Messages from the Sea

Daoud Abdel Sayed's 2010 Egyptian film follows a man returning to the Alexandria of his youth. Yahya has a stutter and has abandoned medicine despite completing his training. He observes the changes in the city and the few familiar faces that remain. The film is about how Alexandria's cosmopolitan past has been erased. Old buildings are demolished, the different communities have gone, and those who stayed are strangers to each other. Yahya carries that lost city alongside his own inability to speak easily. Abdel Sayed builds the narrative between realism and the poetic; messages arriving from the sea in bottles and encounters that may not be real add a layer of fable. Asser Yassin and Basma take the leads. Who it's for: those who like Egyptian cinema and poetic narratives built on a city. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a distinct plot; the film consists of episodes and completes none of them.