Noir City: Cairo Station
February 17, 2024
A newspaper hawker at the eponymous train depot develops a frightening obsession with a sexy lemonade vendor. That’s the premise for a drama using the station to depict clashing strata of Egyptian society. A landmark of Egyptian cinema despite boycotts over its unflinching perversity and politics.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
Qinawi, a newspaper hawker at Cairo’s Ramses railway station, develops a frightening obsession with Hanuma, a sexy lemonade vendor. That’s the unnerving spine of this picaresque drama that cunningly uses the bustling train depot to depict clashing strata of Egyptian society. Between the fall of the Egyptian monarchy in 1952 and the film industry’s nationalization in 1966, director Chahine created a slew of films deeply critical of his country’s gender roles and geopolitics. He was forced to portray the pathetic Qinawi himself when no Egyptian actor would take on the role. His combination of gritty neo-realism and psychosexual expressionism created what many consider the landmark film in Egyptian cinema—despite boycotts over its unflinching perversity and politics. Costar Hind Rustum was Egypt’s most popular actress of the era, her reputation for sultry, seductive characters earning her the nickname “The Arab Marilyn Monroe.” A brave social critique that’s also a spine-tingling suspense thriller. —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Original Language Title: Bab el Hadid
- Director: Youssef Chahine
- Principal Cast: Farid Shawki, Hind Rostom, Youssef Chahine, Hassan El Baroudi, AbdelAziz Khalil
- Country: Egypt
- Year: 1958
- Running Time: 77 min.
- Producer: Gabriel Talhami
- Screenplay: Abdel Hay Adib, Mohamed Abu Youssef
- Cinematographers: Alevise Orfanelli
- Editors: Kamal Abul Ela
- Music: Fouad El Zahiri
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: The Nile and the Life (1968), Alexandria.. Why? (1979), Saladin (1963), The Blazing Sun (1954)
- Language: Masri (Egyptian Arabic)
- US Distributor: Janus Films