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In Egypt, after World War I, serious music lost its influence and more popular music took its place. Modernist thinking found an echo among Egyptian women who advocated the modernization of society and fought for their social rights. They demanded the banning of marriage before 16 and went even further by recording the chants of the Koran. The film examines the issues of women and modernization, woman and their bodies, women and power, through songs and scenes from the lives of two singers, Munira El-Mahdeya, the greatest singer of the inter-war period, and the woman who dethroned her, Oum Kalthoum, and seeks to link and compare the past with the present.

Egypt / France - 2004 - 52 mn - Betacam Digital - Colour and B&W

Director Mustapha Hasnaoui Camera Joseph Tamer Sound Hassan Abou Gabal, Khaled Romani Editing Nahla Refaat

Production Misr International Films-Youssef Chahine & Co, 35, rue Champollion, Le Caire, Egypte Tél : +20 2578 5362 Fax : +20 2578 8033 E-mail : mifl@starnet.com.eg Co-Production Ognon Pictures, Zentropa Productions, Les Fils Chafic Fathallah

Sales Andana Films, Le Village, 07170 Lussas, France Tél : +33 4 7594 3467 Fax : +33 4 7594 2509 E-mail : contact@andanafilms.com