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1-7 of 7
- In the depths of loneliness and despair, beautiful Aida visits her "tailor," Victoria, a woman who runs a sensual house where erotic fantasies are fulfilled. After satisfying her desires in the arms of one of Victoria's young men, Aida has a haunting nightmare where she envisions herself as a witch who, during a full moon, has the power to destroy her lovers' sensitivity. This disturbing dream sends Aida into a downward spiral of self-destruction. When Aida finally loses her will to live and all hope for salvation, she longs to purify herself and find forgiveness for her sins. Reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and the stylishly erotic films of Radley Metzger, The Lady of the Black Moons emerged from an era of relaxed censorship in Egypt.
- Filmed in the style of such Hollywood action classics as Bullitt and The French Connection, the first image we see in Wolves Don't Eat Meat is through the scope of a rooftop sniper's rifle just before he makes a kill. A frantic chase through the streets of town follows as the assassin, Anwar, makes his getaway. Wounded and exhausted, Anwar stumbles into the home of a stranger where he is allowed to recuperate and his story unfolds. We learn that he was once an ambitious journalist who has been transformed into a slaughterer of men by the years of war, suffering and destruction he has witnessed around the world - starting with the massacre at Deir Yassin in Palestine. A message film about good vs. evil and the negative effects of violence, Wolves Don't Eat Meat nevertheless employs the trademark sex, violence and bloodshed popularized in Hollywood action films of the 1970s, a style that later influenced the films of directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone.
- The setting is Cairo in June of 1945, during the last days of the Second World War. Gohar, a former university professor, encounters a young prostitute in an empty brothel and kills her in a moment of insanity. Assigned to the murder case, police inspector Nour El-Din stays on Gohar's trail hoping for a confrontation and confession of the crime. In this remarkable adaptation of the novel by Albert Cossery, both the detective and the criminal are faces with startling realizations as one closes in on the other.
- A glimpse into life in the Yemen as rarely seen by Western audiences: images of the country's landscape and insight into the characters of the colorful Yemeni people and their rich customs. The film's journey across the Yemen is seen from the points of view of both expert and novice - The Sheikh and The Gentleman. The film introduces Bader Ben Hirsi, a British-Yemeni born and bred in London after his parents' exile from the Yemen in the 1960s for being relatives of the last ruling king, The Imam al Badr. Upon discovering the award-winning book, Yemen - Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Bader feels compelled to journey to the Yemen to discover his country, its people and traditions for himself. His main task, however, is to persuade the eccentric author, Mackintosh-Smith, an Englishman who has been living as a Yemeni in the ancient city of Sana'a for the past 18 years, to be his personal guide through the Yemen. A friendship soon develops between the 'Sheikh al Nasara' (Sheikh of Christians) and 'The Yemeni Gentleman' who appear to have been living parallel existences. Elaborate stories and experiences are exchanged as they journey together throughout the magical Yemen--from the Northern Highlands to the Red Sea coast and from the nostalgic Aden to the splendid Wadi Hadramaut. Together they explore the ancient World Heritage city of Sana'a and visit the derelict homes of Bader's long lost ancestors.
- The film is set during the annual fasting dedicated to the Virgin Mary. While depicting the habits and customs related to this fasting in her familiar surrounding, the director asks her female Coptic relatives to tell their stories. Mothers, sisters, daughters and nieces out of four generations give an account which illuminates the changes which occurred in Egyptian society regarding education and emancipation and the role religion is assigned to in that context. The women's traditional religiosity that formed rather a subtext of their daily life starts to become institutionalized to the extent that life of the younger women became entirely centered on the church and its multiple activities. The film touches on the one hand on the rich mythological Coptic heritages which are rooted among others in Old Egyptian customs and beliefs and tackles on the other gender inequalities perpetuated by the Coptic church and backed by Egyptian society in general.
- Driving an Arab Street takes the viewer on a journey along the "Arab street," a monolithic term pundits use to describe Arab sentiment, to find out what people are actually saying about the West and America. The film follows Egyptian taxi drivers as they navigate the streets of Cairo and share their diverse perspectives on American and Egyptian society, culture, politics and the relationship between these two civilizations. Driving an Arab Street is Arthur Hurley's first documentary film. He first went to Egypt in 1999 to study Arabic at the American University in Cairo. After working briefly as a reporter in California, Hurley returned to Cairo to work as a freelance writer, continue his Arabic studies and make a documentary that would give insight into Arab and Western relations. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Film at American University.
- The film reflects the pessimistic mood of the immediate post Gulf War era. It adapts a sad short story by the poet and former Arab League ambassador Ibrahim Shokrallah and intercuts it with his biography. His painful description of a family's lemon tree which was cut down to build and sell a house seem to anticipate the future ordeals of his family starting with the military defeat in June 1967. Back from Canada his three children get involved in the anti-Zionist and leftist student movement of the early 1970s, are chased and imprisoned.