Embassy of Egypt in Kampala - Uganda

إعلان
نتشرف بالإفادة أنه في إطار التعاون المثمر و البناء مع وزارة الثقافة المصرية، فمن المقرر أن تقام المسابقات الفنية الدولية التالي بيانها ضمن فعاليات الدورة (37) للمجلس الأعلى للثقافة:
1- مصر في عيون أطفال العالم.
2- اللعبة اليدوية.
3- التصوير الفوتوغرافي.
على أن يتم إرسال الأعمال المشاركة في المسابقة حتى يوم 31 مارس 2026، مباشرة، على أيٍ من الوسائل التالية:
• بريدي : المركز القومي لثقافة الطفل – محطة المساحة – مدينة الفنون – الهرم
• بريد الكتروني : [email protected]
• تطبيق وتساب : 00201030401543

Youssef Chahine, The Egyptian Cinema Legend

Von By Ahmed Shawky, President of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI)


Egypt boasts a long cinematic history that began with the Lumière brothers screening some of their films in the city of Alexandria in November 1896, making Egypt one of the first countries in the world to become acquainted with this new art form. This was followed by the first Egyptian short film, Barsoum Looking for a Job, directed by Mohammed Bayoumi in 1923, then in 1927 the first two feature films, A Kiss in the Desert and Laila. From that day onward, Egyptian cinema has produced more than four thousand feature films, establishing it as the most successful cinematic centre in the Middle East.

Throughout this extended journey, no Egyptian filmmaker has achieved the international renown attained by Youssef Chahine (1926–2008), whose centennial anniversary is celebrated by the international film community during the new year with a series of activities and screenings to be held around the world in honour of one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema in his homeland and its regional surroundings.

Chahine, son of cosmopolitan Alexandria, whose teenage years coincided with the escalation of World War II confrontations in El Alamein, just kilometres from his home, watched his city transform into an arena for an international conflict that would shape the world’s future in the twentieth century. The experience of war and its economic and social repercussions, intercrated with his rich roots, he was of Lebanese Greek descent and raised in a Catholic family, planting within him the seed of a universal artist who sought to express himself with the aim of making the world a better place.

After completing his studies at Victoria College, Youssef convinced his family to fund his study trip to the United States in 1946, where he enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. His goal was to study theatre, but he returned after two years as a filmmaker with a distinctive vision, quickly drawn into Egypt’s bustling film industry. In 1950, at the age of just 24, he made his debut feature, Baba Amin, proving his talent early on and becoming one of the most prolific directors. He worked tirelessly until his death, delivering 37 feature films alongside numerous shorts and documentaries, as well as theatre productions, most notably his direction of the play Caligula on the stage of Paris’s famed Comédie-Française.

Youssef Chahine’s cinematic career can be divided into several periods, during which his vision evolved in tandem with his personal growth and increasing political and social awareness of events in Egypt and the Arab world. The first period focused on proving his abilities and talent in crafting popular cinema in Egypt, where he worked with the industry’s biggest stars and helped launch the greatest star Egyptian cinema has known by casting the young Omar Sharif in the lead role of Struggle in the Valley in 1954. In films like Lady of the Train (1952), Struggle in the Pier (1956), and You’re My Love (1957), we see a director masterful in his craft, yet still in search for a cause. He reached it for the first time in 1958 with Cairo Station, a psychological drama set inside Cairo’s railway station, an iconic work recently selected by the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) in the United States as the greatest film in Arab cinema history in a massive poll involving dozens of Arab critics, academics, and filmmakers.

Coinciding with the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s state and the surge of pan-Arabism spirit in Egypt, Chahine entered a new period that can be called the national cinema period. It began with Djamilah, following the biography of Algerian liberation fighter Djamila Bouhired in 1958, reaching its peak in his iconic Saladin (1963), about the Arab leader Saladin, critics regard as Chahine’s cinematic portrait of Nasser. The phase also witnessed the start of his rebellion against authority through the unique incident of Those People of the Nile and The Nile and Life, which were in fact two versions of a single film shot as a joint Egyptian-Soviet production. In it, Chahine offered a dramatic vision of the High Dam construction during the period of Soviet experts. His original cut was rejected by both producing countries for political reasons, forcing him to reshoot scenes and alter events for approval, before later releasing his original version under another title. Together, the two films serve as a prime case study in the artist’s relationship with political decision-makers.

Following the major setback to the Nasserist experiment after the 1967 defeat and the shock the unexpected military loss had on Egyptian intellectuals, Chahine entered a phase of reevaluating his old ideas, presenting his trilogy that can be considered the main turning point in his career, known among critics as the “Defeat Trilogy.” In it, he chronicles the Egyptian intellectual’s torn identity between two worlds and convictions in The Choice (1971); analyses the defeat, rejects it, and declares the slogan “We will fight” in The Sparrow (1972); then hatches a radical social revolution to dismantle corrupt regimes in Return of the Prodigal Son (1976). The Defeat Trilogy also marked Chahine’s first foray into co-production, as he founded Misr International Films during preparations for The Sparrow, today the oldest Arab company for independent film production, operating successfully without interruption for over half a century.

