Country: Egypt
Year: 1954
Duration: 95'
Ahmad, an employee with a heart defect, loses both his job and his wife. One day he sends his daughter Samira to the pharmacy to buy some medicine. The pharmacist realizes that he has given the girl a different medicine than the one prescribed, and that the mistake could prove fatal to Ahmad. He reports the accident, and the police begin to search the streets of Cairo looking for the girl, but without success. Ahmad's wife, after hearing an appeal on the radio, manages to save him.
"I consider this my first important film. It is the only one I wrote the screenplay for. Although the film has none of those elements that are typical of a certain type of Egyptian commercial cinema, I showed it to Asia Dagher after three months of hesitation. But I was certain that Asia [a pioneer of Egyptian cinema], and any other producer, would have refused it. But, to my great surprise, Asia agreed to produce it" (Kamal Al Sheikh, in an interview with Samir Farid, published in "The Cairo Film Club Bulletin", March 1, 1972).
Biography
film director
Kamal Al Sheikh
Kamal Al Sheikh (1919). Director, screenwriter and editor, he began his artistic career in the editing department of Studio Misr in 1938. In 1943 he edited the film Al Bu'asà (Les misérables), directed by Kamal Salim. He has made over 35 feature films and four documentary short films Sadat al ma'arik (The War Lords, 1953), Mu'ahadat al gialà (The Accord on England's Removal of its Army from Egypt, 1954), Hadihi hiya Suriyya (This is Syria, 1958), Hiwar (Conversation, 1972).
FILMOGRAFIA
Al manzil raqam 13 (La casa numero 13, 1952), Mu'amara (Complotto, 1953), Hayat aw mawt (Vita o morte, 1954), Hubb wa dumu'e (Amore e lacrime, 1955), Al gharib (Lo straniero, co-regia Fattin Abdu Al Wahab, 1956), Hubb wa i'dam (Amore e esecuzione, 1956), Ardu al salam (La terra della pace, 1957), Ardu al ahlam (La terra dei sogni, 1957), Tuggiaru al mawt (I commercianti della morte, 1957), Al malak al saghir (Il piccolo angelo, 1958), Saiyyidatu al qassr (La signora del palazzo, 1958), Min ajli imra'a (Per una donna, 1959), Qalbun yahtariq (Un cuore che brucia, 1959), Min ajli hubbi (Per il mio amore, 1959), Malak wa shaittan (Angelo e diavolo, 1960), Hubbi al wahid (Il mio unico amore, 1960), Lan a'tarif (Non confesserò, 1961), Al liss wa al kilab (Il ladro e i cani, 1962), Al shaittanu al saghir (Il piccolo diavolo, 1963), Al laila al akhira (L'ultima notte, 1963), Al kha'ina (La traditrice, 1965), Thalathat lussus (Tre ladri, film a episodi, co-regia Hasan Al Imam e Fattin Abdu Al Wahab, 1966), Al mukharribun (I sabotatori, 1967), Al ragiul alladhi faqada dhillahu (L' uomo che ha perduto la sua ombra, 1968), Miramar (1969), Bi'ru al hirman (Il pozzo della privazione, 1969), Ghurub wa shuruq (Crepuscolo e aurora, 1970), Shai'un Fi Sadri (Qualcosa nel mio cuore, 1971), Al harib (Il fuggitivo, 1974), Al Man Nuttliqu Al Rassas (Su chi spariamo, 1975), Sana ula hubb (Primo anno d'amore, co-regia Salah Abu Seif, Atif Salem, Hilmi Rafla e Niazi Mustafa, 1976), Wa thlithuhum al shaittan (Il terzo è il diavolo, 1978), Al su'ud ila al hawiya (L'ascesa verso l'abisso, 1978), Al tauws (Il pavone, 1982), Qahiru al zaman (Il domatore del tempo, 1987).
Cast
& Credits
Regia e Plot: Kamal Al Sheikh.
Sceneggiatura e dialoghi: Ali Al Zarqani.
Director of photography: Ahmad Khurshid.
Art director: Maher Abdu Al Nur.
Editor: Amira Fayid.
Sound: Nevio Orfanelli.
Cast and characters: Duha Amir (Samira), Imad Hamdi (Ahmad), Madiha Yusri, Yusuf Wahbi, Husein Riyad, Rushdi Abadha, Adli Kaseb, Abdu Al Mun'im Basiyuni.
Production company and Italian distribution: Lotus Film.
Sceneggiatura e dialoghi: Ali Al Zarqani.
Director of photography: Ahmad Khurshid.
Art director: Maher Abdu Al Nur.
Editor: Amira Fayid.
Sound: Nevio Orfanelli.
Cast and characters: Duha Amir (Samira), Imad Hamdi (Ahmad), Madiha Yusri, Yusuf Wahbi, Husein Riyad, Rushdi Abadha, Adli Kaseb, Abdu Al Mun'im Basiyuni.
Production company and Italian distribution: Lotus Film.