The Kit Kat

1991 Egyptian film

September 9, 1991 (1991-09-09)

Running time

128 minutesCountryEgyptLanguageEgyptian Arabic

The Kit Kat (Egyptian Arabic: الكيت كات, romanized: al-kīt kāt) is a 1991 Egyptian comedy that revolves around Sheikh Hosni, played by Mahmoud Abdel Aziz,^[1] a blind man living in the Al-Kit Kat neighborhood in Giza, Egypt. Sheikh Hosni lives with his mother and son and spends his days dreaming of riding a motorcycle and smoking Hashish. He does this to cope with his life as a blind man and the loss of his wife.^[2]

Director

The movie is written and directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed, Egyptian Film director and screenwriter.^[3] He won several awards for his work in film. He won best director for Al-Kit Kat at the Biennale Des Cinemas Arabes in Paris, France and also at the Damascus Film Festival in Syria in the year 1992. He graduated in 1967 from the Higher Film Institute in Cairo, Egypt and went on to work as a director and assistant in many critically acclaimed Arabic films. Al-Kit Kat is unlike any other Arab film; it showcases the despair and struggles of the characters under the guise of comedy and laughter.^[4]

Plot

Sheikh Hosni, the film's main character and protagonist, lives with his son Youssef and his old mother following his wife's death. His son dreams of leaving Egypt to find work in Europe – and he plans to achieve this by convincing his father to sell the house – and he has an affair with a recently divorced woman named Fatima, who also lives in the Kit Kat neighborhood. Sheikh Hosni refuses to accept his blindness as a setback, and dreams of riding a motorcycle one day like any person would. To his son's dismay, he had already sold the house to a drug dealer. He spends most of his nights trying to forget his miserable reality with other residents of the Kit Kat neighborhood smoking hashish. He knows all the gossip of the neighborhood and its residents’ secrets. Ultimately, Sheikh Hosni is shown to be riding a Vespa in a crowded neighborhood.^[5]

Cast

Mahmoud Abdel Aziz as Sheikh Hosny
Sherif Mounir as Youssef
Aida Reyad as Fatima
Nagah El-Mogui as El-Haram
Amina Rizk as Sheikh Hosny's mother
Ali Hassanein as Sheikh Obaid
Galeela Mahmood as Fatheya
Jihan Nasr as Rawayeh^[6]

References

^ Terri., Ginsberg (2010). Historical dictionary of Middle Eastern cinema. Lippard, Chris. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780810873643. OCLC 663461102.
^ "Kit Kat". 1 January 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2016 – via IMDb.
^ Dixon, Wheeler W. (30 March 2018). A short history of film. Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey. (Third ed.). New Brunswick, N.J. ISBN 9780813595146. OCLC 1029759754.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Kassicieh, Lena (20 August 2014). "5 Must-See Classic Egyptian Films". Retrieved 20 June 2016.
^ "Kit Kat". Retrieved 20 June 2016.
^ "A Blog Featuring Arab Film and Related Matters - Blog - Al-Kitkat (1991): Soaring above the Doldrums". Retrieved 20 June 2016.