In 1979, Chahine began the most distinctive period of his career, becoming the first Arab filmmaker to direct films drawn from his autobiography. He presented Alexandria, Why?, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, followed by three more films that completed, over the years, a highly personal quartet in Egyptian cinema history: An Egyptian Story (1982), Alexandria Again and Again (1990), and Alexandria New York (2004). In these four films, Chahine reached the pinnacle in autobiographical cinema, blending complete self-confession of personal laws with astute readings of the social, political, and historical contexts of each era he lived through, all expressed in the unique visual style that distinguished his films.

In parallel with completing his autobiographical films, Chahine began crafting major cinematic projects, returning to history to examine the present and using ancient eras as a canvas to express his vision of his contemporary world, starting with the French Occupation of Egypt in Adieu Bonaparte (1985); the era of the cholera epidemic in The Sixth Day (1986), his only film starring global icon Dalida in her native country; ancient Egypt in The Emigrant (1993); and the Arab Andalusia in The Destiny (1997), whose Cannes premiere coincided with his receiving the Honorary Palme d’Or of the festival’s 50th edition in recognition of his body of work.

Chahine passed away months after completing his final film, Chaos, This Is, which premiered in the official competition of the 2007 Venice Film Festival, ending a six-decade career of devoted work marked by uproar, enriching debate, tackling thorny issues, building bridges of communication between East and West through film, with a unique ability to create universal cinema expressing his vision of the world around him, his fearless, unwavering engagement, and his capacity to learn and evolve until his last day, earning him a place as a true legend of cinema.

تتشرف وزارة الخارجية والهجرة وشئون المصريين بالخارج بدعوة كل أبناء الجاليات المصرية في الخارج للتسجيل لحضور مؤتمر المصريين بالخارج – النسخة السابعة، المقرر عقده يومي الأحد والإثنين 2-3 أغسطس 2026 بالقاهرة، برعاية وحضور الدكتور بدر عبد العاطى وزير الخارجية والهجرة وشئون المصريين بالخارج، والسادة الوزراء وكبار المسئولين في الدولة، لمناقشة كافة القضايا والموضوعات ذات الصلة برعاية الجاليات المصرية بالخارج والاستماع إلى آرائهم واقتراحاتهم وتلبية طلباتهم، ويمكن لمن يرغب من المصريين بالخارج في حضور المؤتمر تسجيل بياناتهم اعتباراً من 25 يناير 2026 على الرابط التالي:
https://egyptiansabroad.mfa.gov.eg
كما نأمل من السيدات والسادة المصريين بالخارج الذين سبق لهم التسجيل لحضور المؤتمر هذا العام 2026، التفضل بالتسجيل مرة أخرى على الرابط نظراً لحدوث بعض المشكلات الفنية بالرابط السابق، علماً بأنه فور قيام المواطن بالتسجيل وإرفاق المستندات المطلوبة فسوف يتلقى رسالة نصها: "تم استلام بياناتكم. هذا وسيتم إرسال دعوة لحضور المؤتمر عبر البريد الإلكتروني عقب إتمام الإجراءات وذلك للسادة الذين توافرت لهم أماكن وفقاً للعدد المتاح ".
وإذ تود وزارة الخارجية والهجرة وشئون المصريين بالخارج أن تعرب عن شكرها المسبق لتفهم واستجابة أبناء مصر في الخارج لمطلب الوزارة، فإنها تنتهز هذه المناسبة لتعرب عن أطيب تحياتها إلى كل أبناء الجاليات المصرية في الخارج.

أجرى السيد الرئيس عبد الفتاح السيسي، اليوم، اتصالاً هاتفياً بالسيد الرئيس يويري موسيفيني، رئيس جمهورية أوغندا.

وصرح المتحدث الرسمي باسم رئاسة الجمهورية بأن السيد الرئيس وجه التهنئة لشقيقه الرئيس موسيفيني بمناسبة إعادة انتخابه لولاية رئاسية جديدة، مؤكداً أن هذا الفوز يعكس ثقة الشعب الأوغندي في القيادة الحكيمة للرئيس موسيفيني، كما نوه السيد الرئيس بعمق العلاقات التاريخية التي تربط مصر وأوغندا، مشدداً على حرص مصر على تطويرها، والبناء على الزخم الذي شهدته العلاقات في السنوات الأخيرة، وكذلك على نتائج زيارة الرئيس موسيفيني لمصر في أغسطس ٢٠٢٥.

وأضاف السفير محمد الشناوي، المتحدث الرسمي، أن الرئيس الأوغندي أعرب عن تقديره البالغ لتهنئة السيد الرئيس، مبدياً اتفاقه مع ما ذكره سيادته حول أولوية تطوير العلاقات الثنائية بين البلدين، كما أعرب عن تطلعه لاستقبال السيد الرئيس في أوغندا قريباً.