Youssef Chahine

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Youssef Chahine, 1986

Youssef Gabriel Chahine ( Arabic يوسف شاهين Yūsif Shāhīn , DMG Yūsif Šāhīn ; * January 25, 1926 in Alexandria ; † July 27, 2008 in Cairo ) was an Egyptian film director .

Life

Chahine came from a Catholic family in Alexandria , his father was a respected lawyer of Lebanese descent and his mother was from Greece. After graduating from Victoria College in Alexandria, UK , and spending a year at Alexandria University , he went to the United States and studied acting and directing at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California for two years . After his return in 1948 he appeared as an actor in films. He made his directorial debut in 1950 and his first films were still commercial. But as early as 1954 with Deadly Vengeance ( Sira` Fi al-Wadi ) he formulated a first criticism of the social conditions. When it was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954, this film made him known not only as a director himself, but also for the first time as the actor Omar Sharif .

In his politically controversial films, he succeeded in combining Arab traditions and perspectives with social criticism, while still creating popular cinema. He worked partly in the style of neorealism . Often the films are about the search for the causes of the problems of modern Egyptian society. In many Arab countries, Chahine's films are still banned from showing. Many film critics consider his autobiographical Alexandria trilogy to be the cinematic highlight of his life's work. In Alexandria ... why? (1978) he described the Egyptian Jews of the 1940s as neighbors and friends who were forced to emigrate to Palestine because of the violence of World War II.

Due to difficulties with the censorship authority , Chahine had to temporarily emigrate during the socialist rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s . He became world famous in 1985 for his film Adieu Bonaparte with Michel Piccoli . In 1997, at the Cannes Film Festival, he took the opportunity to accuse his Egyptian colleagues of insignificance: "" Egyptian cinema has died ". [...] The modern Egyptian comedies are without any level. Hardly anyone seriously dares to tackle the really important issues. ”Nevertheless, Chahine had become a father figure in the Arab world.

Chahine spoke Arabic, English and French and knew Alexandria from his youth as a cosmopolitan city in which besides Arabs, Greeks and Italians lived. Throughout his life he fought against bigotry and bigotry, including in his films. He often had to defend himself against state censorship and threats from the Islamists.

On June 15, 2008, Chahine fell into a coma due to an intracerebral hemorrhage , from which he could not wake up. Chahine left behind his French wife Colette. The marriage remained childless.

Filmography

Chahine made 50 films and documentaries.

Chahine, 1982, while filming An Egyptian Story
  • 1950: Baba Amin (بابا أمين, DMG Bābā Amīn )
  • 1951: Son of the Nile (ابن النيل, DMG Ibn al-Nīl )
  • 1954: Deadly Vengeance (صراع في الوادي, DMG Ṣirāʿ fī l-wādī )
  • 1956: Dark Waters (صراع في المناء, DMG Ṣirāʿ fī l-mināʾ )
  • 1958: The crime scene ... Cairo Central Station (باب الحديد, DMG Bāb al-ḥadīd )
  • 1958: Djamila (جميلة, DMG Ǧamīla )
  • 1963: Sultan Saladin (الناصر صلاح الدين, DMG al-Nāṣir Ṣalāh al-Dīn )
  • 1965: The Ring Seller (بياع الخواطم, DMG Bayyāʿ al-ḫawāṭim )
  • 1968: One day on the Nile (النص والنيل, DMG al-Naṣṣ wa-l-Nīl )
  • 1978: Alexandria ... why? (اسكندرية ... ليه؟, DMG Iskandariyya ... lē? )
  • 1982: An Egyptian Story (حدوثة مصرية, DMG Ḥaddūṯa miṣriyya )
  • 1985: Adieu Bonaparte
  • 1986: The sixth day ( Le sixième jour)
  • 1990: Alexandria Forever (اسكندرية ، كمان وكمان, DMG Iskandariyya, kamān wa kamān )
  • 1994: The Emigrant (المهاجر, DMG al-Muhāǧir )
  • 1997: Fate (المصير, DMG al-Maṣīr )
  • 1999: The Other - L'Autre (L'Autre)
  • 2001: Sukut Hansawwar (سكوت ح نصور, DMG Sukūt ḥa nṣawwar )
  • 2002: 11'09 "01 - September 11 (episode)
  • 2004: Alexandrie ... New York
  • 2007: Chaos (هي فوضى, DMG Hiya fawḍā )

Awards

literature

Film documentaries

  • “I come from the Orient and I love bright colors.” Portrait of the Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine. Conversation with film excerpts, Germany, 1995, 45 min., Production: Sat 1 , series: News & stories, first broadcast: June 19, 1995
  • Egypt - vision and passion. The belligerent director Youssef Chahine. Talk, Germany, 1994, 35 min., Director: Ursula Beyer, production: ZDF , first broadcast: January 19, 1994

Web links

Commons : Youssef Chahine  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b “Fight for Enlightenment and Tolerance” , NZZ , July 28, 2008, by Kristina Bergmann
  2. ↑ “Director Youssef Chahine died” , dpa / Tagesspiegel , July 27, 2008
  3. ^ "Summer of Tolerance" , Die Welt , July 28, 2008
  4. ↑ “Das Schicksal”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Table of contents by arte@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.arte.tv  
personal data
SURNAME Chahine, Youssef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chahine, Youssef Gabriel (full name); يوسف شاهين (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Egyptian film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Alexandria
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 2008
Place of death Cairo