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The Yacoubian Building
An ambitious melodramatic epic, The Yacoubian Building marks director Marwan Hamed's feature film debut and stars an accomplished Egyptian cast. Based on the popular novel by Alaa Al Aswani, the title refers to an apartment complex in downtown Cairo that personifies the hierarchy of modern Egyptian society. Built with the intention of housing wealthy aristocrats in the 19030's, it was been transformed by time into the home of both the nouveau riche (who reside in the crumbling apartments) and the urban poor (who occupy the rooftop laundry rooms that formerly housed servants). The Yacoubian Building is a fiercely gripping saga that brings controversial societal issues – most notably, adultery, political and monetary corruption, Islamic terrorism, fundamentalism, and homosexuality – to the forefront through expertly woven subplots featuring an assembly of intriguing characters.
