Perfumed with Mint

With Q&A afterwards, In this enchanting feature film debut by Egyptian filmmaker Muhammed Hamdy, reality and dream are flawlessly blended. The film takes the viewer on a quiet, almost hallucinatory journey through a lived-in cityscape in Egypt, where memories and physical traces of the past are deeply rooted in the characters. Bahaa, a young doctor, wanders the city with his old friend Mahdy, while the past forces itself upon them in unexpected ways. Mahdy discovers that mint leaves are growing out of his body—a poetic and mysterious metaphor that gives the film a layering that will appeal to lovers of sensory, visual cinema.

Hamdy’s background as a renowned cinematographer is reflected in this film, which places an emphasis on atmosphere and feeling rather than the story itself. Each scene is carefully composed, with an eye for light, textures and movement that recalls the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and the poetic reality of Tarkovsky’s cinema. The film offers a sensory experience in which the contrast between transience and beauty is central.