Part of YOUSSEF CHAHINE RETROSPECTIVE, CHAHINE: THE RESTORATION PROJECT, 100 years of Youssef Chahine

Tensions run high on a hot day in Cairo Station, where Qinawi, a newsvendor with a lame leg, pursues his obsession with the beautiful drink-seller Hannouma. While she occasionally entertains Qinawi’s affections, Hannouma is actually in love with the dashing porter Abu Siri’. Things take a darker turn when an unhinged Qinawi, wounded by Hannouma’s rejection, reads the day’s news about a murder case in which a woman’s headless body was found in a trunk. While Abu Siri’ is consumed with his struggle to found a union for the station’s porters, Qinawi starts to put his plan into action.