When aspiring Egyptian pianist Ahmed finds a pen pal in Austrian Liz, their blossoming relationship encourages the former to focus on his ambition of performing a concert during a tumultuous time for the nation. Based on the actual meeting of director AB Shawky’s parents, this combination of narrative vignettes interspersed with archival footage serves as a decade and nation-spanning time capsule of love in the seventies.
The Stories
Contemporary Arab Cinema is co-presented with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and:
This series is made possible through the support of:
The Stories
Virtual Q&A with director Abu Bakr Shawky
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
"[A] sincere and endearing movie... It’s got a well-drawn and endearing ensemble; it’s quickly paced; it knows how to deftly use framing and cutting in a competent, but not flashy, way; and it crafts a historical portrait of a time and a place — Egypt, from 1967-1984."
SPECIAL EVENTS
Virtual Q&A with filmmaker AB Shawky moderated by series curator Lina Matta
Sunday, Jul. 26 2026, 4:00
- Abu Bakr Shawky is an Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker. He studied Political Science in Cairo and earned an MFA in Film Production from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. His debut feature Yomeddine premiered in Main Competition at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or, receiving the François Chalais Award. It was Egypt's official submission to the 91st Academy Awards. His second feature, Hajjan, premiered at Toronto and had its Middle Eastern premiere at the Red Sea Film Festival. Variety named him MENA Talent of the Year; Forbes listed him among the top five Arab directors on the global stage. Both Yomeddine and Hajjan were screened at ANA. The Stories is his third feature.
- Lina Matta is the series curator for Contemporary Arab Cinema, the Director of Shahid AVOD, MBC 4 and the two movie channels, MBC 2 and MBC MAX at MBC Group in Dubai. A film fanatic, Lina watches movies at work and for fun. In her spare time she attends film festivals. If you’re looking for Lina, you may find her eating a frozen dog in Park City, UT, grabbing a felafel sandwich in Toronto or chasing a food truck in Austin, TX. Lina holds an M.A. in Film from Boston University. She’s been a news producer, a TV director, a field audio engineer, an original web content producer and she once worked closely with a Libyan revolutionary!
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
This film is part of the following initiatives:
This film is part of the Contemporary Arab Cinema series.
Contemporary Arab Cinema is co-presented with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and:
This series is made possible through the support of:
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