The Night of Counting the Years

The day when the years are counted

Directed by Shadi Abdel Salam

Produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, General Egyptian Cinema Organisation

A morally complex historical drama about a family's betrayal and the collision between tradition, survival, and duty set against the backdrop of Egypt's colonial threshold.

Set in 1881, a year before the start of British colonial rule, it is based on the true story of the Abd el-Rasuls, an Upper-Egyptian clan that had been robbing a cache of mummies they have discovered at tomb DB320 near the village of Kurna, and selling the artifacts on the black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members made a crucial decision when the Antiquities Service arrived.