‘Chahine in the Algerian Cinema’ to feature in Alexandria Fest

CAIRO – 18 August 2017: Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean countries management announced that its 33rd edition will witness the display of ‘Chahine fe El Cinema Elgazareya’ (Chahine in the Algerian Cinema) documentary, directed by Selim Akar.

A big part of the documentary which is about the great international Egyptian late director Youssef Chahine, was shot while Chahine was alive. ‘Chahine fe El Cinema Elgazareya’ documentary contains an interview performed by the director with Chahine while he was in Algeria.

The documentary will include as well scenes from Chahine’s movies that Algeria participated in its production like ‘El Asfour’ (the bird) and ‘Awdet El Ebn El dal’ (The return of the lost son). The niece of Chahine the director Marian Khoury, the Algerian director Ahmed Roushdy and the great cinema critic Aly Abou Shady talked about Chahine in the documentary.

After the featuring of the documentary in the festival there will be a seminar discussing the documentary. The 33rd edition of Alexandria International Film Festival headed by the great cinema critic Amir Abaza will start from October 7-12, under the patronage of the Egyptian Minister of Culture Helmy Namnam.

Nine years ago, Youssef Chahine passed away, after a life devoted to cinema and movie-making. ‘Joe,’ as his friends used to call him, is the most famous Egyptian director in western circles.

His cooperation with French production companies and choosing themes appealing to the western taste were his key to get into the international arena. In 1997, Chahine was awarded, among many other awards, the 50th annual Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Chahine left a legacy of 42 movies, starting in 1950 with ‘Daddy Amin’ and ending with ‘Chaos’ in 2007.