Synopsis

In medieval Córdoba, Spain, under Arab rule, a secular and multicultural society flourished.

There, liberal philosopher Ibn Rushd (known in the West as Averroes) is faced with the fanatical ideas of a fundamentalist Islamic sect.



Cast: Nour El-Sherif, Laila Eloui, Mahmoud Hemida, Safia El Emari, Mohamed Mounir, Khaled El Nabawy, Seif El Dine, Abdalla Mahmoud, Ahmed Fouad Selim, Hani Salama, Magdi Idris, Ahmed Moukhtar, Sherifa Maher, Fayek Azzab, Hassan El Adl, Faris Endris Rahoma, Ingi Abaza as Sarah

Produced by: Humbert Balsan, Gabriel Khoury
Cinematography: Mohsen Nasr
Edited by: Rashida Abdel Salam


The film is set in Córdoba and depicts the relationship between the Caliph and Averroes, who is one of his most trusted advisors. Religious fanatics start gaining control and begin influencing the Caliph's decisions, leading to the persecution of the philosopher, and to political unrest in Andalusia.

It was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Egyptian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.