Filmmaker Yehia Al-Iskandarani (Youssef Chahine) suffers a massive blow when his actor-protégé, Amr (Amr Abdel Gelil), abandons him after ten years and three films together. In an attempt to overcome his pain, he tries to write a new film while striking with a large group of artists at the syndicate headquarters in protest of an oppressive law. Memory and fantasy intertwine as Yehia reimagines crucial moments in his relationship with Amr and envisions creative projects he’s long been obsessed with, including a film adaptation of Hamlet. He also meets a new muse, a young actress and activist named Nadia (Youssra) who—in light of the sit-in—challenges his views on where the artist, as an individual, fits within the collective. The third installment in Chahine’s self-referential quartet, Alexandria: Again and Forever is perhaps his most imaginative, most ambitious film, in terms of scope if not necessarily scale. It is the ultimate amalgamation of the tenets that define him as an artist: his fascination with history, his political engagement, his passion for acting and actors, his deep-rooted love of musicals, and his commitment to self-reflection. Formally, it is an intriguing mixture of fiction and documentary, not to mention a medley of genres—equal parts musical fantasy, romance, and political drama. The film’s central setpiece, an operetta that is at once a denunciation of a despot and a love song, epitomizes Chahine’s guiding ethos in a sense: the personal and the political are one and the same; the true engine of history is the human heart. In a single work, he manages to critique the structures hindering the Egyptian film industry, pay tribute to the struggle of fellow artists and filmmakers, question and rediscover his own creative process, and bid a poignant farewell to one of the most fruitful artistic collaborations of his career. Alexandria: Again and Forever is Youssef Chahine at his most audacious, most adventurous, and most sincere.Yasmine Zohdi