Chahine takes on an autobiographical focus in the film trilogy named after his birth city Alexandria. The first film of the trilogy, Alexandria... Why?, takes place during the second world war, and introduces us to Chahine’s alter ego, the young actor Yehia, who is obsessed with Hollywood films. The film shows the diversity of the Egyptian society through an episodical narrative style. This is a very interesting film both in plot and form and is to this day one of Chahine’s most recognized films internationally.

The film maker Youssef Chahine (1926-2008) contributed with artistically ambitious films through six decades and is the director that made Egyptian film internationally renowned. Chahine masterly managed to mirror the Egyptian society’s enormous political and social upheavals through his films. His first film Daddy Amin premiered in 1950, and his last film Chaos in 2007. Chahine is also known as the film maker who discovered the actor Omar Sharif.

Original title Cinemateket: Iskanderija... lih?

Year 1979

Director Youssef Chahine

Screenplay Youssef Chahine, Mohsen Zayed

Cinematography Mohsen Nasr

Producer Youssef Chahine

Cast Naglaa Fathi, Ahmed Zaki, Farid Shawqi

Runtime 2h 5m

Links IMDb