Foreign and Co-productions
Youssef Chahine
Adieu Bonaparte! (Wada‘n Bonaparte)
Chahine went to Lebanon and created what has been termed one of the best musical comedies of the Arab cinema, The Ring Seller (Bayaa’ el Khâwatim) in 1964. He followed with the Lebanese-Egyptian-Spanish co-production Golden Sands (1967), a remake of the bullfighting film Blood and Sand (1922 and 1941). Delays in filming and the eventual box-office failure of Golden Sands caused the director to return to his native land.
After the Six Day War in 1967, Chahine was selected to helm the first Soviet-Egyptian co-production, Once upon a time … the Nile (1968-1972), about the building of the Aswan dam. The film, however, was not released until 1972 as it underwent extensive editing demanded by the censors.
He also co-produced with the former ONCIC in Algeria The Sparrow (El ‘Osfour) in 1974 and The Return of the Prodigal Son (‘Awdat el-ibn el dâll) in 1976 and later with the French ministry of Culture and French Television for his more expensive projects, such as Adieu Bonaparte! (Wada‘n Bonaparte) in 1985, Alexandria Again and Forever (Iskandariyyah Kamân we Kamân) in 1990, The Emigrant (El Mouhâguir) 1994, and The Destiny (El Massîr) 1997.
Foreign & Co-produced Documentaries
1972 Salwa the Girl who Talked to Cows
UNICEF production
1974 Forward We Go
(Intilak)
Documentary (Co-produced with Algeria)
Foreign & Co-produced Feature Films
1964 The Ring Seller
(Bayaa’ el Khâwatim)
Lebanese production
1966 Golden Sands (Rimâl min Dahab)
Lebanese-Moroccan co-production
1968 Once upon a time … the Nile
(El Nîl wa-l-haya)
Soviet-Egyptian co-production
1973 The Sparrow (El ‘Osfour)
Co-produced with Algeria
1984 Adieu Bonaparte! (Wada‘n Bonaparte)
Co-produced with France
1986 The Sixth Day (El Yawm el Sâdis)
Co-produced with France
1989 Alexandria Again and Forever (Iskandariyyah Kamân we Kamân)
Co-produced with France
1994 The Emigrant (El Mouhâguir)
Co-produced with France
1997 Destiny (El Massîr)
Co-produced with France
1999 The Other (El âkhar)
Co-produced with France
2000 11’09’01’
French production (In collaboration with eleven directors)
2001 Silence.. We’re rolling
(Sokout.. ha nesawar)
Co-produced with France
Foreign-produced Plays
1993 Caligula
Comédie Française production
Tewfik Saleh
Saleh often came up against censorship and bureaucracy, was turned down by the private sector and had great difficulties realizing his plans in the public sector. That is why he decided to leave for Syria in 1969 to seek foreign production. He also managed to secure funding for his feature film, Long Days (el ayyam el tawila), from the Iraqi Theatre and Film Organization.
Feature Films
1972 The Duped
(el makdu’un)
Syrian Production
1980 Long Days
(el ayyam el tawila)
Iraqi Production
Documentaries
1977 The Dawn of Civilisation
Iraqi Production
Asma el Bakri
Asma found difficulty in securing funding for her cinematic projects because her films were set apart from the mainstream commercial cinema of her country. To make her films, Asma sought co-productions as in Beggars and Nobles (Shahhatin wa nubala’), and Concert in the Street of Happiness (Kunchirtu fi darb sa‘da). She also established her own production company, Les Films du Palmier, in 1992 so as not to concede to the demands of the producers.
Foreign and Co-produced Documentaries
1994 Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria
(Mathaf el Iskandariyyah)
Co-produced by les Films du Palmier, Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique (France), Egyptian National Bank and Ministry of Culture
1995 The Nile
French TV Production
2006 Handcraft in the Mediterranean
UNESCO Production
Co-produced Feature Films
1990 Beggars and Nobles
(Shahhatin wa nubala’)
Co-produced by Misr International Films and France
1998 Concert in the Street of Happiness (Kunchirtu fi darb sa‘da)
Co-produced by Misr International Films and France
2004 Violence and Derision (el ‘Unf wa-l-sukhriya)
Co-produced by les Films du Palmier and France
