Cairo Station/Bab el Hadid

Introduction by Muhamed Osman Al-Khalil, Director of Arabic Studies, NYU Abu Dhabi 

Highly controversial for its bleak depiction of Egyptian society, Youssef Chahine’s Cairo Station marked the director’s movement to more socially conscious stories about the urban poor and dispossessed. Chahine plays the cripple Kenaoui and is joined by Egyptian cinema stars Hind Rustum and Farid Chaouqi, performing as people who live in and around a train station but are never afforded the luxury of travel. Cairo Station highlights ways that Chahine’s films are cosmopolitan while maintaining a strong sense of Egyptian identity.   (Egypt 1958 | Arabic with English Subtitles | 74 minutes | dir. Youssef Chahine)