Films byTexts by 1996
Article EN
20.01.2021
The Cavalier

Shadi Abdel Salam carried two cultures within him: he was born and raised in Alexandria, and his mother and maternal ancestors came from Al-Minieh. He travelled in two worlds: that of the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria and its rich Hellenic heritage, and that of Al-Minieh, the pearl of Upper Egypt, imbued with traditions and customs drawing their rigidity from distant pharaonic origins. Although he looked like a noble cavalier, with matching gentleman-like qualities, fluent in English, French and Italian, he always remained that austere son of Upper Egypt, linked to his ancestors who lie inside the tombs dug into the hills of Thebes by a very long history.

Article EN
20.01.2021
The Mummy

On 16 December 1969, The Mummy was shown for the first time to the audience of the Cairo Film Club, which included many intellectuals. In the dark, Shadi Abdel Salam waited for the reaction of his family and friends to this new work of art. All were moved by the film’s sober technique and by its theme, which was deeply touching for Egyptians: a sacred theme presented in a new form – the language of film – and accompanied by the sincerity that’s in harmony with this people.

Article EN
20.01.2021
Counting the Years

Shadi Abdel Salam’s Words

A biographical chronicle of Egyptian screenwriter, costume and set designer, and filmmaker Shadi Abdel Salam (1930-1986) narrated by means of a collection of excerpted interviews.

“I am from both Upper Egypt and Alexandria … the son of conservative families from Minya and Alexandria. My father was a lawyer, a man of the law … My name is Shādī Muhammad Mahmūd ‘Abd al-Salām.”

FILM
Crash
David Cronenberg, 1996, 100’

After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

 

FILM
La promesse
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 1996, 90’

Roger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father’s orders.

 

FILM
Mission: Impossible
Brian De Palma, 1996, 110’

“I’ve always had the inverse quote to Godard: film lies 24 times a second. And anybody that’s used to using moving images like a film director, when we see stuff on TV, it’s all positioning and public relations, there’s not an ounce of truth to any of it.

FILM
Daijiga umule pajinnal
The Day a Pig Fell into the Well
Hong Sang-soo, 1996, 115’

“The women are the true heroes, the brave ones. Violated (defeated?), as they are, they remain the masters of time, of the time that divides the past and the present of the story, of all the time lost to the men.

FILM
Amsterdam Global Village
Johan van der Keuken, 1996, 245’

In this documentary on the international city of Amsterdam, the director has taken a careful look at a variety of the city’s inhabitants, tracing their activities and roots out into third-world countries and regions and back to the city again.

Article NL
7.03.2016
Over Manoel de Oliveira

Maar er was een koppigheid in zijn bewustzijn, dat van een eenzame man die door zijn camera heen reageerde op wat hij zag, in een poging om te onderscheiden waar het goede en waar het kwade was, waar, in wat hij zag, de krachten van de dingen schuilde. Men voelde duidelijk zijn twijfel. En te midden van de strijd, van de twijfel, was er plotseling de vastberadenheid: zo’n standpunt, zo’n kader.

Compilation NL FR EN
14.02.2015
Hossein Sabzian II

“Exactly half my life was spent in the dark. My life itself was in the dark. I’ve never seen my life in focus. It’s all been a blurred image.”

Compilation NL FR EN
31.01.2013
Hossein Sabzian

“Cinema is important to me. It’s like a prism. A good film... is part of my life. With every good film I see, I feel reborn.”