Yehia Chahine

This is the story of young Hassem, the son of a powerful sheik, set at the beginning of Hegira. When the youngster's uncle is murdered, Hassem decides to go to Mecca with a view to finding the culprit and punishing him. But what he discovers there is not the murderer but the prophet Muhammad. Touched by grace, Hassem converts to the new religion and comes back to his village to propagate the new faith. Which is not to his father's liking, since the Muslim religion is opposed to feudal rights and privileges. The infuriated sheik curses his son and starts persecuting the new converts.

A village girl, Hanaa, gets fascinated by the colorful world of the cinema as a director arrives in the village to film his movie. As Hanaa meets Tamatem, the dressmaker of actress Sally, she gets a job as Sally's maid and crosses paths with Mourad who pushes her to work at cabarets.

Set in 1933, the mayor informs the peasants that the share of irrigation of their land will be split equally between them and feudal lord Mahmoud Bey. The peasants send Mohamed Effendi to submit a petition to the government. Mahmoud Bey then proposes a project that would require taking part of the peasants' lands.

In Roman-dominated Egypt, the corrupt administration of a governor named Petronius has sparked a revolt headed by El Kabir, a young man who learns that he's actually the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. When Petronius' daughter, Livia, newly-arrived from Rome, falls into his hands, El Kabir uses this opportunity to win her over to his side before releasing her to her father.

Amid the poverty, death, and suffering caused by World War II, 18-year-old Yehia retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of studying filmmaking in America but struggles to pursue his dream, given the constraints of his life in the middle class and the horrors of war.

Grain trader Hamdi lives with his two sons Mahmoud and Hussein and his niece Wafaa. He treats Hussein differently because his mother had a disgraceful past. Hussein finds out that his mother is the dancer Fawzia Rushdie, he goes to meet her and she denies him at first.

Spoiled rich girl Nadia gets jealous after finding out her father's plan to remarry. She tries to break them apart, spreading lies about her new mother-in-law and getting involved with a man twice her age.

Karima, the cabaret owner who's called 'Queen of the Night', meets Dr. Mahmoud, the university professor, and falls in love with him. Mahmoud is a widower living with his daughter Hoda who is engaged, and when Mahmoud proposes to Karima, both the daughter and her fiancé are against it.