Cairo International Film Festival and biography for Legendary actress Faten Hamama

Faten Hamama has continued to project the image of the Egyptian female,
whether young or grown up in a very original way.
whether young or grown up in a very original way.

In more than 100 films she presented a unique model, deeply rooted ever since
in the hearts and minds of Egyptians and Arab audiences. A model so different
from what Egyptian cinema had traditionally presented. At the time Faten
Hamama made her appearance, female characters were presented as mere
stereotypes, helpless weaklings, or bourgeois spending most of their times at
sports clubs and dancehalls chasing or chased by men. The image of woman in
Egyptian cinema had been more or less sex object whose very presence can only
provoke evil and crimes.

Faten Hamama presented in her films different flesh and blood characters. In
"To Whom Should I Complain" directed by Ibrahim Emara, she played the innocent
girl who has to wade through circumstances stronger than her self, but finally
managing to overcome the evil power threatening her. In "Aisha" (1953),
directed by Gamal Madkour she played the title role of an ambitious girl who
could transcend the stigma of her class and set herself free from the control
of her selfish father. In Youssef Chahine's film " A Conflict in the
Balley"1954, Faten Hamama presented a different image of the pasha's daughter,
she is not the frivolous girl who runs after the latest exported fashions.
Instead, conscious of the injustices suffered by the peasants whom she backs
their cause to the point of revealing to them the wicked plots of her cousin.

Even in her only comic film "Fatma, the Lawyer" 1952, directed by Fateen Abd
El Wahab, she portrayed a middle class girl who receives her education at the
Faculty of law (the most important college at that time) and who thinks that
woman has the same importance in society as men.

In "The Empire M" 1972, directed by Hussein Kamal, she plays the woman who can
solve her children's problems and provide them with a good standard of living
while the Father is absent.

Also in film " I Need a Solution" 1975, directed by Said Marzouk, Faten Hamama
presented a good image of the contemporary wronged woman who strives to be
treated on a par with man in the eyes of the law.

Her latest role on the silver screen in Khairy Bishara's films " Bitter Day.
Sweet Day", (1988) was one of her greatest in which she ebodied a other in the
society of the 80's, the society of an open door policy and wish washy
principles. She played the widow other who bears the world's burdens on her
shoulder without making any complaints, the mother who tries to make ends eet,
and who dreams of reaching the sweet day which ight erase the memories of long
bitter days.

Nevertheless, Faten Hamama's chief merit as an actress is probably her inborn
talent, it is a talent that allowed her to be equal, if not excel her famous
male colleagues in captivating the audiences. In the beginnings of Egyptian
cinema, the casting of female characters was limited to famous singers,
dancers or stage actresses. But Faten Hamama was neither a singer nor a
dancer, and with not much an experience on stage. She is simply a genius who
is able to magnetize fellow actors as well as her audiences. This is why most
of her films have been the brightest offerings in the history of the Egyptian
cinema and it was not by coincidence that the most prominent and brilliant
Egyptian filmmakers produced their greatest films with Faten Hamama. The list
starts with Mohamed Karim, Hassan El Emam, Youssef Chahine, Barakat, Kamal El
Sheikh, Salah Abu Seif, and ends with Hussein Kamal, Saiid Marzouk and Khairy
Bishara.

Faten Hamama's life can be divided into the following stages:

