The Kit Kat Explained

Al-Kit Kat
Native Name:الكيت كات
Director:Daoud Abdel Sayed
Producer:Hussein el Qala
Country:Egypt
Language:Egyptian Arabic
Starring:Mahmoud Abdel Aziz
Amina Rizk
Sherif Mounir
Aida Reyad
Nagah El-Mogui
Ali Hassanein
Ahmed Kamal
Runtime:128 minutes
Music:Rageh Dawoud
Sayed Mekawy
Ibrahim Rajab
Cinematography:Mohsen Ahmed
Editing:Adel Monir
Studio:Egyptian General Company for International Film Production
Studio Misr
al-Alamia pour la Télévision et le Cinéma

The Kit Kat 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

Notes and References

  1. Book: Terri., Ginsberg. Historical dictionary of Middle Eastern cinema. 2010. Scarecrow Press. Lippard, Chris.. 9780810873643. Lanham. 3. 663461102.
  2. Web site: Kit Kat. 1 January 2000. 20 June 2016. IMDb.
  3. Book: A short history of film. Dixon, Wheeler W.. Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey.. 30 March 2018. 9780813595146. Third . New Brunswick, N.J.. 1029759754.
  4. Web site: 5 Must-See Classic Egyptian Films. Lena. Kassicieh. 20 August 2014. 20 June 2016.
  5. Web site: Kit Kat. 20 June 2016.
  6. Web site: A Blog Featuring Arab Film and Related Matters - Blog - Al-Kitkat (1991): Soaring above the Doldrums. 20 June 2016.