El Touk Wa El-Esswera (1986)

Run Time - 116 min.  |   Countries - Egypt  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka

A gripping tale of multiple tragedies told in a natural, unaffected way, this drama by Khairy Bishara is an indictment against the brutal treatment of women in a backward society. Young, beautiful Fahima (Sherihan) is the buoyant, happy child of a disabled father (who soon dies), a devoted mother, and the sister of Mustapha (Ezzat El Alaily) who is working away from home. Fahima eventually marries a village man and quickly discovers that she can never bear children because her husband is impotent. Her mother tells her to go to the temple and become pregnant there (a local custom), and she does so. The result is disastrous and deadly. A generation later, Mustapha returns to the village and finds out that his niece has gotten pregnant; she is not married. Her punishment is to be buried up to her neck in the backyard, watched over by Mustapha and her grandmother until she dies. Believe it or not, things only get worse for the tortured young woman.