1. The Stage of Formation and development 1945 - 1951

Film director Mohamed Karim was the first to discover the talent of Faten
Hamama when he met her by accident at El Mansoura, a town in northern Egypt.
Having moved with her family to Cairo, Faten Hamama joined "El Amira Fawkeya
school", and at the stage of time she got enrolled in "The Higher Institute of
Acting", however, she was able to pursue her studies at neither, due to the
pressures of work, and her marriage to filmmaker Ez El Din Zulfikar in 1947.
Working with Mohamed Karim in "A Bullet in the Heart" in 1944 marked the true
beginning of Faten Hamama's career. Followed film "The Begining of the Month"
in 1945, directed by Abd El Fatah Hassan . She was only 15 at that tie.
The most famous composer in the Egyptian and Arab world Mohamed Abd El Wahab,
who Faten Hamama appeared with in her first tow films, said, he was amazed
that the little girl never feared the camera although it was her first time,
nor, did she stand in awe of him although the most prominent star of that time.
From 1945 - 1951, Faten Hamama appeared in about 30 films. She played the
roles of the nice daughter or the young, cheerful and innocent girl. The speed
at which she was working was a result of her desire to achieve fame as wide as
possible. Among the important films of this period are: "Angels in Hell"
(1946) directed by Henry Barakat, "A Preplexed Life" (1948) directed by Ahmed
Salem "The two Orphans" (1948) directed by Hassan El Emam.
The last picture marked a turning point in Faten Hamama's artistic life, in
this moving melodrama, Egyptian filmgoers could finally see the acting
potential of Faten Hamama who successfully exploited the model she presented
in this film in a series of films that tackled similar subjects.
In the "Two Orphans" Faten Hamama played the role of Neimat, a young girl who
loses her sight due to a wrong usage of sodium as eye drops, and who is
exploited later by a gangster who forces her to be a beggar I the streets.
Until 1951, Faten Hamama worked in 11 films most of which were about the poor
innocent girl who fights circumstances stronger than she in order to keeping
her integrity was. For example in 1950, she played similar roles in three
films for the same director Hassan El Emam: " I am Misjudged by people"
(1950), "Secrets of the People", and "I am decent girl" 1951).
Her first encounter with Youssef Chahine was in (1950) in his first picture "
Baba Amin"; Harry Sigal, a fantasy about a dead man who keeps an eye on his
daughter after his death, derives the film from a play.
The second and more important encounter was in " The son of the Nile" (1951).
In this picture Faten Hamama is a young peasant from Upper Egypt who is
seduced by the man she loves, Hemeida. He is forced to marry her by while
Faten is giving birth to his son, he clears off to Cairo, the city he always
wanted to go to, unable to stand life in the fenzied metropolis, he returns to
his village three years later (at the tie of the Nile flood). Only few minute
before he meets his wife, Hemeida in this picture proves her ability to
portray all kinds of character I any context. The standard of her acting in
the final scene is one of true perfection.

II. The Search for Identity 1952 - 1958

It can be said that during that during this period she presented more than 30
films. Faten Hamama was in search of her real identity and was trying to
establish herself as a distinct figure. During this period, her choice of
material and roles was somehow limited. Film producers saw in Faten Hamama a
true gold mine, and they went on responding to the demands of audiences in
local and Arab markets. Those audiences who wanted to see their idol in her
cut ad dry roles. No wonder then, that t Faten Hamama worked in 2 years 1954
and 1955 12 films with six prominent directors of the time, i.e. Ez El Din
Zulfikar, Henry Barakat, Ahmed Badrakhan, Helmy Halim, Youssef Chahine and
Hassan El Emam. But even in this purely commercial phase one can find a number
of important achievements in which her acting retained its unique excellence.
In film "Our Sweet Days" (1955) directed by Helmy Halim, Faten played the poor
lonely girl who strives to patch up a living in dreary circumstances. She
hires a room in a house, her neighbors three young men, one of which famous
singer Abd El Halim Hafez, Ahmed Ramzy and Omar El Sherif. The three fell in
love with her for her innocent and noble qualities, and because she represents
to the symbol of life and hope. But while happiness is just one step away from
her with one of the three heroes, Omar El Sherif, she becomes a victim to TB.
Her death not only leaves the three heroes in a state of grief, but sadness to
the audiences as well.
It is worth noting that the films, in which Faten Hamama worked with Chahine,
were quite remarkable for revealing the hidden potentials of our actress,
setting her free from traditional roles. This is why these aster pieces have
kept their values and originality up to this day. In "A conflict I the port",
she plays an untraditional role in very traditional film. A film that adopts
the ideology of the commercial Egyptian cinema in seeking to reconcile
classes, but this is achieved through realistic events and facts.
In "The Dead End", based on a novel by Ehsan Abd El Koudous, Faten Hamama
plays a new role which perfectly suits her standing as a figure cherished in
the hearts of her audiences. In this picture, she is a girl who denounces the
corruption of her bourgeois class. She leaves Cairo for the country side
hoping to find a healthier and better life, but little by little she discovers
that corruption is the order of the day in the pre revolution society and not
only peculiar to her class.

III. The Stage of Maturity 1959 - 1965

The second turning point in Faten Hamama's artistic life was in 1959 with
Henry Barakat in film " The Curlew's Supplications" (1959) based on a novel by
Taha Hussein. This film was the turning point; Faten Hamama began to select
her roles very carefully. Established writers based most of her following
films on literary texts.
During this period she acted in ten films of high artistic values. Her
cooperation with directors was more or less limited to three: Henry Barakat,
Salah Abu Seif, and Kamal El Sheikh.
Here we will take a look at her films with those directors.
In "The Curlew's Supplicaisons" Faten Hamama played a complex character.
Amina, a girl who hails from the heart of Upper Egypt, acquires a certain
level of education as a maid at the mayor's house. However she is met by great
calamity when the village's agricultural officer, whom, she served later as a
maid in order to get revenge for her sister who got killed by her maternal
uncle after discovering the relation, seduces her sister. But as time passes
she finally falls in love with the man.

