CINEMA

Egypt has had a strong cinematic tradition since the 1930s. Egypt has the only major motion picture industry in the Arab world, with Cairo is its capital. The influence of the Egyptian cinema on the Arabs is as profound as that of the American cinema on the rest of the world. The golden age of Egyptian cinema was in the 1940s and 1950s. During that period Omar Sharif emerged as a major international star and his former wife, Fatin Hamama, reigned as the queen of Arab cinema. Directors such as Youssef Chahine have gained wide respect internationally and many of Egypt's leading literary lights, including Tawfiq Al Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, have written for the cinema. Today, the reigning superstar of the Egyptian cinema is comedian Adel Emam, whose political satire has earned him the respect of serious film-goers and occasionally ire of the government. Other film stars include Ahmad Zaki, Mahmoud Abdul Aziz and Yusra. The modern atmosphere of profiteering and heavy entertainment taxes have served to drastically lower the standards of modern Egyptian cinema.

Omar Sherif

Omar Sherif was born Michel Dimitri Shalhoub in 1931 to a wealthy Alexandrian family of Christian Lebanese origin. He was discovered in Egypt by director Yousef Chahine in 1953, then nine years later discovered again by David Lean. His introduction to the Western audiences that were to adore him was a scene in Lawrence of Arabia when he appears out of the shimmering desert horizon galloping on a camel. How do you follow that? He did, once, with Dr Zhivago. After that his reputationas a drinker, gambler and womanizer loomed larger than his acting career. His presence in public consciousness well outlasted his shelf-life on screen. He gradually drifted back to Egypt, starting in the late seventies. After heart surgery in 1993, he decided to quit Paris. But still his life has the air of someone of no fixed abode.

Adel Imam

He is rich, rich, rich, but he left his heart in the hara (alley). Egypt's top comic still plays to the cheap seats. You're never quite sure that he's not having a laugh. Have you really mangled the Arabic language so badly, or is it just an excuse for him to flash you his famous pained, perplexed expression, brow furrowed, one eyebrow raised? Adel Imam has that kind of reputation. The dressing rooms at the Haram theater, Pyramids Road. In half an hour, Adel Imam will go onstage to resume his role in Al Zaeem -- The Leader -- which he's been playing for three years and will probably go on playing through the end of the decade. He's looking five years younger than he does in his movie roles, but a little surprised that we brought a photographer without consulting him in advance -- he'd be wearing a coat and tie instead of a shell suit, he says, but no matter. Snap away. Everytime the flash goes off, there's a shockingly loud gasping, wheezing noise. I think it's the photography equipment at the time; the photographer later explains she thought it was something in the outlet. Imam doesn't bat an eye. Only afterwards does it occur to us that maybe he's got a little wheezing machine tucked away somewhere, his own little private joke. You hear stories of powerful men who've gone out for a night on the town with Imam, only to storm out in a huff when they suddenly realize he's been imitating their mannerisms for the amusement of the other guests. Could this be something similar? You just never know.

Leila Elwi

Leila Elwi is one of Egypt's best actresses. Beginning her career as a cute kid in TV commercials, it seems she was always cut out for a life of fame. She still has that cute-kid look, but with a lead role in Yousef Chahine's latest blockbuster Al Masir (Destiny), she's now more than grown up. Elwi also has a talent for irking film critics, despite their admiration for her. They have bristled at a string of films that starkly portray the dilemmas and tragedies of working class women in Egypt today. Another irritant for them is that she fails to conform to the standard Yousra-sized format for the waist of a credible actress. Elwi, acquaintances say, has given up caring. Why should she? She has a line in fleshy pouts that few Arab actresses can match, and that's a big selling point. She has become the screen queen of sensuousness.

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