Art Alert: 'The Incomplete Works of Youssef Chahine' at Cairo's Cimatheque

Ahram Online , Sunday 9 Oct 2016

The talk by Mohamed El-Masry is the first event in a series focused on Chahine's work

Youssef Chahine
Late veteran director Youssef Chahine (Photo: Courtesy of art-house cinema Zawya)

A talk on the incomplete projects of late veteran filmmaker Youssef Chahine will be delivered by Egyptian writer Mohamed El-Masry at Cairo’s Cimatheque Alternative Film Centre Wednesday, 12 October.

The talk will precede “a continuous series of open discussions regarding Chahine's work, how he approached the art of filmmaking ... ensuring that his archive becomes more accessible to a wider audience,” reads the event description by Cimatheque.

Cimatheque will also host an exhibit “featuring some important aspects of Chahine's work” in parallel to the talk. 

Chahine died 27 July 2008 leaving behind a rich filmic repertoire comprising over 40 feature films and documentaries spanning five decades.

The iconic filmmaker was born in 1927 in Alexandria to Lebanese parents and commenced his filmmaking career in 1950. Among his early films are Baba Amin (1950) and Ibn El-Nil (Son of the Nile, 1951).

Some of his most important films include Bab Al-Hadid (Cairo Station, 1958), Al-Ard (The Land, 1969), Al-Asfour (The Sparrow,1972), Eskendereya Leih (Alexandria...Why, 1978), Hadouta Masreya (An Egyptian Story, 1982)  and Al-Yom El-Sades (The Sixth Day, 1986).

Chahine was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. 

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