Country: Egypt
Year: 1937
Duration: 30'
Scenes of everyday life in the oasis of Siwa, in the Egyptian western desert. This film is part documentary and part fiction, memory and present, with the inhabitants who become "actors", playing themselves. The first film shot at Siwa and the first Egyptian movie docu-drama.
"Siwa, fata al sahra was the first film made in the oasis of Siwa, which is located in the western Egyptian desert (…) It is a true docu-drama - as its author likes to define it - because, on one hand it describes the oasis of Siwa, the sand, the tombs, the water and life, telling the stories of the inhabitants' everyday activities, their songs and festivities. It documents the economy that is based on the production of dates and indicates the moment in time by means of a portrait of King Faruq pasted on a wall. But on the other hand, all this is narrated by the story of a dispute between two tribes (the Senusi and the Mubarak), which is placated by the 'sentence of Al Qadi, the wise judge', after which a peaceful celebration crowns the accord" (Samir Farid).
Biography
film director
Victor Stoloff
Victor Stoloff (Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 1913) was the creator, cameraman and editor of Orient Actualities, the first newsreel company in Arabic. He also produced, directed, wrote and edited many films and television programs, and collaborated on series like Hawaii 5-0 and films such as Carmen starring Rita Hayworth, and Boots Malone with William Holden.
FILMOGRAFIA
Siwa, fata al sahrà (Siwa, il ragazzo del deserto, 1937), Little Isles of Freedom (doc., 1942), Sinfonia fatale (1946), Egypt by Three (1953), Intimacy (1966), The 300 Year Weekend (1971), The Washington Affair (A caro prezzo, 1977).
Cast
& Credits
Director: Victor Stoloff.
Soggetto e sceneggiatura: Fernand Crommelynch
Director of photography: François Farkas, Yusuf Maluf.
Voice: Abib Benglia, Amina Mohamed.
Cast: gli abitanti di Siwa.
Production company: James Hamilton Black.
Soggetto e sceneggiatura: Fernand Crommelynch
Director of photography: François Farkas, Yusuf Maluf.
Voice: Abib Benglia, Amina Mohamed.
Cast: gli abitanti di Siwa.
Production company: James Hamilton Black.