Cairo According to: Marwan Imam

Marwan Imam is a jack of all trades. Before co-founding the content creation company, Peace Cake, he was (and still is) a filmmaker who dabbled in music, comic art, and illustration. He’s also a comedian, in case you couldn’t tell, and very handy with a film camera. In short, if Marwan is there, at least one person is having a good time—because he definitely is. When we asked him to share his Cairo with us, we got to catch a glimpse of all these sides to Marwan, and the answers we received did not disappoint.

Here, the Peace Caker shares the Cairo landmark where he proposed to his wife, the Nasr City café that feels like Twin Peaks, the cinema he wants to bring back to life, the triumphant roundabout that survived anti-roundaboutization, and much more.

What’s a place that means Cairo to you?

The statue of Ramsis on Orouba Road on the way to the airport. This spot is iconic to me; I grew up near it and there was this ritual of newly married couples who would come and take photos with the colossal Ramsis casually standing watch over Cairo's main road that one takes upon landing in the city.

This ritual of taking a photo with the statue always intrigued me, so I had to do it myself the day I got married, to my wife's chagrin and protestations (though in her defense she really needed to pee and that dress was only coming off once). We did lose her wedding veil crossing the street to take the photo though. I can't find that photo anywhere which is just the cherry on top. I'm sure one of my friends who were with us has it but I don't know which one.

Later, I shot part of a music video with Nourine Abouseada there. I knew no one would bother us because EVERYONE takes photos there.

Complete the following: Cairo is…

My brain keeps going to clichés like Cairo is home or Cairo is not for beginners.

But I think what resonates for me would be Cairo is an acquired taste.

It's the greatest city in the world if you spend the time to understand it and you don't mind the traffic. (We really need a more elaborate public transit system.)

What’s your favourite neighbourhood?

I've grown up across several neighbourhoods. The most iconic ones for me are Nasr City (aka the Manhattan of the east) and Heliopolis.

Nasr City gets a bad rep because people misjudge her without attempting to embrace her: a neighbourhood built on a perfect grid that goes both ways in every way (looking at you Mohandessin you one-way hell). You can never get lost because, again, grid, unlike the pretzel street structure of Garden City and the labyrinthian design of Maadi. It also houses A LOT of diverse diasporas that aren't the ones you'd call ‘expats’, the ones that truly add to the fabric of the metropolis. Also that means you get a ton of great authentic food.

Heliopolis for me growing up wasn't just the walkable city, it was the bikeable city. I think I took my bike throughout every nook and cranny in the area. I wish we would embrace the walkability/bikeability even more.

Your go-to food spot?

Part of me wants to say Mo Bistro in Garden 8 (that flank steak calls to me) but then another part of me feels at home at الفردوس الصيني , a small Chinese restaurant tucked away in the depths of El Banafseg run and operated by Chinese people making their real food, not a semblance of Chinese food altered to western culinary sensibilities. Try the sour and spicy potatoes.

Your go-to café?

Right now it's definitely Baxters, their mint brownies are to die for and I'm petitioning they be a year-round item not just a seasonal one. Also the floor tile pattern is giving twin peaks.

Although once upon a time it was Bikya in Nasr city IYKYK.

Your go-to date spot?

Azhar Park! 100% we are severely underutilizing our green spaces, and just the ability to take your partner for a brisk stroll among the grass and trees and lakes.

I proposed to my wife there. We even managed to do fireworks.

What isn’t a Cairo landmark but should be?

Triumph Square. It is one of the most resilient features of Heliopolis so far, it survived the attempt at changing its name to El Waleed ibn Talal square in the late 90s and bounced back triumphantly (pun clearly intended). It also survived the anti-roundabout initiative that fell upon most of Heliopolis.

Tell us a song that feels like Cairo.

Om El Donia by Eftekasat, though Titre by the same band comes very close.

I find that jazz perfectly encapsulates the energy of the city like nothing else and Eftekasat’s oriental fusion gives it that very specific Cairo soul.

What's a place in Cairo you wish you could revisit for the first time?

The city is in constant flux that no place really stays the same for long, so there's always somewhere new.

If there would be a space to revive to its old glory, I would probably want to bring Cinema Normandy back to life. We are losing the singular standing cinema to the multiplexes and they were works of art unto themselves.