Romany Saad

Tuk-Tuk

Thousands of three-wheeled motorized rickshaws - called tuk-tuks - zip through the frenetic streets of Cairo everyday, driven by industrious young men, many of them not even teenagers. Across gorgeously photographed sun-drenched streets, Tuk-tuk follows Abdallah, Sharon and Bika, who, while too young to shave or even obtain a legal license, are forced to drive to feed their families. Besieged on all sides by police, thieves and other taxis, the boys take every chance to find a happy diversion or fleeting escape from the prison of poverty. Pulsating with comedy and danger, the film illustrates the resilient outlook of three children who have to become adults before their time, and their struggle to hold on to some semblance of childhood.