Arak El Balah

Synopsis

In a small village in South of Egypt, a strange convoy arrives calling the men to lands of bounty and treasure. All surrendered to the dream except the boy Ahmad. In the absence of the village men, the women, and most prominently Salma, see in Ahmad the man of the village - a role which he rejects and does his best to avoid. Yet gradually, Ahmad is sucked into the daily life of the village and its women. The migrants send letters, heavy with bitterness of defeat and humiliation. A flood-gate of old and new sorrow is opened in the village. The tragic destiny is fulfilled with the return of three of the migrant men. Defeated and broken, they soon discover that the boy they left behind has become a man, whose scent has since infused each and every corner of the village. He must die, for only his death can cleanse the village men from the shame of defeat.