The Egyptian filmmaker's new release, "Alexandria...New York," is profiled in The Washington Post:
"Chahine said that he, like many Egyptians, is disturbed by the relentless violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as Iraq. "All the time I am faced by these scenes, every night on TV. We Arabs feel rejection. But if it was only us, it may not matter. It seems it is also 1 billion Muslims are being rejected," he said.
"He says he longs for the days of Busby Berkeley musicals, Fred Astaire dance numbers and Frank Sinatra crooning. Instead, he finds exploding cars and computerized robots. "All we see is Spider-Men and musclemen like Stallone and Willis," he said, referring to action stars Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis. "America has become violent like the new movies."
"Alexandria . . . New York" opens with the Arab filmmaker character deciding to travel to the United States despite his unease over its support for Israel. "It's hard to rip my deep love for America out of my heart," the character says."