Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Fact1: action takes place in Mogamma in Cairo, Fact2: well-known mammoth-sized government building is center of bureaucratic work, Fact3: Endless lines of citizens march through building and up and down iconic spiral staircases seeking help, Fact4: Ahmed ends up with rifle from guard, Fact5: film draws to Ahmed orders hostages to leave building
Output (English): The action primarily takes place in The Mogamma in Cairo, a wellknown mammothsized government building that is a center of bureaucratic work. Adel Imams character, Ahmed, queues up at the Mogamma one day to try to get a school transfer for his children, but gets bogged down. Endless lines of citizens march through the building and up and down its iconic spiral staircases seeking help. One government worker frustrates Ahmed particularly, because he is constantly praying in a show of alleged piousness to avoid getting any work done. This leads to a scuffle between the two, and eventually Ahmed ends up with a rifle from a guard and shots are fired in the resulting confusion. A mass spontaneous evacuation of the building ensues, Ahmed inadvertently takes the building hostage, and subsequently is assumed to be a terrorist. He is joined in his takeover by a few other misfits, including Hind, a prostitute played by Yousra. Ahmed and his new compatriots negotiate with the Minister of Interior, who fears the building will be blown up, and he demands kebab for all the hostages, as meat is too expensive for most Egyptians. Writer Wahid Hamed has described the symbolic meaning of the demand: People dont know what they want... They are crushed, their dreams are impossible, they cant believe their demands can be fulfilled, so they ask for kebab. As the film draws to a close, Ahmed orders the hostages to leave the building, and he will wait behind to meet up with the military police now ready to swarm the building, assuming he will be killed. The crowd, however, insists that he leave with them. Ahmed walks out unnoticed among his former hostages, and the commandos find the building empty.