Oghneyet Touha Al Hazina

This early film by Atteyat Al Abnoudy paints a dreamlike portrait of artists that have influenced how we see the streets of Cairo. The unobtrusive camera captures fire eaters, acrobats, musicians, child contortionists and other performers, while the story of this community is told by the haunting voice of the poet Abdel Rahman Al Abnoudy.
We are showing the film in a digital restoration that was carried out in 2025 under the auspices of the Cimatheque – Alternative Film Center in Cairo.

Born in the Nile Delta to a working-class family, Atteyat Al Abnoudy worked from time to time as an actress to finance her law studies in Cairo. Before the backdrop of her work as a journalist and with numerous artists and authors already in her surroundings, she decided to study film at the Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema in 1972, where she became the first woman in Egypt to shoot documentaries. Renowned as a filmmaker dedicated to such themes as poverty, the oppression of women and social injustice, her personal style (“no script, no actors, no direction, the camera follows the subject”) left a lasting impression on documentary filmmaking in Egypt.

Director Atteyat Al Abnoudy. Production company High Cinema Institute (Kairo, Egypt).

Films: 1970: Hosan Al Teen / Horse of Mud. 1971: Oghnyet Touha El Hazina / Sad Song of Touha (Forum Expanded 2026). 1975: El Sandawich / The Sandwich. 1980: Al Taqadum Ela Al Omk / To Move Into Depth. 1981: Behar El Atash / Seas of Thirst. 1982: El Ahlam El Momkena / Permissible Dreams. 1988: Eq'aa Al Hayat / Rhythm of Life. 1990: Hadeeth Al Ghorfa Raqam 8 / Conversation in Room 8. 1992: Eli Baa wa Eli Ishtara / Buyers and Sellers. 1996: Ayam Al Demoqratya / Days of Democracy, Ahlam Al Banat / Girls Still Dream.