Photocopy (2017)

Where do you see yourself in five years? A standard question Mahmoud is asked in a job interview, only to open up deeper questions within him about his life's purpose. A former manual worker in a printing press whose job has become obsolete due to the growing use of computers, Mahmoud is at point in his life where he begins to relate to the extinction of dinosaurs. He leads a routine life that revolves around the photocopy shop he owns, his pension, always late, and his neighbors and customers who, like him, are warm and affectionate. Nothing clouds this pretty picture except for the greedy landlord, who harbours no compassion for Mahmoud's financial difficulties, and is constantly nagging him about his late rent. Meanwhile, Mahmoud grapples with developing feelings for his neighbor, Safeya, a widow, who in turn grapples with loneliness. Their budding romance hits many roadblocks, from their advancing years, to Safeya's son's disapproval of the relationship, to Safeya's own troubled feelings towards her femininity after undergoing a mastectomy. We enter the world of these lonely characters, as they approach extinction. And with them, we come to realize that one cannot face the dangers of extinction alone; but only through binding with fellow humans in the face of this metaphorical ice age that threatens to wipe out our humanity, even if humans remain.