More than a decade after his passing, Abdel-Fattah remains vividly present in the collective memory of the theatre community and among audiences familiar with his film and television work.
Earlier this year, he was honoured during the 32nd edition of the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (CIFET, 1–8 September) through a dedicated seminar held as part of the festival’s Giving Back segment.
The seminar brought together Egyptian theatre scholars and professors from the High Institute of Theatrical Arts in Cairo—Engy El-Bastawy, Medhat El-Kashef, and Abeer Fawzy—who reflected on Abdel-Fattah’s life and enduring theatrical legacy.
During the event, Abdel-Fattah’s granddaughter, Amina Metwaly-Gabr, presented a book she created about her grandfather. Developed as her graduation project at the German University in Cairo’s Faculty of Applied Arts (Graphic Design, 2025), the publication traces the many roles and creative identities Abdel-Fattah embodied throughout his life.
Although theatre directing remained his foremost passion, his artistic practice extended across radio and film. Beyond his creative output, Abdel-Fattah also played a pivotal role as a cultural mediator between Egypt and Poland, where he lived and worked for more than two decades.
Hanaa Abdel-Fattah: Creative journey
Hanaa Abdel-Fattah’s artistic journey began remarkably early. At just eight years old, he entered the world of performance, first through radio and soon after on screen. As a child actor, he collaborated with some of the most prominent figures in Egyptian cinema, appearing in landmark films such as Bab El-Hadid (Cairo Station, 1958) by Youssef Chahine and El-Fetewa (1957) by Salah Abu Seif.
Alongside his film work, his voice became familiar to Egyptian audiences through a widely popular radio series, establishing him as a recognizable presence across multiple media.
By the end of the 1950s, Abdel-Fattah had become one of Egypt’s most in-demand child actors. Reflecting on that period, the late theatre critic Nehad Selaiha described him as unusually mature for his age: despite his extensive experience and formal training, he remained soft-spoken, reserved, and deeply humble.
His popularity extended beyond cinema. For years, he was a daily companion in Egyptian households through the long-running radio drama The Family of Marzouq Effendi, in which he portrayed the youngest son in a middle-class family, as well as the character of Sindbad.
Over time, Abdel-Fattah found himself increasingly drawn to directing rather than acting. He enrolled at the High Institute of Theatrical Arts, specializing in theatre, acting, and directing, while simultaneously studying screenwriting at the Egyptian Cinema Institute.
One of his earliest and most striking directing projects was Dunshuwai, an experimental theatrical work revisiting the 1906 British execution of villagers in Dunshuwai. Casting peasants from Upper Egypt, the production drew significant critical attention and was eventually staged at Cairo’s National Theatre.
In the early 1970s, Abdel-Fattah left Egypt to pursue further studies in Poland at the State Institute of Theatrical Arts in Warsaw, becoming the only foreign student ever admitted to the institute. He graduated with honours and quickly earned a strong reputation within Polish theatre circles, admired by artists, critics, and academics alike.
He later obtained a PhD in theatre theory from Warsaw University and remained deeply embedded in Poland’s cultural and intellectual life.
His directing work took him across Warsaw and other European capitals, and in 1986, his production of Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters won the Polish Audience First Prize.
Parallel to his theatrical practice, Abdel-Fattah made a lasting contribution as a translator. While in Poland, he translated numerous key theatrical texts into Arabic, opening vital channels between Polish and Arab theatre traditions.
His translations—now standard references in Arab theatre institutes—include Zygmunt Hübner’s The Aesthetics of Theatre Directing and several foundational works by Jerzy Grotowski, including Towards a Poor Theatre.
He also translated plays, short stories, and poetry, introducing Arab audiences to writers such as Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska. Many of these works were broadcast through the radio programme Poets and Their Poems between 1995 and 1999.
This role as a cultural bridge-builder earned Abdel-Fattah wide recognition. He received multiple honours from both Polish and Egyptian institutions, including the Polish Literary Syndicate Prize and the International Theatre Institute award for fostering cross-cultural dialogue. In Egypt, he was awarded the State Appreciation Award in 2011 for his lifetime contribution to culture.
The following year, the Polish Ministry of Culture granted him the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture, followed by the prestigious Gloria Artis medal, an honour shared by only a small number of international artists.
In the final decade of his life, Abdel-Fattah returned to acting in Egyptian cinema and television. His later appearances included roles in El-Sefara fi El-Omara (2005), El-Shabah (2007), Cairo Time (2009), and the television series Ayza Atgawez (I Want to Get Married). Internationally, he appeared as Professor Badawi in Doug Liman’s Fair Game (2010).
Hanaa Abdel-Fattah passed away in Cairo on 19 October 2012 after a prolonged struggle with cancer. He is survived by his Polish wife, Dorota Metwaly—his lifelong partner and collaborator—and their three daughters.
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