Egypt

REALISM

Realism has been a tendency in Egyptian cinema since the 1939 classic, Determination (Kamal Selim, al-Azma), but this tendency became particularly strong in the 1950s when serious realist writers like Naguib Mahfouz (b. 1911) and Abdel Rahman Sharkawi (1920–1987) involved themselves in the cinema, penning screenplays or lending their novels to filmic adaptations. Of all the directors, Salah Abu Seif (1915–1996) is hailed as the father of Egyptian film realism, especially after his 1951 film Lak yawm ya Zalim ( Your Day Will Come ), adapted from Zola's novel Therese Raquin by Naguib Mahfouz. Seif's adaptation of the Mahfouz novel into al futuwa ( The Tough Guy [1957]) is joined by Tawfik Saleh's (b. 1927) notable 1955 adaptation from Mahfouz's novel Darb al mahabil ( Street of Fools ). Abu Seif made twenty-four features between 1946 and 1966; between 1963 and 1965, he was head of the General Organization of Egyptian Cinema. Many of his films are social melodramas about the city of Cairo, its neighborhoods and working-class inhabitants. Due to the problems related to the nationalized cinema, he had difficulties making films during the late 1960s and 1970s; his only film of the 1980s was his feature Al-Qadisiya (1981), made in Iraq. Saleh, a younger director, also had difficulties and made only four films in Egypt, including Al Mutamarridun ( The Rebels [1966]), before leaving for Syria, where he directed his best-known film, al Makhdu'un ( The Duped [1972]), based on the novel Men under the Sun by Palestinian writer Ghassan Khanafani. Saleh later moved to Iraq to become head of the film institute in Baghdad.

Among Saleh's peers, each of whom suffered from the decline in state funding, Shadi Abdel Salam (d. 1986), originally a set and costume designer on numerous Egyptian films, heralded a new kind of art cinema with his sole feature, Al Mumiya ( Night of the Counting Years [1969]). This film was hailed as a "renaissance" in Egyptian cinema, but Salam has since left Egypt because he was unable to secure funding for other projects; he died in1986. The demands of the market have dominated the type and level of artistry in Egyptian cinema, with few exceptions, one of whom is Youssef Chahine (b. 1926). The most prolific independent film director of the post-war period, a master of different genres, and the instigator of an auteurist and critical cinema in the Arab world, Chahine is probably the best known Egyptian figure abroad. This is due to his cultural blend of East and West, idiosyncratic style, international acclaim at Cannes and major film institutes, and critical feelings about the West, which are evident in his films. Notable among his films are Bab al hadid ( Cairo Station [1958]), Al Ard ( The Land [1969]), il Usfur ( The Sparrow [1973]), Alexandria … Why? (1978), and Le Destin ( Destiny [1997]).

The New Realist directors of the 1980s are arguably the most interesting development in recent Egyptian cinema. Belonging to the post-1967 generation, they participated in the student movement that questioned the corruption of new businessmen and the economic policies of Anwar Sadat. While taking advantage of funding from the Gulf states, they have played with conventions of realism and melodrama and addressed serious social issues. Significant directors from this movement include Atef El Tayeb (d. 1995), Sawwaq al-utubis ( Busdriver [1982]), Mohamed Khan (b. 1942), Zauga ragil muhim ( Wife of an Important Man [1987]); Khairy Beshara (b. 1947), Yawm hulw, yaum murr ( Bitter Day, Sweet Day [1988]), and Daoud Abd El-Sayyed (b. 1946), KitKat (1991).