Cairo Time

Synopsis: In Cairo on her own as she waits for her husband, Juliette finds herself caught in a whirlwind romance with his friend Tareq, a retired cop. As Tareq escorts Juliette around the city, they find themselves in the middle of a brief affair that catches them both unawares.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Ruba Nadda
Production: IFC Films
  2 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
67
Rotten Tomatoes:
81%
PG
Year:
2009
90 min
$1,500,000
Website
260 Views


[Soft piano melody]

[Background chatter]

[Airplane roaring]

[Ruffling papers]

- Reason for visit?

- I'm here to see my husband.

[Stamping]

[Background chatter]

- Taxi! Taxi!

- No, thank you.

- Ms. Juliette?

- Oh.

- Unfortunately your husband

has been delayed in Gaza.

I'm Tareq.

His security officer

at the United Nations.

- Oh yes, yes,

of course! Tareq.

Oh, it's a pleasure

to finally meet you.

- It's a pleasure

to meet you, too. May I?

- Oh, thank you.

- Thank you.

Mark said he would call you

when you got to the hotel.

- Mark is all right?

- Mark is fine. Please.

- I've heard so

much about you.

- As I have about

you. This way.

[Traffic]

- Tareq! Tareq!

[Woman speaking in Arabic]

- Excuse me.

[Motorist honking]

Please.

- We would love to welcome you

to the wedding in Alexandria.

- Oh, excuse me. This is

a very old friend of mine.

And her daughter.

This is Ms. Juliette.

Um, I worked for her husband.

- For her husband.

Juliette. Like

Juliette and Romeo?

- Yes.

- How beautiful.

- Thank you.

- I am Yasmeen.

- Oh, Yasmeen. It's

a beautiful name.

- Shukran.

- We've been

invited to her wedding.

- Oh! Uh, well thank you,

and congratulations.

[Exchanging goodbyes in Arabic]

[Background chatter]

Thank you.

[Middle-Eastern music

on the radio]

Oh no, I haven't

had a cigarette

since I was a teenager.

- Do you mind if I...

- No.

[Channel changed to pop music]

Oh, no. I liked the one before.

- You're familiar

with Arabic music?

- No, not at all.

[Switching to previous channel]

- It is Umm Kulthum -

mother of Egypt.

- She has a

beautiful voice.

- Yes.

- The heat is remarkable.

- It is at its worst

at this hour.

- It's November.

- It's the first thing

tourists notice.

- How can anyone complain

about the heat when women

are dressed like that?

- They're accustomed to it.

How is your, uh, work?

The, uh, magazine, isn't it?

- Yes. Um, busy.

Always busy.

I'm happy to get away.

[Song in Arabic]

How long do you think the

flare-up at the camp will last?

- I don't know.

But Mark is okay.

- Oh, congratulations

on your retirement.

- Thank you.

- Do you miss it, the UN?

- No. I took my

father's coffee shop.

- I heard about that.

- It occupies me.

- Yeah. Mark says it's the best

coffee he's ever tasted.

- Naturally I would have

to agree with him.

- He also says it's not

the same without you.

- He has a good heart.

[Middle-Eastern song]

How are your children?

- Oh, they're good. Thank you.

Um, they're gone.

Out into the world.

Finally.

[Sarcastic laugh]

- Must be nice to have

more time to yourself now.

- My son is on his honeymoon

and Emily just

finished university.

She's having difficulty

though finding a job.

- What is her specialty?

- Creative writing.

What?

- How will she make a living?

- Well, she's doing

something she loves.

[Middle-Eastern song]

[Traffic]

I'm so glad

I finally came

to the Middle East.

- I never understood

this "Middle East." Middle...

Middle of where?

- Cairo.

- Cairo it is.

- [Man]:
Here's your passport.

- Thank you.

- And your key.

[Clinking]

- Any messages?

- No, I'm afraid not.

Oh, there is this one

envelope waiting for you.

- Oh.

Everything's fine.

- If there is anything

you should need, please.

- Uh, how do you say

thank you in Arabic?

- Shukran. Shukran.

- Shukran.

- You'll be fluent

in no time.

[Background chatter]

[Soft music]

[Traffic outside]

[Motorist honking]

[Phone ringing]

[Picking up the phone]

- Hel- hello?

Oh, Mark!

Where are you? Hi.

[Clearing her throat]

No.

Oh, I'm fine. I'm fine.

Oh, I can barely hear you.

Um, how long do you think?

Huh?

How is it now, hmm?

Oh, Tareq is lovely.

Yes. I thought

he would be older.

We ran into a woman

named Yasmeen?

Oh, really?

[Laughing softly]

I thought so. Yeah.

No, I can't.

I can't stay inside that long.

I'll go crazy.

You know me. Hmm.

Oh, we have your embassy event.

Do you think you'll be back?

I don't want to be stuck

with the Petroleum Wives.

[Laughing softly]

Oh, I hope so too.

[Laughing again]

Oh... Oh, I miss you.

Yeah, I love you. Mm-hmm.

[Middle-Eastern music

in the background]

Hello?

Hello?

[Call to prayer in Arabic

from loudspeakers outside]

[Traffic]

[Call to prayer from afar]

[Diffuse chanting]

[Traffic and background chatter]

- Big family!

- No. Just work.

[Traffic]

[Background chatter]

[Motorists honking]

[Speaking in Arabic]

Shukran.

[Motorists honking]

[Background chatter]

[Kids screaming excitedly]

[Speaking in Arabic]

- Ah, you're beautiful.

- F*** me.

[Amused background chatter]

[Speaking calmly in Arabic]

[Middle-Eastern song]

[Background chatter]

- Oh! I'm sorry.

- Oh, no. That- it's all right.

It's okay.

- There is no sign.

- It's all right.

It's okay. Would- Do- Do you-

Do you have the time?

Do you know what time it is?

- Time? 2pm.

[Background chatter and music]

- Excuse me.

- Oh, um...

- I'm sorry. I'm disturbing you.

- No, not at all. Not at all.

This is Ms. Juliette.

- Hello. Hello.

- Coffee? Uh, tea?

Uh, juice?

- No, thank you.

- Cigarette?

- I'm going crazy.

- Is there something the matter?

- Oh, uh...

No, I'm... I'm fine, I...

You know, Mark warned me about

wandering the streets alone.

Men keep following me.

- You're a very beautiful woman.

- Hmm...

It's been years since, uh,

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Ruba Nadda

Ruba Nadda (born 6 December 1972) is a Canadian film director. She made several award-winning short films, including Lost Woman Story, Interstate Love Story, So Far Gone and Damascus Nights before writing and directing features I Always Come to You, Unsettled and Sabah. Her movie Cairo Time won the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and was Best Reviewed Romance on Rotten Tomatoes for 2010. She is known for shooting feature films in very short time spans. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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