Winner of a Silver Bear at the Berlinale, this is one of Chahine’s most popular movies abroad: a grand autobiographical ode to pre-WW2 cosmopolitan Alexandria that centers on a young actor (standing in for Chahine) who dreams of studying acting in the United States. Whimsical, multi-layered and utterly invigorating, this loving, crowd-pleasing panorama of Chahine’s birthplace – featuring some of Egypt’s biggest stars of the time – meticulously reconstructs an Alexandria known by few outside Egypt.