AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL NEW ZEALAND

Synopsis

In a way, Mahmoud’s life is a ‘photocopy’ of millions of others: He has worked for 30 years in the same government job, as a data-entry typist for the State-owned newspaper. He has never married, and he’s never even been with a woman. When he settles for early retirement, he buys a nearby Storefront and sets up shop: “Mahmoud’s Photocopy.” One day, a schoolboy comes in and asks him to type up a report on the extinction of dinosaurs. Mahmoud can’t help but begin to see some strange parallels with the state of his own life.
Driven by a desire to change the depressing reality that his own lifestyle is becoming extinct, he starts a journey that leads him to revolt against everything he is accustomed to: routine, tidiness,
predictability- he abandons his comfort zone. Fate meets his new-found courage with challenges, fights, and struggles until he meets his biggest fear—falling-in-love, and jumps in wholeheartedly.
“I really enjoyed this heart-touching film. It provided me a glance of classical Egypt in
twentieth-century mixed with human feelings. It teaches us that our ability to enjoy life can’t
get extinct. The actor’s performance was great, especially of Mahmoud Hemeida.” MICHAEL WJFE