Ep# 69 - Egypt's Golden Age of Cinema in the 60s

Starting in the mid 1940s and continuing through the 1960s, Egypt experienced a Golden Age of cinema. With the third largest private film production system in the world, Egypt acted as Hollywood to most all Arabic speaking countries; producing commercially minded hit after hit, with crowd pleasing stories, star players and big wig directors. Yet, as with most industries during the time, by the 1960s the bottom had started to fall out – The Nasser regime nationalized the industry in 1966, bringing a close to what had been a rather free wheeling time of cinematic exploration and focusing more on political mindedness and general entertainment.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna dive into a positive who’s who of Egyptian cinema. This dazzling array of famous Egyptian directors, films, and actors includes young Omar Sharif, Shukry Sarhan and Soad Hosny, bombshells Shadia and Hind Rostum, multiple Naguib Mahfouz adaptations, and even two films that broke through to the Western world: the Muslim Crusade epic Saladin and the internationally celebrated The Night Counting The Years. Not only do these foreign films not feel so foreign, but it turns out this might have been the most rewarding watch of the entire podcast season – all thumbs up!

The following films are discussed:

• The Beginning and the End (1960)
بداية و نهاي
Directed by Salah Abu Seif
Starring Omar Sharif, Sanaa Gamil, Farid Shawki

• A Rumor of Love (1961)
إشاعة حب
Directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab
Starring Omar Sharif, Soad Hosny, Youssef Wahbi

• Chased by the Dogs (1962)
اللص والكلاب
Directed by Kamal El Sheikh
Starring Shadia, Shukry Sarhan, Kamal Al-Shennawi

• Saladin (1963)
الناصر صلاح الدين
Directed by Youssef Chahine
Starring Ahmed Mazhar, Salah Zulfikar, Nadia Lutfi

• The Sin (1965)
الحرام
Directed by Henry Barakat
Starring Faten Hamama, Zaki Rostom, Abdullah Gaith

• The Postman (1968)
البوسطجي
Directed by Hussein Kamal
Starring Shukri Sarhan, Seif Abdelrahman, Zizi Mostapha

• The Night of Counting the Years (1969)
المومياء
Directed by Shady Abdel Salam
Starring Nadia Lutfi, Ahmed Marei, Ahmad Hegazi