Zawya Cinema’s A Date With podcast dedicates an entire season to unpacking a classic

👂 Can a film you’ve seen dozens of times still be hiding details you’ve never noticed? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is the subject of A Date With, a podcast produced by Zawya Cinema. The podcast takes a different approach to film analysis — dedicating an entire season to unpacking a single classic. Season one focuses on director Mohamed Khan’s 1981 masterpiece Mawid Ala Al Ashaa, starring Souad Hosny, Ahmed Zaki, and Hussein Fahmy.

What to expect: Hosted by Yomna Khattab and Karim El Dalil, A Date With works through Mawid Ala Al Ashaa in detail across several episodes. Rather than a quick conventional review, each episode is dedicated to a specific element of the film — from the opening scene and its significance, through character analysis, to the score and the ending — building into a sustained critical journey.

Who is Ezzat? In the podcast’s fourth episode, Khattab and El Dalil host the film’s star Hussein Fahmy inside one of Zawya’s screening rooms, with a live audience. The episode centered on a discussion of the psychological motivations behind Fahmy’s character, Ezzat, and the sharp turn his career took at the time — from the romantic lead roles that defined his ‘70s work to playing an ambitious businessman consumed by a pathological need for control and possession.

Fahmy shared his own reading of Ezzat, pushing back against the tendency to reduce him to a villain or dismiss him as simply toxic by today’s standards — seeing him instead as a natural product of his environment and psychological makeup. He also spoke about his preparation for the role, from sketching the character’s external traits to mapping out his backstory. Turning to the film’s iconic dinner scene, he highlighted the distinction between surprise and suspense, and confirmed that the tragic ending was not altered during shooting as is often claimed.

What we liked: The podcast’s strength is its analytical depth and its ability to surface new angles on a film most audiences already know well. The hosts draw attention to fine details — editing choices, camera angles, the psychological undercurrents of Nawal’s (Soad Hosny’s character) experience of alienation, entrapment, and disorientation — giving listeners a renewed appreciation of Khan’s directorial vision and the performances of Hosny, Zaki, and Fahmy. The conversational tone keeps even the more technically detailed film analysis accessible and engaging.

What we didn’t: Dedicating a full season to a single film will put off listeners who don’t connect with this particular work, or those who prefer variety and faster-moving content. Some discussions also lean into granular technical details that may feel excessive for a casual listener looking for a lighter take.

The verdict: A Date With is a rich and rewarding listen for anyone who loves cinema and wants to understand how films are made and what they’re doing beneath the surface. It makes a strong case that the classics still have things to say — when the critical lens is sharp enough to find them.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can tune in on YouTube | SoundCloud.