[2] Juliette is a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a vacation with husband Mark, a UN official working at refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.

Tareq is a regular (but not constant) companion during Juliette's extended time waiting for Mark, leading to a very close relationship between the two.

After travelling to Alexandria with him to attend the wedding of the daughter (Hanan) of a girlfriend from his university days (Yasmeen), she admits that she will miss him when she returns to Canada.

Whatever change this may signify in Tareq and Juliette's growing relationship, they return to the hotel to find that Mark has finally arrived.

When Ruba Nadda finished writing the script for Cairo Time she showed it to producer Daniel Iron of Foundry Films.

Atom Egoyan gave the screenplay for Cairo Time to Christine Vachon and Charles Pugliese at Killer Films in New York in 2005.

[4] The Wall Street Journal said "Clarkson makes taking 'Cairo Time' well worth it",[5] while CTV News gave the movie a positive review stating that the movie as "A masterful look at repressed romance" giving it 3 stars out of 4[6][7] Picktainment.com said "Ruba Nadda's Cairo Time is a passive, delicate film with a mature respect for its surroundings and a profound understanding of neglect, especially in its subtle form.