Egypt a century ago and the conflicts tearing it apart come to life in the grandiose drama of the father of Arab cinema. Screening as part of the film programme Tashkent-1970. The Festival That Never Was.
The Land
- Date:
- 20 Jul 2025,
18:00–20:20
- Age restrictions
- 18+
Al-ard
1969, Youssef Chahine
Egypt
130 minutes, Egyptian Arabic with Russian subtitles
Starring: Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Yehia Chahine, Ezzat El Alaili, Hamdy Ahmed
T
1920s. A corrupt elder announces to the fellahs that from now on they are only allowed to water their land for five days. This means crops will almost certainly die. A petition to the Prime Minister is intercepted by a landowner who plans to build a road through the fields to his estate. A popular uprising is inevitable.
Shot from The Land, 1969
The capitalist corruption and political stasis that we see in Chahine’s film have lost none of their potency; and neither has The Land.
— David Heslin, Senses of Cinema
Youssef Chahine has been a central figure in Arab cinema for half a century. The Land is one of his grandest creations, epic in scope, virtuosic in its mise-en-scène and as powerful as Italian neo-realism in the empathy for its characters.
