Mansion of Longing

Eleven directors from eleven countries each contribute an eleven-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what's happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they've spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son's death. Tones vary, as do the locales. Most concern coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.

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

Iman is surprised that her brother Hossam is in a relationship with actress Nahed. His ideal image collapses and she decides to abandon her morals. She invites Sherif to the house in the absence of Hossam,and he discovers that she has no previous experiences so he decides to marry her.

Mariam is living a troubled life with her husband Ahmed, suddenly her life turned to a nightmare after she dreams of crimes she discovered that it's a real crime after she wakes up, she decides not to sleep anymore.

In the 12th century's Andalusia lives Ibn Rushd a prominent Islamic philosopher with his wife Zeinab and daughter Salma. The principality is ruled by Khalifa ElMansour who has two sons, ElNasser, an intellectual that likes Ibn Rush and is in love with his daughter Salma. The younger son Abdallah is more into dancing and poetry, spending most of his times with the gypsy family and getting the daughter pregnant. The Khalifa is depending on the extremists to build his army granting them more power which they use to combat artists and philosophers. The extremists succeed in recruiting Abd Allah and train him to kill his father. Events go on where Marawan, the gypsy singer, is killed and Ibn Rushd's books are burnt. Adapted from the real life of Ibn Rushd AlMasir is Chahine's statement against extremism.

This is the story of young Hassem, the son of a powerful sheik, set at the beginning of Hegira. When the youngster's uncle is murdered, Hassem decides to go to Mecca with a view to finding the culprit and punishing him. But what he discovers there is not the murderer but the prophet Muhammad. Touched by grace, Hassem converts to the new religion and comes back to his village to propagate the new faith. Which is not to his father's liking, since the Muslim religion is opposed to feudal rights and privileges. The infuriated sheik curses his son and starts persecuting the new converts.

A poor man starts working in a casino and gets bedazzled by the rich people he sees. As he takes his family to show them the casino after hours, they get arrested for breaking into the casino.

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.

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.

The lives of residents in an old Cairo building, "The Yacoubian Building," are affected by issues like corruption, extremism, class disparity, and sexuality. Through diverse characters, the film offers a critical examination of Egyptian society.

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.

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

Hussein, a shy young man, is desperately in love with Samiha. However, Samiha is more interested in her singing and dancing cousin Lucy. Admiring Hussein greatly, Samiha's father attempts to help him and starts spreading the rumor that Hussein is having an affair with famous actress Hind Rostom, hoping jealousy will move the daughter's heart. The plan seems to work... until Hind Rostom herself comes to town.

Magda is upset about her husband's relationship with Rifaat, who suffers from a bad psychological condition. She is forced to resort to a doctor who insists that she needs to visit a psychiatrist to treat her. Magda finally turns to Mustafa, who is trying to help her but is trying to get closer to him.

Karima, the cabaret owner who's called 'Queen of the Night', meets Dr. Mahmoud, the university professor, and falls in love with him. Mahmoud is a widower living with his daughter Hoda who is engaged, and when Mahmoud proposes to Karima, both the daughter and her fiancé are against it.

A village girl, Hanaa, gets fascinated by the colorful world of the cinema as a director arrives in the village to film his movie. As Hanaa meets Tamatem, the dressmaker of actress Sally, she gets a job as Sally's maid and crosses paths with Mourad who pushes her to work at cabarets.

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.

An enthralling look at the relationship between America and the Arab World from an Arab perspective. It tells the story of Yehia, a renowned Egyptian filmmaker whose life has been shaped by a pair of disrupted love affairs, one with an American woman named Ginger, the other with America itself.

Set against the backdrop of the 1967 Six-Day War, the movie adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz's novel follows the escapist, drug-fueled riverboat meetings of a group of frustrated Egyptians from various walks of life.

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.

In Roman-dominated Egypt, the corrupt administration of a governor named Petronius has sparked a revolt headed by El Kabir, a young man who learns that he's actually the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. When Petronius' daughter, Livia, newly-arrived from Rome, falls into his hands, El Kabir uses this opportunity to win her over to his side before releasing her to her father.

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.

