Cairo Station (N/C 12+)

Qinawi, a crippled newspaper vendor working in the Cairo train station, becomes infatuated with Hanuma, an engaged beverage seller. When Hanuma rejects Qinawi’s fantasy of their future together, Qinawi’s obsession turns into madness. Hanuma is one of a group of unofficial female vendors who dodge the authorities to sell soft drinks to passengers. She is about to marry Abu Seri, a loud and heavy-handed porter who is trying to form a trade union. Meanwhile, newspapers report on a gruesome murder... Chahine - a pioneering Egyptian filmmaker who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Cannes in 1997 - explores sexuality, obsession, madness and violence in this film, regarded as one of his masterpieces. 

This screening will be introduced.

This screening is part of Africa 3.0, a touring package of films that shows obsession as represented in cinema from across the African continent and the diaspora, focused on joy, vanity and infatuation.