Youssef Chahine
1926 - 2008The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Mark Cousins
Mark Cousins, Jean-Michel Frodon
Эпическое путешествие по мировыми столицам от Болливуда до Голливуда, это «золотой век» 20-х годов и появление звука. Это истории секса и мелодрамы в 50-е и великие кинозвезды 50-х и 60-х, масштаба Федерико Феллини. Это американский кинематограф 60-х и 70-х, когда режиссеры пытались изменить мир, появление картин «Звездные войны», «Челюсти» и «Изгоняющий дьявола». Это 80-е, время протеста в кино, новый «золотой век» 90-х и появление новых звезд на небосклоне в наше время.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
الأرض
Youssef Chahine
Hamdy Ahmed, Yehia Chahine
Set in 1933, the mayor informs the peasants that the share of irrigation of their land will be split equally between them and feudal lord Mahmoud Bey. The peasants send Mohamed Effendi to submit a petition to the government. Mahmoud Bey then proposes a project that would require taking part of the peasants' lands.
The Land
Caméra arabe
Férid Boughedir
Férid Boughedir, Youssef Chahine
Focusing on key Arab films produced in the last 20 years. Férid Boughedir traces the development of the film-makers' concern to produce more socially aware cinema. Themes include the issue of Palestinian homeland rights and the nature of Arab identity. The film-makers also share a desire to develop a strong poetic tradition.
Arab Camera
القاهرة منورة بأهلها
Youssef Chahine
Youssef Chahine, Khaled Youssef
This concise masterpiece began as a commission by French TV for the news series Envoyé spécial. By filming Cairo with his unique sense of artistic digression, Chahine transformed this portrait of a city into the self-portrait of a filmmaker.
Cairo as Told by Youssef Chahine
الإختيار
Youssef Chahine
Ezzat El Alaili, Seif El Dine
When a free-spirited sailor is found murdered, his twin brother, a famous novelist, is the prime suspect. Investigators uncover a possible liaison between the dead sailor and the writer's wife, and also learn that Sayed's successful fictions owed much to the inspiration of his brother Mahmoud's adventurous life. Just as the evidence against the writer seems overwhelming, Mahmoud turns up alive. But why are the twins never seen together...?
The Choice
باب الحديد
Youssef Chahine
Farid Shawqi, Hind Rostom
Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.
Cairo Station
Biya el-Khawatim
Youssef Chahine
Fairuz, Nasri Shamseddine
In a peaceful village, the mayor, seeing that the population is bored with tranquility, invents the mystical figure of Rajeh, and tells stories to villagers about the exploits of Rajeh, who kills and maims and steals. One day the mayor (Nasri Shamseddine) tells the villagers that Rajeh is heading to the village itself and they better be careful. Two smart men notice that the mayor was lying and that it is all his imagination. So they go on making good on the fictitious person and steal money and assault the mayor in the dark saying that they were Rajeh. Eventually, an old man with the name of Rajeh arrives in the village, amid public fears. Then it became obvious that Rajeh was merely a seller of rings for weddings and he wanted to marry his son to Rima, the mayor's niece. The two bad guys willingly go to jail for making use of the mayor's joke.
The Ring Seller
حدوتة مصرية
Youssef Chahine
Nour El-Sherif, Yousra
After we last see him in "Alexandria, Why?" Egyptian filmmaker Yehia Mourad is in his thirties, and successful in his work, he has grown distant from his wife and children and suffers a symbolic blockage of the heart while shooting the final scenes of his latest film. After being flown to England for evaluation, it's determined that Yehia must undergo emergency surgery. Fact and fiction blend seamlessly—with healthy doses of cleverly absurdist fantasy—as the film explores the various personalities and forces that have made Yehia (and Youssef Chahine) the man he has become.
An Egyptian Story
إسكندرية... ليه؟
Youssef Chahine
Farid Shawqi, Mahmoud el-Meliguy
Amid the poverty, death, and suffering caused by World War II, 18-year-old Yehia, retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of one-day studying filmmaking in America, but after falling in love and discovering the lies of European occupation, Yehia profoundly reevaluates his identity and allegiances.
Alexandria… Why?
صراع في الوادي
Youssef Chahine
Faten Hamamah, Omar Sharif
A wealthy landlord floods and destroys a village on purpose to prevent the people living there from making a profit off their crops. What he doesn't know is that his own daughter, Amal, is in love with Ahmed, a young man from the village.
The Blazing Sun
جميلة بوحريد
Youssef Chahine
Magda al Sabahi, Ahmad Mazhar
Jamila, an Algerian girl who loves her homeland, joins the nationalist movement to liberate her country from French occupation. Based on the life of Djamila Bouhired, who was arrested and tortured by the French Algerian government, Chahine's first explicitly political film managed to galvanize wide solidarity with the Algerian resistance from across the Arab World, starting in Egypt.
Jamila, the Algerian
المصير
Youssef Chahine
Nour El-Sherif, Layla Olwy
In the 12th century's Andalusia lives Ibn Rushd a prominent Islamic philosopher with his wife Zeinab and daughter Salma. The principality is ruled by Khalifa ElMansour who has two sons, ElNasser, an intellectual that likes Ibn Rush and is in love with his daughter Salma. The younger son Abdallah is more into dancing and poetry, spending most of his times with the gypsy family and getting the daughter pregnant. The Khalifa is depending on the extremists to build his army granting them more power which they use to combat artists and philosophers. The extremists succeed in recruiting Abd Allah and train him to kill his father. Events go on where Marawan, the gypsy singer, is killed and Ibn Rushd's books are burnt. Adapted from the real life of Ibn Rushd AlMasir is Chahine's statement against extremism.
Destiny
عودة الابن الضال
Youssef Chahine
Mahmoud el-Meliguy, Hoda Soltan
Freed after spending years in prison, an activist's homecoming turns into a dark affair as his disillusion clashes with his family's expectations. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment.
Return of the Prodigal Son
