decent police officer Hisham, she finds out there is more into him than what he shows to the people.

Dreams of Hind and Camilia

Hend is a young widow who works as a maid, she meets Eid the conman who goes to prison and leaves her pregnant. While Camellia is a divorced maid who supports her unemployed brother and his family in exchange for letting her sleep over in his apartment.

The Bus Driver

A father loses his carpentry workshop after his son-in-law stops paying taxes regularly. His son Hassan, a bus driver, struggles hard to save his father’s workshop, while the daughters try to replace it with a new project inspired by the “Infitah” era.

My Wife & the Dog

Chief Morsy is a lightkeeper staying at a faraway lighthouse. He marries So'aad and shortly returns to the lighthouse where he recounts to Nour his adventures with women. When he sends his wife a letter with Nour, Morsy grows suspicious of his wife's fidelity. Suspicions nourished by his jealousy.

My Wife the General Manager

A married couple ends up working at the same company where the wife is a general director. This arouses the suspicion of their co-workers who do not know they are married.

Al Avokato

After getting sentenced with one month in prison for contempt of court, the lawyer Sbankh tries to take advantage of his jail time to establish many relations, most notably with drug dealer Hassouna,and Salim Abu Zaid, one of the centers of power in the 60s.

Playing with Giants

When Hassan Bahlal, a young unemployed man, calls the National Security Agency to report a fire that is to break out in a factory the next day, a new chapter in Hassan's life begins as he tells the officer he has foreseen the incident in a dream.

The Sin

Aziza and her husband Abdullah are both day laborers who work on various farms. When Aziza is brutally raped by a guard while she is picking potatoes in a field, she tries to hide the pregnancy and plans to kill the baby once it is born.

The Blazing Sun

A wealthy landlord floods and destroys a village on purpose to prevent the people living there from making a profit off their crops. What he doesn't know is that his own daughter, Amal, is in love with Ahmed, a young man from the village.

The Beast

Abdel Sabour was a thief and a smuggler known as The Beast to the people in one of the villages of upper Egypt; everyone was afraid of him, including the police. He enjoyed the protection of Redwan Pasha, who in turn used him during elections to eliminate his rivals. Officer Raouf Saleh was sent to the village with his wife and son with the assignment of arresting The Beast. However The Beast and his gang worked together from the beginning trying to dispose of the officer and his family in any way possible.

Life or Death

A man suffers from a heart attack so he sends his daughter to get medicine for him. After providing the medicine for the girl, the pharmacist discovers that he has unknowingly mixed a poisonous elixir. Reporting what happened to the police, the chief officer of Cairo starts an intriguing, full-fledged campaign to save the man before he takes the lethal medicine.

Son of the Nile

Hemaidah is a Farmer who hates country life. He hates working in fields and taking care of the animals in his farm. Though unsatisfied with her, he marries Zebeidah, a woman in the same village.

Alkhataya

Hussein and Ahmad are brothers. Hussein falls in love with a colleague, but his father mysteriously decides that Ahmad should marry her instead.

The Public Prosecutor

A tough-on-crime public prosecutor's world is turned upside down when his son is accused of murdering a dancer.

The Mountain

A young architect struggles to convince a superstitious community, in thrall to antiquity traffickers, to build houses instead of living in precarious mountain caves.