Salah Abu Seif

Salah Abu Seif

🎬 Egyptian film director and one of the pioneers of realistic cinema

📅 Born: May 10, 1915 – Beni Suef, Egypt

✝ Died: June 22, 1996 – Cairo, Egypt

🌍 Nationality: Egyptian

🎥 Number of films: 41

🏆 Awards: His films participated in international festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Moscow, and Berlin

🎭 Biography

👶 Early Life:

Born in the village of Al-Houma in Beni Suef, he lost his father at a young age and was raised strictly by his mother. After completing his education, he joined the School of Commerce and later worked at the Textile Company in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, where he developed an interest in theater.

🎬 Cinematic Beginnings:

Started his film career in editing and became the head of the editing department at Studio Misr for 10 years.

Worked as an assistant director to Kamal Selim on the film Al-Azima (1939), the first realistic Egyptian film.

Traveled to France to study cinema but returned due to World War II.

🎥 Notable Films

🔹 Classic Realistic Films:

🏆 Shabab Imraa (A Woman’s Youth) – 1956

🎭 Bidaya wa Nihaya (The Beginning and the End) – 1960 – First adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz’s work

🎢 Bayn El Samaa wa El Ard (Between Heaven and Earth) – 1960

🌆 Cairo 30 (1966)

💔 Al-Zawga Al-Thaniya (The Second Wife) – 1967

🔹 Social and Humanitarian Films:

🛤 El-Fetewa (The Tough Guy) – 1957

💼 La Tutf'e Al-Shams (Don’t Put Out the Sun) – 1961

🔥 Hammam El-Malatyli (Malatyli Bathhouse) – 1973

🏜 Fajr Al-Islam (The Dawn of Islam) – 1971

🔹 Historical and International Films:

⚔ Al-Qadisiyyah (1982) – A historical film featuring Arab stars

🔹 Later Works:

🏡 Al-Bidaya (The Beginning) – 1986

👤 Al-Mowaten Masry (The Egyptian Citizen) – 1991

🎭 El-Sayed Kaf – 1994

✍ Contributions in Screenwriting and Editing

📜 Films He Wrote:

✒ Raya wa Skeina (1953)

🎭 Al-Wahsh (The Beast) – 1954

💔 Al-Tariq Al-Masdoud (The Dead End) – 1957

🎞 Cairo 30 (1966)

✂ Editing Work:

🎬 Al-Azima (1939)

🎵 Gharam wa Intiqam (Love and Revenge) – 1944

🏅 Awards and Cinematic Legacy

🏆 Awards and Honors:

His films competed in Cannes, Moscow, Berlin, and Venice

German critic Erika Richter described him as "The Master of Realistic Films in Egypt"

Served as a jury member at the Moscow International Film Festival (1977)

📽 Cinematic Impact:

Salah Abu Seif is regarded as the godfather of realistic cinema, addressing social and political issues boldly, making him one of the pillars of Egyptian and Arab cinema.