Cairo Station
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1958 • Egypt
Starring Youssef Chahine, Farid Shawqi, Hind Rostom
Youssef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in all of Arab cinema. The director himself stars as Kenawi, a disabled newspaper hawker whose obsession with a sultry drink seller (Hind Rostom, known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Arabia”) leads to tragedy of operatic proportions on the streets of Cairo. Blending elements of neorealism with provocative noir-melodrama, CAIRO STATION is a work of raw populist poetry that explores the individual’s search for a place in Egypt’s new postrevolutionary political order.
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Cairo Station
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1958 • Egypt
Starring Youssef Chahine, Farid Shawqi, Hind RostomYoussef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in ...
Extras
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Joseph Fahim on CAIRO STATION
In this interview, conducted by the Criterion Collection in 2025, film scholar and programmer Joseph Fahim discusses CAIRO STATION in the context of Egyptian politics, as well as director Youssef Chahine’s early career and his collaboration with the cast and crew.
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Chahine...Why?
This 2009 documentary by Mona Ghandour details the production of CAIRO STATION and includes interviews with director Youssef Chahine, screenwriter Abdel Hay Adib, and actors Hind Rostom and Farid Shawki.
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Cairo as Seen by Chahine Intro
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Cairo as Seen by Chahine
In 1991, Youssef Chahine made this cinematic portrait of Cairo for French television. Controversial in Egypt upon its original release, it was ultimately banned by the government and has rarely been distributed since. Now considered a short masterpiece, the film is presented here in a new 2K rest...
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Youssef Chahine at the Midnight Sun Film Festival
In this excerpt from an appearance at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival, director Youssef Chahine responds to questions from Finnish film historian and filmmaker Peter von Bagh.
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Spotlight on Youssef Chahine
The following interview with scholar Richard Peña was recorded in 2024.
