A shantytown built inside the antique necropolis of Alexandria. An archaeological visit leads us to meet a few people, taking the time to be really close to them. Each encounter reveals a new novel. And we discover how people survive daily, with an incredible strength for life and a crazy capacity for happiness, that enables them to grin and bear the harshness of the materials conditions.

Mafrouza - Oh Night!

The people of the Mafrouza shantytown in Alexandria daily reconstruct themselves and the world around them, but they also question the camera, who answers them and thus becomes a character in the film.

Mafrouza/Heart

Fourth film in the Mafrouza series. Two events mark the early winter in Mafrouza: the birth of a boy and a young woman's engagement. Within their homes, the intimate and the holy, cries, whispers and rituals: individuals' destinies are taking shape. Amidst the familial agitation, each finds their own way to live. Through their actions, but also through what they say, summoning the imaginary to reflect on reality, make it livable, and speaking of life, death and gender roles.

The Hand of the Butterfly

People of Mafrouza, a shantytown of Alexandria in Egypt, show lucid and strong vitality. Their thoughts and hearts are free in front of Muslim Brothers, who seized their mosque. In the center, Mohamed Khattab, grocer and sheik of the neighborhood, is resisting with irony or gravity, explaining his 'strategy', his rage and his intention to . Later, he will be the one who will express complicity and tenderness for the camera, because it's time of separation after these two years of shooting in the neighborhood. The Art of Telling is the last part of the Mafrouza film project that includes 5 installments, shot along two years in the area. Each film can be seen independently.