Youssef Chahine(1926-2008)
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a
friars' school, and then turned to Victoria College until the High
School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he
moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House,
taking courses on film and dramatic arts. After coming back to Egypt,
cinematographer Alevise Orfanelli
helped him into the film business. His film debut was
Papa Amin (1950): one year later, with
Le fils du Nil (1951) he was first invited
to the Cannes Film festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at
the Carthage Festival. With Le moineau (1973), he directed the first
Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for
Alexandrie pourquoi? (1979),
the first installment in what proved to be an autobiographic trilogy,
completed with Hadduta Masriya (1982)(La mémoire (1982)) and
Alexandrie encore et toujours (1989).
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle proposed him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie Française: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus' "Caligula," which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing L'émigré (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream-project, and he finally got to shoot it in 1994. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, he was again selected Hors Competition in Cannes with Le destin (1997).
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle proposed him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie Française: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus' "Caligula," which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing L'émigré (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream-project, and he finally got to shoot it in 1994. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, he was again selected Hors Competition in Cannes with Le destin (1997).
