Youssef Chahine

Fascinated by the performing arts from an early age, young Chahine began to create shows at home for his family. Chahine began his education at a Frères' school Collège Saint Marc. Growing up, he attended Alexandria's elite Victoria College. After graduating from Victoria college in 1944, he was determined to go abroad to fulfill his passions. His parents refused, and tried to talk him out of him. They enrolled him in the college of Engineering at the University of Alexandria, but Chahine refused and later said that he had to "blackmail them, and almost jump out of the window." He was later able to get what he wanted, and enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse in California- where he studied theater and television, but not film. Out of the 200 students that attended, only thirteen took the final examination, and only four passed- Chahine ranking first.

After returning to Egypt, he turned his attention to directing. Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli helped Chahine into the film business. Chahine directed his first feature film in 1950, Baba Amin (Daddy Amin) at the age of 23, two years before the revolution of 1952 that saw the overthrow of the monarchy and the rise of the charismatic leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. One year later, with Nile Boy (1951) he was first invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Sira’ fi-l-Wadi (Struggle in the Valley) introduced Omar Sharif to the cinematic screen. In 1970 he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival for al-Ikhtiyar (The Choice). With The Sparrow (1973), in which he showed his political opinions after the Six-Day War with Israel, he directed the first Egypt–Algeria co-production.

It premiered at the Moscow Film Festival in 1959, with the French government's dismay. However it was not shown on Egyptian television for many years. According to Magda, the lead actress and producer of the film, Egypt had banned the screening in order to not harm political relations with France.

During the several following years, Chahine found himself increasingly in conflict with the government-backed film industry of Egypt and its heavy political restrictions in filmmaking. In 1964, he traveled to Lebanon, where he shot two musicals: Bayya al-Khawatim (1965, Ring Seller) and Rimal al-Dhahab (1967, Sands of Gold). Ring Seller became one of the best musicals of Arab cinema, bringing success to Youssef Chahine, whereas Sands of Gold, due to delays in shooting and its box-office failure, forced him to quit his work in Lebanon and return to Egypt.

Released in 1979, and set in the 1940s, Alexandria...Why? Sparked controversy and censorship from the government- it examines Egypt's social and political issues. Haddouta Masriya, released later in 1982, Chahine looks at his own journey as an auteur and a director.

In 1989, Chahine released his third autobiographical film Alexandria Again and Forever. This film follows a strike that the actors and actresses, as well as production workers in the Egyptian film industry participate in. The film is a political commentary on censorship in Egypt. Chahine uses many directorial styles: verité, normal narrative and formalism.

During his long career Chahine produced different movies, including Aly Badrakhan's Chafika et Metwal (1979). His early films in Egypt included Raging Sky (1953), which begun while Farouk was still King and dealing with a peasant farmer's challenge to a feudal landlord. In 1992 Jacques Lassalle approached him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie-Française. Chahine agreed and chose to adapt Albert Camus' Caligula. The same year he started writing The Emigrant (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob.

This had been an intended project for some years and he was finally able to film it in 1994. This film created a controversy in Egypt between liberals and fundamentalists who opposed the depiction of religious characters in films. In 1997, 46 years later, his work was acknowledged at the Cannes Film Festival with the lifetime achievement award. Chahine is also credited with discovering Omar Sharif, whose first starring role was in Chahine's film The Blazing Sun (1954). He also provided Hind Rostom with a role early on in her career in Bab al-Hadid (Cairo Station.)

In 1994, with the release of Al Mohaguer (The Emigrant), Chahine ran into trouble with fundamentalists. The film tells the story of Joseph, and Islam does not condone the drawing, or acting out the role of a prophet. The film was initially banned awaiting a lawsuit that Chahine eventually won, however, it was still not screened.

Upon the release of Al Akhar (The Other) in 1999, the film caused some public controversy. The film features a mother who exposes a woman's scam after she and her son had fallen in love and planned to marry. We later discover in the film that the mother's relationship to her son was somewhat sexual. The film was not banned, and screened normally in theaters and on televisions.

He won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Priz at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival for Alexandria... Why? (1978), the first instalment in what would prove to be an autobiographic quartet, completed with An Egyptian Story (1982), Alexandria, Again and Again (1990), and Alexandria...New York (2004). The producer Humbert Balsan went to Cannes in 2004 with Alexandria... New York, his ninth film with the Egyptian director since 1985's Adieu, Bonaparte. In one of his films The Sixth Day اليوم السادس, an adaptation of a novel written in French by Lebanese writer André Chedid, the famous Egyptian singer Dalida was the protagonist in the role of a poor Egyptian woman.

In 2008, he was honored by BAFTA for his contribution to film.

On 25 January 2015, Google Doodle commemorated his 89th birthday.

Youssef Chahine’s 89th Birthday Jan 25, 2015 | Doodles de google, Doodle, Celebracion aniversario

25-ene-2015 - Youssef Chahine’s 89th Birthday Jan 25, 2015