Youssef Chahine (Arabic: يوسف شاهين [ˈjuːsɪf ʃæˈhiːn]; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death in 2008. He directed twelve films included in a list of Top 100 Egyptian films published by the Cairo International Film Festival. As a winner of the Cannes 50th Anniversary Award (for lifetime achievement), Chahine was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif. A well-regarded director with critics, he was often present at film festivals during the earlier decades of his work. Chahine gained his largest international audience as one of the co-directors of 11'9"01 September 11 (2002).
Chahine (Fr. pronounced Shaaheen) was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a Melkite Greek Catholic family. His father was an attorney originally from Zahle, Lebanon and was a supporter of the Egyptian nationalist Wafd Party. His mother, Claire Bastorous was of Greek descent. She worked as a tailor. Although Chahine was raised Catholic, he was not a believer in organized religion. If asked of his religion, he would state, "Egyptian". At home, the Chahines spoke five languages, which was common in cosmopolitan Alexandria at the time.
Chahine had affectionate parents and had a strong relationship with both of them, even though his mother and father had distinct personalities. At a young age, he knew what he wanted to become. Chahine would stay under his bed and in his room for hours, picturing himself in the industry- whether in a projection theater, a cinema hall or a production company.
When asked about his childhood and early interest in cinema, Chahine said:"At the age of Eight, I discovered that 9.5mm films and projectors were being sold in stores. I saved from allowances enough to buy the projector and then became a regular for the Rabbani Bibi films. I used to gather the children of the neighborhood to show them these films. Some of them didn’t care for cinema and would come up with excuses not to attend. So I had no choice but to form a gang to beat up those who were late coming to the show."
In the following years, two concepts raged Chahine and gagged his interest: indulging in sexual fantasies and cinema. A few years later, Chahine dealt with the death of his brother Alfred, who was only two years older than him. Chahine always remembered Alfred's eyes, which influenced his work. Most of his male actors had eyes that resembled Alfred's.
According to Chahine, his father was honest, which seeped into his values and was a trait he appreciated having. Along with honesty, Chahine's father ignited his love for books. Being a lawyer, Chahine's father could not keep up with the tuition bills, so he closed up his law office and took a job in the legal department in the Alexandria municipality so he could send Chahine to Victoria College. Another memory Chahine was fond of, was how his father took him to the desert and taught him how to look for landmarks and find his way back home. Scouting for film locations often brought back these memories. Their home was aristocratic, even though they were not rich. They had to be well mannered, and mistakes had punishments (which usually meant having dinner alone in the kitchen rather than outside on the family table) Despite them being tight on money, they would still have guests over for dinner and lived without paying much attention to bank statements.
Fascinated by the performing arts from an early age, young Chahine began to create shows at home for his family. Chahine began his education at a Frères' school Collège Saint Marc. Growing up, he attended Alexandria's elite Victoria College. After graduating from Victoria college in 1944, he was determined to go abroad to fulfill his passions. His parents refused, and tried to talk him out of it. They enrolled him in the college of Engineering at the University of Alexandria, but Chahine refused and later said that he had to "blackmail them, and almost jump out of the window." He was later able to get what he wanted, and enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse in California where he studied theater and television, but not film. Out of the 200 students that attended, only thirteen took the final examination, and only four passed, with Chahine ranking first.
After returning from Pasadena, Chahine didn't work in Egyptian theater or film. Instead, he worked in 20th Century Fox's publicity department, where he worked with Gianni Vernuccio and Alvise Orfanelli. During this time, a producer turned to Chahine to finish a film after the director had left following a quarrel, but Chahine refused to complete someone else's work. On another occasion, Chahine was offered the position of Assistant Director, which he also refused, stating that he was working on Hollywood theaters beforehand and an Assistant Director role was not for him.
After returning to Egypt, he turned his attention to directing. Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli helped Chahine into the film business. Chahine directed his first feature film in 1950, Baba Amin (Daddy Amin) at the age of 23, two years before the Egyptian revolution of 1952 that saw the overthrow of the monarchy and the rise of the charismatic leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. One year later, with Son of the Nile (1951) he was first invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Sira' fi-l-Wadi (Struggle in the Valley) introduced Omar Sharif to the cinematic screen. In 1970 he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival for al-Ikhtiyar (The Choice). With The Sparrow (1972), in which he showed his political opinions after the Six-Day War with Israel, he directed the first Egypt–Algeria co-production.
He won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Priz at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival for Alexandria... Why? (1978), the first instalment in what would prove to be an autobiographic quartet, completed with An Egyptian Story (1982), Alexandria, Again and Forever (1990), and Alexandria...New York (2004). The producer Humbert Balsan went to Cannes in 2004 with Alexandria... New York, his ninth film with the Egyptian director since 1985's Adieu, Bonaparte. In one of his films The Sixth Day (1986), an adaptation of a novel written in French by Lebanese writer André Chedid, the famous Egyptian singer Dalida was the protagonist in the role of a poor Egyptian woman.
About his work, Chahine has said, "I make my films first for myself. Then for my family. Then for Alexandria. Then for Egypt," Chahine once famously said. "If the Arab world likes them, ahlan wa sahlan (welcome). If the foreign audience likes them, they are doubly welcome."
During his long career Chahine produced different movies, including Aly Badrakhan's Chafika et Metwal (1979). His early films in Egypt included The Blazing Sun (1954), which begun while Farouk was still King and dealing with a peasant farmer's challenge to a feudal landlord. In 1992 Jacques Lassalle approached him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie-Française. Chahine agreed and chose to adapt Albert Camus' Caligula. The same year he started writing The Emigrant (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob.
This had been an intended project for some years and he was finally able to film it in 1994. This film created a controversy in Egypt between liberals and fundamentalists who opposed the depiction of religious characters in films. In 1997, 46 years later, his work was acknowledged at the Cannes Film Festival with the lifetime achievement award. Chahine is credited for directing five films starring Salah Zulfikar including significant productions such as Saladin the Victorious (1963), The Nile and the Life (1968) and Those People of the Nile (1972) and also credited for discovering Omar Sharif, whose first starring role was in The Blazing Sun (1954). He also provided Hind Rostom with a role early on in her career in Cairo Station (1958).
Chahine produced his four autobiographical films starting 1978 and up till 2004. These films tell Yehia's life, which reflects Chahine's own. In this quartet, he explores his sexuality, personality, and family issues. The autobiographical films all take place between World War One and World War Two.