In "The River of Love" 1960 directed by Ez El Din Zulfikar, based on Tolstoy's
Anna Karenina, she plays the role of a woman who rebels against the corruption
of the class she is forced to belong to as the wife of a cruel fuddle pasha.
At the same time she is attracted towards a handsome and charming officer.
In film "Don't blow off the Sun", directed by Salah Abu Seif, and based on a
novel by Ehsan Abd El Koudouss, Faten Hamama presents a completely different
character, a character that resembles none of her previous ones. A bourgeois
woman condemns the failure and inertia of her class, ad who has a relationship
almost declared with middle aged married man in defiance of all social codes.
Again she worked with Salah Abu Seif in "No Time For Love" 1963, a film based
on a novel by the late writer Youssef Idriss. Here she plays the mature girl
whose political awareness and emotional maturity has her engaged to leftist
activities. She starts to support her country's cause through this love she
has for him.

In the same year, she played her first psychological role in " The Last Night"
1963, directed by Kamal El Sheikh. Here, her acting is reminiscent of
Hitchcock's films. In this suspense, drama, Faten Hamama plays a double
character. A woman who lives in the form of another woman for 20 years. Her
husband intentionally leaves her in the dark, doubting every thing around her,
even her true identity.

Undoubtedly, the best film of Barakat is "The Taboo" 1956, which is based on a
novel by Youssef Idriss. In this film our ginious actress portrays a new and
strange character, Aziza, one of itinerant farm laborers, the lowest rank in
the social ladder of pre revolution Egyptian countryside. In this film Aziza
falls, but her fall is not really an oral fall. But, as the late critic Samy
El Salamony put it:"Her fall was a result of prevailing relations and
circumstances in the Egyptian country sides at that tie. These are
circumstances, which could make another Aziza easily fall everyday. Her fall
was priarily material.

From 1965 - 1971, Faten Hamama did not participate in any pictures, but she
was back in 1971 with a new vision and a different film genre. These we can
call the social theses films, or films that deeply approach one of the urgent
issues of the contemporary Egyptian woman. In this period Faten Hamama
presented six of her greatest films: "The Thin Thread" 1972, directed by Henry
Barakat, "The Empire M" 1972, directed by Hussein Kamal, "My Love" 1974,
directed by Barakat, " I Need A Solution" 1975, directed by Said Marzouk,
"Mouths and Rabbits" 1977 and No Condolences for Ladies" 1977 directed by
Henry Barakat.

Faten Hamama stopped working again for another five years, only to come back
in 1984 with one of her most significant films: "Night of Arresting Fatma"
directed by Henry Barakat. As mentioned earlier, most of her pictures at this
stage were based o literary texts. "The Thin Thread" and "The Empire " were
adapted from two novels by written by Ehsan Abd El Kodouss. The images of
woman in each film are completely different from one another. "The Thin
Thread" highlights the relation between love and desire through the story of a
bourgeois woman who loves a young engineer and hopes to marry hi in order to
provide herself with the stability when yearned for. She gives him every
thing, hoping that her favors will be returned. To her own surprise and
dismay, he drifts away to start his own individual career.

The two most important films Faten Hamama presented I this period were " I
Need a Solution" and "No Condolences For Ladies", which were influential to
the point of changing some courses of events in Egypt. Both films are by
women. The first written by the journalist Hosn Shah, whilst the second writen
by Katia Thabet. The two films dealt with feminine issues and presented a very
dark picture of the contemporary Egyptian woman. Still considered inferior to
man, her human right is ignored because of man's aggressive adherence to the
rights given to hi by the law, but which had to change to keep up with changes
in modern life. " I Need a Solution" denounced some articles in the personal
law. It is worth noting that this film together with other several efforts
resulted in changing the law in favor of women. " No Condolences for Ladies"
is almost the sequel to the first film. This film portrays the nature of the
relationship between society and the divorced woman, and tells how the society
in most cases is unfair to her.

In film "Night of Arresting Fatma", the film before her latest one, Faten
Hamama presented an image of woman as a symbol of the consciousness of the
people who re obliged to suppress their opinions due to the alliance between
authority and money in Egypt over the past three decades.

Faten Hamama had another hiaus from 1984 - 1988. In 1988 she appeared in film
"Bitter day, Sweet Day" which dealt with up to date social issues; to be
evident in the disintegration of relationships in present society. Faten
Hamam's choice of this film indicated high artistic ad social sensitivity.
In interviews with Faten Hamama she stresses on the point that she wants to
return to her audiences, but with a new vision. For their part, her audiences
are eagerly awaiting their Idol's new offerings.