The Night of Counting the Years(Al-momia)

A tribesman reconciles local ties and wider cultural heritage in Shadi Abdel Salam’s landmark Egyptian f ilm. When young Wanis discovers in 1881 that his people have been plundering 40 sarcophagi, he touches nerves in his tightknit community, dwells on the pharaonic era, and struggles with his convictions. Supported by producer and famed neorealist Roberto Rossellini, The Night of Counting the Years is an austere affair. Staged in classical Arabic – unusual for Egyptian cinema – and with stars shot in sombre relief against monumental ruins, Abdel Salam’s sole feature as director sounds a call to respect and reclaim a nation’s past greatness.

Restored in 2009 by Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, and the Egyptian Film Center. Restoration funded by Armani, Cartier, Qatar Airways, Qatar Museum Authority and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.