After we last see him in "Alexandria, Why?" Egyptian filmmaker Yehia Mourad is in his thirties, and successful in his work, he has grown distant from his wife and children and suffers a symbolic blockage of the heart while shooting the final scenes of his latest film. After being flown to England for evaluation, it's determined that Yehia must undergo emergency surgery. Fact and fiction blend seamlessly—with healthy doses of cleverly absurdist fantasy—as the film explores the various personalities and forces that have made Yehia (and Youssef Chahine) the man he has become.

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.

Malak is a star singer who lives with her mother and her daughter, Loula, in her villa after her divorce. She falls in love with an opportunist called Lam'ey, so her daughter sets out to expose him with the help of her lover, a driver called Nasser, and the director, Ezz-ElDin who deeply loves Malak.

(Elham and Salwa) two chemical engineers, have been appointed to the Oil Company (Cairo) but are seeking to work in the desert to explore new oil wells, but the company only sends men there. The desert, having progressed to work as two men because of the company's system of accepting only men's travel on these missions, recognizes their colleagues in the desert and lives with them as two men

A young man is shunned by his friends after he starts an affair with a dancer.

Sina' learns of the numerous affairs her husband Shakir has had with other women. At this time, she gets to know Hashem, and they become increasingly close. Hashem learns of the dysfunctions within Sina’’s family and tries to take advantage of this for his own interests, specially after meeting Arfan, the husband of Sina’s sister. Arfan uses Sina’s sister’s money for his own projects, and tries to pressure his daughter Hoda into marrying a rich Arab man.

Spoiled rich girl Nadia gets jealous after finding out her father's plan to remarry. She tries to break them apart, spreading lies about her new mother-in-law and getting involved with a man twice her age.

When rich celebutante Maddie and worker Omar meet, two completely opposite worlds collide.

When her stepfather tries to rape her, Amal kills him and flees. She finds refuge in the house of the fine artist Ahmed Khaled who falls for her, but his protégé, the sculptor Sherif, also falls for her and competes with Ahmed to win her favor.

The story discusses the issue of immigration among young Egyptians in the 1960s and 1970s. As Nader and Amira prepare to emigrate abroad, they begin to rethink it after seeing the patriotic feelings of foreigners, who are residing in Egypt, for their countries

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

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.

Abduljawad is separated from his wife Iglal, and he left her with their children Hashim and Samira. Hussein proposes to Samira, but when Hussein's father insists on meeting Abduljawad, she turns to her brother Hashim, to persuade their father to go and see Igalal who still loves him.

Genies help an Arabian bandit (Tab Hunter) locate a magic arrow he needs to claim heirship to the sultan's kingdom.

A girl and her boyfriend are swindlers who have successfully carried out previous frauds. When they find out that their neighbor has an amount of money that he is safekeeping for a friend, they devise a plan to swindle him.

Despite her family's objection to the match, Hoda, daughter to businessman Abu Madi, marries their driver Hassan. Samiha, meanwhile, is led astray as she surrenders to the pimp Karam. Hoda and Samiha eventually cross paths. Where is that going to take them?

The events revolve around a man who is killed on his wedding day, then is held accountable in the afterlife, meets some people, and tells us how people can live their lives in this world and know that good deeds are what lasts forever.

Shehata Abu Kaff, goes to Cairo to play for Zamalek club. The club buys him an apartment, but the owner sells the apartment to him and to another lady.

Hamada is so desperate to get rich that he participates in all TV competitions hoping to win one day. Fate smiles on him and he indeed wins a sum of 1 million dollars. But life is not a wish-granting factory, is it?

Grain trader Hamdi lives with his two sons Mahmoud and Hussein and his niece Wafaa. He treats Hussein differently because his mother had a disgraceful past. Hussein finds out that his mother is the dancer Fawzia Rushdie, he goes to meet her and she denies him at first.

Adel and Mona are in love, and just as they were about to get engaged, Adel has an accident. When he recovers, he finds that the only woman he loved is now married to another man.

Samia is in a relationship with the frivolous young man, Mamdouh, and slips up with him one day when she gets into his car. When she asks him to marry her, he evades her and travels abroad. Her attempt at suicide fails, but Ahmed saves her and welcomes her into his family. Later, Samia gives birth to her and Mamdouh's child.

Sherif, the lawyer, and his two friends, Raafat, the famous composer, and Sayed, the veterinarian, are shocked, and they decide together to abandon everything related to Noun Al-Niswa, but Elham decides to enter their lives.