Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1997 • Egypt
Starring Nour el-Sherif, Laila Eloui, Khaled el-Nabawy
As 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 historical panorama, made in reaction to the unprecedented wave of Islamic terrorism that rocked Egypt in the nineties. DESTINY centers on the twelfth-century Islamic philosopher, judge, and polymath Ibn Rushd, commonly known in the West as Averroes. In the Arab-ruled Spanish province of Andalusia, the brilliant Averroës (Nour el-Sherif) lives at the center of a secular, multicultural world of learning and open inquiry—until a sect of extremists set out to suppress everything he represents.
Up Next in Directed by Youssef Chahine
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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...
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Lady of the Train
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1952 • Egypt
Starring Laila Mourad, Yehia Chahine, Emad HamdyA dark, roiling melodrama of greed, deception, and toxic love, Youssef Chahine’s stylish, noir-tinged third feature casts legendary chanteuse Laila Mourad as a singer whose no-good, gambling addict husba...
