This film is on film critic Ahmad Al-Hadari's list of the 100 most important Egyptian films.
This film's namesake, the Yacoubian building, still exists in Cairo
on what is now called Talaat Harb Street, but the film was made at
another building about two blocks away, whose exterior is visible in
the background at the top of the poster. The film was an official
selection for the 2006 Tribeca, Vancouver and Chicago film festivals.
On 10 December Mark Denning wrote the following plot summary for the
New York Times:
"The lives and loves of a handful of Egyptian aristocrats -- some
flush, others living in shabby gentility -- set the stage for this
epic-scale drama, based on a best-selling Egyptian novel. The
Yacoubian is a luxury apartment building which was built in Cairo in
the late 30s. At the dawn of the 21st century, the Yacoubian still
has charm and a reputation for elegance, but is beginning to show
clear signs of decay, and the rooftop laundry facilities now double as
flats for the less fortunate. Among the residents of Yacoubian are Haj
Azzam (Nour El Sherif), a self-made business tycoon noted for his
strict religious views. However, Azzam's public morality is a far cry
from his private life, in which he uses his fortune to buy both
political influence and the hand of a beautiful widow (Somaya El
Khashab). Hatem Rasheed (Khaled El Sawy) is a respected newspaper
editor who has a shocking secret -- he's gay, and is romantically
involved with handsome young soldier. Zaki Pasha (Adel Imam) is an
aging self-styled lady killer who has long lived at the Yacoubian off
the largesse of his family. When his sister kicks him out of their
flat, he is forced to move into the office he used for his
trysts. Zaki turns to his former girlfriend Christine (Yousra) for
help, but she can do nothing for him. Meanwhile, Bosnaina (Hind
Sabry), who lives in one of the rooftop apartments and cleans Zaki's
room, has grown tired of her relationship with her boyfriend, Taha
(Mohamed Imam), who has developed a troubling interest in Muslim
extremism. Omaret Yacoubian (aka The Yacoubian Building) was the first
feature film from director Marwan Hamed."