In an apartment on Talaat Harb Street overlooking Tahrir Square, four successive tenants reside, each with a different story tied to the country's political climate. In the first story, titled "The Moon," set in the 1960s amid Nasser's conflict with the Muslim Brotherhood, his enforcement of the democratic cooperative socialist doctrine, the subsequent truce with the Brotherhood following the Manshiyya incident, their collective imprisonment, release, and reinstatement to their jobs, followed by the 1967 defeat, Nasser's resignation and return, and the dominance of the intelligence state: psychiatrist Ali Abdel Rahman (Ahmed Wafik) lived in the apartment and was preparing to marry his beloved Tona (Yasmine El-Khateeb). He was treating a senior official, Hussein (Omar Zahran), psychologically and advised him to resign; because Hussein knew too many secrets, he was assassinated. Ali Abdel Rahman was asked to write a report stating he committed suicide, but he refused, feared the intelligence apparatus, fled the country, and asked his beloved to join him after handing over the apartment to its owners. The one who had informed on him and placed listening devices in his apartment was his closest friend, private tutor Shehab (Helmy Fouda). The apartment key was handed over to the building's doorman, Abdo Al-Sohagi (Sherif El Desouky), as the landlord and his family were in Canada. Abdo Al-Sohagi had come from his hometown with his family to work as a doorman in Cairo due to dire economic conditions in Upper Egypt. The second story, titled "The Sun," took place in 1977 following the October victories, the economic open-door policy, the Lebanese Civil War, the emergence of new preachers, Sadat's regret over placating the Brotherhood, and his historic visit to Jerusalem. Hassan Abdel Hay (Ahmed Magdy) worked as an itinerant bag merchant selling his goods to shops on El Shawarby Street, where a female merchant bought his merchandise, took him along with the deal, and married him so he could manage the shop. He rented the apartment to use as a warehouse, but also exploited it as a bachelor pad where he indulged with fallen women until his Lebanese friend, Nadim Younes (Wassim El Dekkak), came to visit following the start of a ceasefire in Lebanon as a warrior's respite. Nadim had been generous to Hassan during his stay in Beirut and had helped him during the fighting, so Hassan wished to return the favor by hosting him in the apartment. Nadim entered a romance with liver vendor Loza (Sahar El Sayegh) and formed a friendship with Shaaban (Shehab El Oshry), the doorman Abdo's son who took over serving the tenants in place of his aging father. Because Nadim's heart belonged to his homeland, Lebanon, he left his love and friendship behind and returned home to attain martyrdom. The third story, titled "The Smoke," was set at the turn of the new millennium following Mubarak's rise to power and his election for a fifth term, an era marked by booming artistic investments in singing, the manufacturing of non-Egyptian pop stars, the rise of monopolistic corporations, and the emergence of untalented opportunists led by lawyer Saad Abdel Razek (Sherif Helmy), who managed the affairs of investor Mamdouh (Mahmoud Kabil). Mamdouh was engaged in an extramarital affair with the coquette Jaylan (Abeer Sabry), who spent lavishly and had been demanding marriage from him for two years. When he decided to marry her and leave the mother of his children without justification, Jaylan chose to flee after starting a new affair with the young emerging singer Saraa (Mohamed Adel). Mamdouh then abducted his mistress and reported Saraa, who was addicted to bango. Saad handed the apartment over to the doorman Abdo and ran for parliament, while the doorman's son Shaaban joined religious groups. The fourth story, titled "The Dust," took place amid electoral fraud, an obsession with football, the rise of televangelist Amr Khaled, the spread of the internet, the bombing of churches and places of worship, Mubarak's famous remark "Let them amuse themselves," the onset of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, the outbreak of the January 25 protests in Egypt, and the Muslim Brotherhood joining and co-opting the demonstrations. The building owner, Sami (Samir Sabri), returned and resided in the apartment, while his wife and children traveled to Canada after the Tahrir protests erupted, Mubarak stepped down, and the Brotherhood took power. Protests continued after Morsi expanded and shielded his powers through a constitutional declaration against judicial intervention. Sami opened his apartment balcony to camera crews for live worldwide broadcasts on the protests and sit-ins. Sami received photographer Sally (Mayar El Gheity), who had lost contact with her photographer fiancé; Sami learned he had been wounded and killed in the protests but did not inform her. As the Tahrir sit-ins endured, Sami decided to travel to Canada to bring his family back to Egypt. (Happened in 2 Talaat Harb)
- CategoriesDrama
