Like most masterpieces of Egyptian cinema, Dawud Abdel-Sayed’s Kit Kat (1991) is criminally inaccessible outside of poorly processed copies on Youtube; constantly interrupted by deliberately intrusive ads of Jeep’s latest war-tested vehicles and McDonald’s sickly sweet shakes. That such nuisances accompany a cutthroat critique of the working class’s neoliberal evisceration is an irony too rich and obvious to warrant further reflection. The eponymous neighborhood speaks for itself.

The history of sha’bi (popular/poor) Cairo is that of colonialism, migration, and urban decay. As early twentieth-century British colonization brought European capital and personnel into the city, an equally glamorous and seedy nightlife emerged, sprouting clubs and brothels across the expanding cityscape. One such major spot was Imbaba’s Kit Kat Club, a venue so prominent and prestigious that even the decadent and tyrannical King Farouk was said to be one of its frequent patrons. As was the case globally, the period’s asymmetrical economic boom brought millions from the countryside to the capital. When the money left, they stayed….READ MORE — HAZEM FAHMY