Zuqaq al-Midaqq (1963, Egypt)
One of the central characters in Naguib Mahfouz's 1947 novel Zuqaq al-Midaqq (Midaq Alley) is Kirsha, whose sexual obsession with young men continually provides a source of scandal and secret delight for the inhabitants of the quarter. In Hassan Al-Imam's cinematic adaptation of the novel, Kirsha is practically written out of the script while a brothel khawal (transvestite dancer) is kept in. The film plot revolves around Hamida (played by Shadia), a beautiful naive opportunist. Hamida realizes that she has been lured into a life of prostitution when she is given a tour of a brothel. In one room, there is a man in women's clothing and make-up instructing other prostitutes in belly dancing. The khawal symbolizes the complete moral degradation into which Hamida has fallen. In the film version of the novel, the khawal becomes the worst imaginable form of social aberration - a man behaving like a woman.
The title means "Midaq Alley".
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Zuqaq al-Midaqq
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