Journey to The Moon (Rihla Ila Alqamar): dir Hamada Abdelwahab (1959)

An Egyptian space travel adventure-comedy, complete with dance numbers, drinking games, and a cardboard robot called Otto. In Cairo, eccentric German scientist Mr Sharfin is about to launch the first rocket to the moon. Astronomer Ahmed Rushdy is on site interviewing Sharfin, when the local newspaper’s driver Ismail sneaks on board to snap some pictures in secret. Sharfin discovers him, there’s a scuffle, and of course the rocket is accidentally launched. After several (mis)adventures, they land on the moon where they meet moonman Dr Cosmo and a bevy of skimpily attired Space Babes …

Screens as part of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Sunday Cinema Club – a free film followed by a talk or a workshop, 3pm each Sunday from 5 July to 30 Aug at the Photography Gallery in Al Manakh. Films are child-friendly animations (5–19 July), pioneering science fiction (26 July–9 Aug), or “significant works of Arab cinema” (16-20 Aug).