Salah Abu Seif

Salah Abu Seif (Arabic: صلاح أبو سيف‎, Ṣalāḥ Abū Sayf) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors, and is considered to be the godfather of Neorealist cinema in Egypt. Many of the 41 films he directed are considered Egyptian classics. His film The Beginning and the End (1960) was the first adaptation a novel by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival.[1]

Salah Abu Seif
Born	(1915-05-10)May 10, 1915 Cairo, Egypt
Died	June 23, 1996(1996-06-23) (aged 81)
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter

Early life

"Abu-Seif was born in 1915, in Cairo's ancient quarter of Boolaq, to landowning parents from Upper Egypt. He was 12 years old when he saw the first full- length feature film made by an Egyptian, in 1927, at a local movie-house - earlier films were imports accompanied by Egyptian narrations, or made by Europeans living in Egypt. As the son of a conservative family, Abu-Seif graduated from the Cairo College of Commerce and Economics in 1932, while at the same time working as a freelance reporter following movie stars. But it was at his day job as a clerk in a factory that he met the Egyptian film-maker Niazy Mustapha, who was on a shoot there. Mustapha made him a film editor.

In 1939, Abu-Seif won a scholarship to study film in Paris. Within five years of his return in 1942, he had established himself as one of the most avant-garde second generation film-makers in the country. He pioneered shooting on location - though he also used reconstructions - in places none of his predecessors had dared to visit, like ghurza (the equivalent of old Chinese opium dens), brothels and impoverished areas whose existence had never been officially acknowledged."[2]

Filmography

Year	Title	Arabic Title	Notes
1946	Always in My Heart	Dayman fi Qalbi دايماً في قلبي
1947	The Avenger	Al-Muntaqim المنتقم
1948	The Adventures of Antar and Abla	Mughamarat Antar wa Abla مغامرات عنتر وعبلة	Nominated for "Grand Prize of the Festival" at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival
1948	Street of the Acrobat Sharia	al-Bahlawan شارع البهلوان
1950	The Falcon	Al-Sakr الصقر
1950	Love is a Problem	Al-Hob Bahdala الحب بهدلة
1951	Your Day Will Come	Lak Yawm Ya Zalem لك يوم يا ظالم
1952	Foreman Hassan	Al-Osta Hassan الأسطى حسن
1953	Raya and Sekina	Raya wa Sekina ريا وسكينة
1954	The Monster	Al-Wahsh الوحش	Nominated for "Grand Prize of the Festival" at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival
1956	A Woman's Youth	Shabab Emraa شباب إمرأة	Nominated for "Golden Palm" at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival
1957	The Tough	Al-Fetewa الفتوة	Nominated for "Golden Bear" at Berlin Film Festival
1957	The Empty Pillow	Al-Wessada al-Khalia الوسادة الخالية
1957	Sleepless	La Anam لا أنام
1958	Criminal on Holiday	Mugrem fi Agaza مجرم في إجازة
1958	The Barred Road	Al-Tarik al-Masdud الطريق المسدود
1958	This is the Love	Haza Howa al-Hob هذا هو الحب
1959	I Am Free	Ana Horra أنا حرة
1959	Between Heaven and Earth	Bayn al-Samaa wa al-Ard بين السماء والأرض
1960	Agony of Love	Lawet al-Hob لوعة الحب
1960	The Girls and the Summer	Al-Banat wa al-Saif البنات والصيف
1960	The Beginning and an End	Bidaya wa nihaya بداية ونهاية	Nominated for "Grand Prix" at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival[3]
1961	The Sun Will Never Set	La Tutf'e al-Shams لا تطفىء الشمس
1963	No Time for Love	La Wakt lil Hob لا وقت للحب
1963	Letter from an Unknown Woman	Ressala Min Emraa Maghoula رسالة من إمرأة مجهولة
1966	Cairo 30	Al-Qahira 30 القاهرة 30
1967	The Second Wife	Al-Zawga al-Thaniya الزوجة الثانية
1969	Case 68	Al-Qadia 68 القضية 68
1969	Three Women	Thalath Nessaa ثلاث نساء
1969	A Bit of Suffering	Shia min al Azab شيء من العذاب
1971	Dawn of Islam	Fajr al-Islam فجر الإسلام
1973	Malatily Bathhouse	Hammam al-Malatily حمام الملاطيلي
1975	The Liar	Al-Kadab الكداب
1976	First Year Love	Sana Oula Hob سنة أولى حب
1977	She Fell in the Honey Sea	Sakatat fi Bahr al-Asal سقطت في بحر العسل
1977	The Water-Carrier Is Dead	Al-Saqqa Mat السقا مات	Won "Best Film of the Year" at Egyptian Film Association
1978	The Criminal	Al-Mugrem المجرم
1982	The Qadisiya	Al-Qadisiya القادسية	Nominated for "Golden Prize" at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival[4]
1986	The Beginning	Al-Bidaya البداية
1991	The Egyptian Citizen	Al-Moaten Masry المواطن مصري	Nominated for "Golden St. George" at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival[5]
1994	Mr. Kaaf	Al-Sayed Kaaf السيد كاف

References

1. "10th Moscow International Film Festival (1977)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
2. "Obituary: Salah Abu-Seif". The Independent. 1996-06-27. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
3. "2nd Moscow International Film Festival (1961)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
4. "12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
5. "17th Moscow International Film Festival (1991)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2013-03-02.

• Salah Abu Seif filmography on IMDb
• Arabic article about Salah Abu Seif: http://www.cinematechhaddad.com/Rowad/Rowad_SAbuSaef.HTM

External links

• Salah AbouSeif on IMDb.