Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1965 • Egypt
Starring Seif Abdel-Rahman, Sanaa Gamil, Youssef Chahine
Cited by director Youssef Chahine as one of his personal favorites among his films, this florid Sirkian melodrama that doubles as a subversive portrait of class conflict in the aftermath of the 1952 Egyptian revolution. Sanaa Gamil—one of Egypt’s greatest character actors—gives a deeply felt performance as Naila, the disaffected, fortysomething wife of a wealthy, vain man whose search for meaning leads her into an affair with a poor college student (Seif Abdel-Rahman) twenty years her junior. But in a society rocked by revolution, can love transcend the social forces that separate them? DAWN OF A NEW DAY features some of the most gorgeous photography in Chahine’s oeuvre, courtesy of the great cinematographer Abdel-Aziz Fahmy.
Up Next in Directed by Youssef Chahine
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Destiny
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1997 • Egypt
Starring Nour el-Sherif, Laila Eloui, Khaled el-NabawyAs a liberal humanist whose ideals were often at odds with the encroaching forces of religious fundamentalism, director Youssef Chahine found rich personal resonances in this urgent and engaging hi...
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Father Amin
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1950 • Egypt
Starring Faten Hamama, Hussein Riad, Farid ShawqiYoussef Chahine’s debut feature—made at the age of just twenty-four, shortly after his time studying acting in Los Angeles—is a touching, bighearted blend of family drama and fantasy (with musical numbe...
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Farewell My Love
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1956 • Egypt
Starring Farid al-Atrash, Shadia, Ahmed RamzyYoussef Chahine’s love for classic Hollywood musicals shines through his own exuberant forays into the genre, including this inventive and offbeat blend of singing, dancing, and melodrama. Beloved singer-st...
