Land of Fear

Land of Fear

2000 · 134 min · ★ 7.1 · Drama, Crime

A police officer is chosen in the late 1960s for a unique and lifelong mission: to infiltrate Egypt’s criminal underworld. Stripped of his name and reputation, he adopts a new identity, living among smugglers, dealers, and nightclub owners. Over the years, he rises within this hidden world, all the while trying to balance his secret duty with the temptations of wealth, power, and desire. Against the backdrop of Egypt’s shifting political eras, his life becomes a meditation on morality, loyalty, and the fragile boundaries of identity and biblical-level metaphors.

Directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed · Written by Daoud Abdel Sayed

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

4h 11m together

Land of Fear

Messages from the Sea

Both from Daoud Abdel Sayed.

More from Daoud Abdel SayedSee all →

The Joy thief

The Joy thief · 1995

MovieDramaRomance

The residents of the Mokattam area are in a state of joy. Shata has been married to the dancer (Ahlam), but (Ahlam) has a lover's heart (Awad). In order to resolve the situation, Awad must arrange for the expenses of the marriage within a few days and the introduction of Ahlam's speech. Awad tries to help Awad and thinks that she is overdoing herself. Awad is committing a process closer to armed robbery and stealing his brother's clothes to sell. Ahlam is staying in an apartment of a foreigner to help her boyfriend buy the net.

The Land

The Land · 1970

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.

Messages from the Sea

Messages from the Sea · 2010

Messages from the Sea

MovieDramaRomance

A man witnesses the drastic changes in society as he goes back to the Alexandria of his youth.

Kit Kat

Kit Kat · 1991

MovieComedyDrama

Sheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking hash with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house.

The Vagabonds

The Vagabonds · 1985

The film that established Abdel Sayed as a pioneer of New Realism in Egyptian cinema tells the story of two friends who rose from the bottom to the top of society through suspicious dealmaking, in a story full of love, anger, and betrayal.

Land of Dreams

Land of Dreams · 1993

Nargis, a middle-aged woman, is preparing to leave Egypt for the United States to reunite with her grown children, who are mesmerized by the allure of the "Land of Dreams". However, as her departure draws near, she is plagued by deep reluctance and fear of leaving her life and identity behind.

The Search for Sayed Marzouk

The Search for Sayed Marzouk · 1991

The Search for Sayed Marzouk

MovieDramaAction

Yousef is a naive employee who goes out on his day off to meet strange characters, including a wretch dressed like Charlie Chaplin and Said Marzouq, an eccentric multi-faceted billionaire, full of contradictions and ambiguity. While trying to find himself ,he becomes accused of murder.

The Man Who Lost His Shadow

The Man Who Lost His Shadow · 1968

The Man Who Lost His Shadow

The story of friendship on the eve of the free officers' revolution: Youssef, an unprincipled journalist, whose star rises thanks to his connections, and Shawki, an idealist man committed to social justice

Out of the Ordinary

Out of the Ordinary · 2015

Out of the Ordinary

MovieDramaFantasy

When Yehia's scientific investigation of the paranormal yields nothing, he takes a forced vacation from his work and regular life. Wandering aimlessly, he settles in a seaside guest house that is inhabited by a group of quirky characters. As Yehia grows intimate with the owner and close to her charismatic young daughter, he believes he's stumbled across the magic he had sought for so long. It appears that something out of the ordinary seems to exist within them all, and perhaps also within himself.

A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief

A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief · 2001

A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief

MovieComedyMusic

Selim, a handsome and successful writer triggers an elaborate chain of events when he visits police headquarters to report his car stolen. There he runs into the bumbling Sergeant Fathy Abdel Ghafour, an old family friend who now works as a detective. When the meddlesome Sergeant Fathy insists on hiring a live-in housekeeper for his old friend, Selim’s life becomes inextricably intertwined with that of his beautiful new housemaid, her thieving husband and the well-meaning detective.

Local version

MovieDramaMusic

Egyptian short movie

The Advice of a Wise Man in Matters of the Village and Education

The Advice of a Wise Man in Matters of the Village and Education · 1976

The Advice of a Wise Man in Matters of the Village and Education

MovieDocumentary

In this socio-political short, film director Daoud Abdel Sayed discusses, from a biased perspective, the effects of Free Education on the Egyptian countryside.

أوهام الحب

أوهام الحب · 1970

أوهام الحب

More Like This

Five Graves to Cairo

Five Graves to Cairo · 1943

Five Graves to Cairo

MovieWarThriller

During the 1942 North African campaign, a British straggler passes as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Erwin Rommel's headquarters. He has thoughts of assassinating Rommel but his cover may provide an even better use.

The Yacoubian Building

The Yacoubian Building · 2006

The Yacoubian Building

The lives of residents in an old Cairo building, "The Yacoubian Building," are affected by issues like corruption, extremism, class disparity, and sexuality. Through diverse characters, the film offers a critical examination of Egyptian society.

1000 Mabrouk

1000 Mabrouk · 2009

MovieComedyDrama

A man finds himself stuck in a mysterious time loop, reliving the same day again and again. As the cycle repeats, he is forced to confront his daily routines, question his relationships, and search for meaning in a world that refuses to change.

The Young Messiah

The Young Messiah · 2016

The Young Messiah

Tells the story of Jesus Christ at age seven as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth. Told from his childhood perspective, it follows young Jesus as he grows into his religious identity.

Land of the Pharaohs

Land of the Pharaohs · 1955

Land of the Pharaohs

MovieDramaHistory

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Cleopatra

Cleopatra · 1934

MovieHistoryDrama

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

Alexander

Alexander · 2004

MovieWarHistory

Alexander, the King of Macedonia, leads his legions against the giant Persian Empire. After defeating the Persians, he leads his army across the then known world, venturing farther than any westerner had ever gone, all the way to India.

The Egyptian

The Egyptian · 1954

MovieHistoryDrama

In eighteenth-dynasty Egypt, Sinuhe, a poor orphan, becomes a brilliant physician and with his friend Horemheb is appointed to the service of the new Pharoah. Sinuhe's personal triumphs and tragedies are played against the larger canvas of the turbulent events of the 18th dynasty. As Sinuhe is drawn into court intrigues he learns the answers to the questions he has sought since his birth.

Agora

MovieAdventureDrama

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter