via Daily Motion

International Friendship Day is celebrated on July 30th each year. We all know friendship is one of life’s greatest blessings since it helps us persevere through tough times. So, on this special day, let’s salute the finest friendships ever shown on the silver screen in Egypt!

1-     Marzouk & Barakat: Salam Ya Sahby (1987)

via Elmasry Lite

In this piece, we meet Marzouk (Adel Imam) and Barakat (Saeed Saleh), two pals who are in the watermelon trade business with Bata (Sawsan Badr). The night before Marzouk’s wedding, his best friend, Barakat, is murdered by a rival trader. Marzouk kills him and his crew to avenge his death, forgoing his own future in the process. The bond between these two was unparalleled, and they are now considered a classic duo.

2-     Osama & Gad: Saheb Sahbo (2002)

via El Tareeq

This film centres on Osama (Mohamed Henedy) and Gad (Ashraf Abdel-Baky). The two buddies get a job in another country and make a pact that one will stay behind to care for the other family’s needs and take his trip only when the other has returned.

Osama attempts to dissuade Gad from taking another trip overseas by telling him he has a terminal illness for which there is no cure. Gad has been gone for five years but becomes upset when he learns the truth. However, the movie ends with Gad refusing to leave again and choosing to remain by his buddy’s side.

3-     Men Squad: Sahar El Layaly (2003)

via IMDb

Sahar El Layaly is a film about four friends and their partners having relationship issues and keeping secrets from one another. As the friends gather to celebrate Berry’s (Mona Zaki) and Khaled’s (Fathi Abdel-Wahab) daughter’s birthday, disputes arise between the husbands and wives, and the situation escalates. Afterwards, the four young men go to Alexandria to have fun and reminisce about their younger years.

The film culminates with the reunion of each husband with his wife because, after a sequence of dramatic events, they realise they are no longer carefree youth but rather mature men and each must see his error and fight to rebuild the bond with his marital partner.

4-     Girl Squad: Ahla El Aw2at (2004)

via Hend Sabry

Salma (Hanan Turk) chooses to see her friends, assuming that they are behind the weird messages she is receiving, so she travels to them and meets her pals Duha (Menna Shalaby) and Yusreya (Hind Sabry). Both say they have no idea who sent the letters, but they set off on an exciting quest to track out the person who wrote them. The trip brings them closer together and helps them grow as individuals.

5-     College Friends: El Basha Telmeez (2004)

via Cairo Gossip

Police Officer Bassiouny (Karim Abdel-Aziz) is at the centre of the film. He is charged with infiltrating a group of students to expose a drug trafficking ring selling drugs at a private college. Using his new identity as a student, he befriends other students Inji (Ghada Adel), Maya (Maha Ahmed), Hamza (Ramez Galal), and Tarek (Mohamed Ragab). The mission isn’t the centre of the film’s attention, but the central themes of friendship and love are!