Asmaa is a young woman who has kept her AIDS diagnosis a secret. When she needs life saving gallbladder surgery, doctors refuse to treat her because they are afraid of catching the disease. Soon after, Asmaa turns in her mandatory medical report to her employer, and gets fired. In desperation, she agrees to be interviewed on a prominent Egyptian TV show to raise money for her procedure and increase public awareness about the challenges of living with AIDS. At every step of the way,  Asmaa is questioned about how she contracted the virus, a secret she’s unwilling to reveal.

Asmaa is an Egyptian movie directed by Amr Salama and is available on Netflix. This compelling story is fictional but is based on the true story of a woman with AIDS who died of a burst gallbladder. Doctors had refused to perform the operation because they were afraid of contracting the virus. The dialogue can be tricky to understand if you don’t speak the Egyptian dialect but English subtitles are available.

Vocabulary / مفردات

1:30:13
عملية
Surgery

1:26:39
شاشة
Screen

1:21:22
حرج
Critical

1:21:16
مرارة
Gallbladder

1:17:42
تقارير طبية
Medical reports

1:11:55
سجاد
Rugs

1:07:45
ضريبة
Taxes

1:00:36
امل
Hope

59:20
كوفني
My coffin

47:08
سجائر
Cigarettes

22:57
شريف
Honest

22:20
بطلة
Heroine