The Nile Hilton Incident: Hits from the North

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, this smart and sexy thriller blends police procedure and political commentary to create a noir for our times. In Cairo, weeks before the 2011 revolution, rising young police detective Noredin is working at the infamous Kasr el-Nil police station when he is assigned to investigate a suspicious death at the Nile Hilton Hotel in downtown Tahrir Square. A beautiful singer has been murdered in what may be a professional hit; the sole witness is an undocumented Sudanese maid, now on the run. Noredin is no stranger to the corruption that plagues his department—he is, after all, the nephew of the district police chief. Nevertheless, he finds himself compelled to pursue the investigation, especially once it begins to lead in the direction of a wealthy real-estate developer and member of parliament who also happens to be a personal friend of former president Hosni Mubarak. His inquiries take him from the grimy back streets of the immigrant slums to the sumptuous villas of the power elite, and set him on a collision course with those who would rather not see justice prevail.

The film is inspired by the 2008 hotel murder of a Lebanese pop star by an Egyptian businessman and politician, an event which shook the nation. Directed by Tarik Saleh (Sweden, 2017).