Salah Abouseif

Salah Abu Seif was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors and is considered to be the father of Neorealist cinema in Egyptian cinema. Many of his films are considered Egyptian classics; 11 of Abu Seif's films are included in the list of the 100 best Egyptian films, according to the critics' poll, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first cinema show in Alexandria (1896-1996). Abu Seif graduated from Cairo's College of Commerce and Economics in 1932 while working as a freelance reporter covering movie stars. His path to filmmaking began when he met Egyptian director Niazi Mostafa during a factory shoot, where Abu Seif worked as a clerk. This encounter led to a job as a film editor, and he spent a decade at Studio Misr, first as an accountant and later as an editor. In 1939, Abu Seif won a scholarship to study film in Paris. Within five years of his return in 1942, he had established himself as one of the most avant-garde second generation film-makers in the country. He pioneered shooting on location - though he also used reconstructions - in places none of his predecessors had dared to visit, like ghurza (the equivalent of old Chinese opium dens), brothels and impoverished areas whose existence had never been officially acknowledged.