After directing and leading in Cairo Station, Chahine quit acting, saying in a 1978 interview, “I’m quite happy being a director. In case a very good part comes along, I don’t think I’ll say no.” Clearly, there was something important Chahine had to say, because in 1989, he would step in front of the camera one more time to play his self-insert Yehia in his magnum opus, Alexandria, Again and Forever. The third entry in The Alexandria Trilogy, the film follows Yehia several decades into his career as a director. Replete with self-indulgence and layers of self-reference, the film is always under threat of drowning, but Chahine’s performance and penchant for the off-kilter buoys the film into one-of-a-kind in Middle Eastern cinema. Through musical and through drama, Chahine confronts his bisexuality, his flaws, and above all, his legacy as an acclaimed director. — GEORGE ISKANDER