CAIRO EXIT

Synopsis

A powerful account of life in contemporary Cairo, this raw drama about a pair of star-crossed lovers shines a powerful spotlight upon the social and cultural taboos that riddle the city's diverse population. Heralding a bold new shift for contemporary Egyptian cinema, 'Cairo Exit' is a gritty and uncompromising work from a major new cinematic talent, Hesham Issawi. Amal Iskander is an 18-year-old Coptic girl, living in Bashtel, in the slums of Cairo. Her Muslim boyfriend Tarek is planning to leave Egypt on an illegal boat-crossing to Italy. Amal tells Tarek she is pregnant but he gives her an ultimatum - abandon the country with him, or have an abortion. Despite her love for Tarek, Amal rejects both choices. But when Amal is fired from her job her already precarious future looks bleak. In desperation, she takes a low-paid job as a hairdresser, a job which leads her into a seedy underworld of crime and vice. Is it too late for Amal to escape the sordid, dead-end world of exploitation and misery in Cairo's darkest corners?

Genre

Drama

Cast & Credits

• Director:  Hesham Issawi
• Producer:  Sherif Mandour
• Scriptwriter:  Amal Afify, Hesham Issawi
• Cinematographer:  Patrik Thelander
• Editor:  Nihad Sami
• Composer:  Tamer Karawan
• Cast (in alphabetical order):  Ahmad Bider, Farida M, Maryhan, Mohammed Ramadan, Sana Mouziane