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Birth Name:
Gabriel Youssef Chahine
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Religion:
Christian
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Family Roots:
Syria-Lebanon-Greece-Italy.
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Nicknames:
Joe, El Ostaz, Gaby, Maestro.
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Date of birth: January
25th, 1926
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Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
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Birthplace: Alexandria,
Egypt
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Current Location:
Zamalek - Cairo, Egypt
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Education: * Pasadena
Playhouse, Pasadena, California, acting and film, 1948
* Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, engineering
* Victoria College (high school).
. Job Titles:
Director, Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
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Married Status:
wife, Colette Favaudon
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Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983.
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Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1980
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Timeline: |
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1948
Returned to Egypt from California; worked with Egyptian-born Italian
documentarist Gianni Vernuccio; introduced to film production by cameraman
Alvisi Orfanelli, "the pioneer of Egyptian cinema"
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1949
Feature directing debut, "Baba Amin/Papa Amin"
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1951
He was first invited to the Cannes Film festival with LE FILS DU NIL (IBN
EL NIL).
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1953
Credited with discovering actor Omar Sharif (acting under his real name
Michel Shalhoub) who made his debut in Chahine's first major film, the
political drama "Struggle in the Valley/The Blazing Sky"
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1958
First screen collaboration with writer Naguib Mahfouz, "Gamila Buhrayed/Jamila
the Algerian"
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1958
Helmed "Bab al-Hadid/Cairo Station", considered by some critics as one of
his finest films
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1964
Left country for voluntary exile in Lebanon due to conflict with
government film authorities; made first film in Lebanon, 1965's "Bayya'
al-khawatim/The Ring Seller" (date approximate)
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1968
Directed first Egyptian-Soviet coproduction, "Al-Nas fi'l-Nil/People of
the Nile/Men of the Nile" (made in 1968, released in 1972 after two
revisions demanded by censors)
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1973
Formed own production comapny, Misr International Productions and directed
first Egyptian-Algerian co-production, "Al Usfur/The Sparrow"
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1976
Suffered heart attack and had open heart surgery in London which led to
his beginning the autobiographical "Alexandria...Why?" (1977) (date
approximate)
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1979
He was awarded the Silver Bear prize and the Grand Jury prize for
ALEXANDRIE POURQUOI (ISKANDERIJA LIH) the first installment in what will
prove to be an autobiographic trilogy completed by LA MEMOIRE (ADDUTA
MISRIJIA) (1982) and ALEXANDRIE ENCORE ET TOUJOURS (ISKANDERIJIA KAMAN OUE
KAMAN) (1990)
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1982
Continued autobiographical filmmaking with "Hadduta misriya/An Egyptian
Story"
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1985
Wrote and directed "Adieu Bonaparte", about Napoleon's Egyptian campaign
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1994
Directed and scripted "The Emmigrant", a retelling of the Biblical story
of Joseph fromthe Egyptian perspective
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1997
Co-wrote and directed "Al Massir/Destiny", a biographical feature about
the Muslim philosopher Averroes who ran into conflicts with
fundamentalists in 12th Century Spain
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1997
Honored at the Cannes Film Festival for the body of his work
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1998
Subject of a retrospective at the New York Film Festival; US premiere of
"Destiny"
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1999
Helmed "L'Autre/El Akhar/The Other";
opened Un Certain Regard in the Cannes festival.
Also screened at the New York Film Festival
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2001
"Silence ... We're Rolling" screened at the New York Film Festival.
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2004
ALEXANDRIE... NEW YORK. The film reassesses more than 50 years of
filmmaking.
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F A C T S .