The Storm / Al Aassifa

• Release Date: 2000
• Type: Featured
• Run time: 100 Minutes
• Directed by: Khaled Youssef
• Produced by: Gabriel Khoury, Humbert Balsan
• Screenplay: Khaled Youssef
• Cast: Yousra, Hanan Tork, Hany Salama, Hesham Selim, Mohamed Nagaty, Soad Nasr, Samy El Adl, Mohamed Lotfy, Ahmed Wafik, Seif Abdel Rahman, Abdallah Mahmoud
• Cinematography: Mohsen Nasr
• Art direction: Hamed Hemdan
• Editing: Rabab Abdel Latif
• Costume design: Monia Fath Al Bab
• Music: Kamal El Tawil
• Sound: Ahmed Abdel Khalik
• Subtitles: English, French

Synopsis:

An unconventional perspective on the Gulf war, as a family is torn apart by conflicting personal and political allegiances. Hoda, a schoolteacher becomes a single mother after her husband, a victim of PTSD leaves the family behind. Ten years later, Hoda has raised her two sons, Aly and Nagy, to young adulthood, declining to remarry despite the presence of her supportive boyfriend Mahmoud. Nagy has fallen in love with Hayat, a student and political activist from a wealthy family, but her parents don’t want her to marry a man without a fortune of his own. As Nagy tries to save enough money to convince Hayat’s family he is a worthy husband, Aly decides to help by getting a job to make more money for the family; however, work is hard to come by in Egypt, so he moves to Iraq to take a position there. Once Aly has settled into his new life in Iraq, the war in the Gulf breaks out, and the two brothers discover to their horror that they're fighting in opposing armies. Aly comes home to swear allegiance to Egypt and join their forces, while Nagy, under the influence of Hayat, has thrown his support behind Iraq.