Salah Abu Seif

Salah Abu Seif (صلاح أبو سيف‎; 1915 – 1996) was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors. Many of the 41 films he directed, many of which were based on novels by Naguib Mahfouz, are considered Egyptian classics. Known as the Godfather of Egyptian neorealism, Abu Seif pioneered shooting on location - though he also used sets - 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.

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Agony of Love (1960)

Amal marries the train driver Mahmoud, who treats her harshly. She feels neglected despite her husband's presence, Mahmoud travels to another city and asks his assistant Hassan to look after his wife. During his absence, Amal expresses admiration for Hassan's ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shadia  •  Omar Sharif  •  Ahmed Mazhar  •  Aziza Helmy

Amal marries the train driver Mahmoud, who treats her harshly. She feels neglected despite her husband's presence, Mahmoud travels to another city and asks his assistant Hassan to look after his wife. During his absence, Amal expresses admiration for Hassan's ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shadia  •  Omar Sharif  •  Ahmed Mazhar  •  Aziza Helmy

Don't Blow Out the Sun (1961)

An aristocratic family is torn down after the death of its patriarch. He leaves alone his widow wife and five of his daughters and sons. His eldest son, Ahmed (Shukry Sarhan), takes the role of the man in the house and helps his mother take care of his brother and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Nadia Lotfi  •  Ahmed Ramzy  •  Laila Taher

An aristocratic family is torn down after the death of its patriarch. He leaves alone his widow wife and five of his daughters and sons. His eldest son, Ahmed (Shukry Sarhan), takes the role of the man in the house and helps his mother take care of his brother and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Nadia Lotfi  •  Ahmed Ramzy  •  Laila Taher

The Beginning (1986)

After a crash, a group of passengers are stranded in the desert. They attempt to cope with their new conditions as the most privileged of them all, an overpaid lawyer, declares himself a dictator of the nearby oasis and names it after him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Yousra  •  Gamil Ratib  •  Souad Nasr  •  Ahmed Zaki

After a crash, a group of passengers are stranded in the desert. They attempt to cope with their new conditions as the most privileged of them all, an overpaid lawyer, declares himself a dictator of the nearby oasis and names it after him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Yousra  •  Gamil Ratib  •  Souad Nasr  •  Ahmed Zaki

The Revenge-Seeker (1947)

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DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Nour El Hoda  •  Ahmed Salem

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DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Nour El Hoda  •  Ahmed Salem

Shari al-bahlawan (1949)

Pretty woman suffer from jealousy of her husband .  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Camelia  •  Kamal Al-Shenawy  •  Hassan Fayek  •  Ismail Yasseen

Pretty woman suffer from jealousy of her husband .  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Camelia  •  Kamal Al-Shenawy  •  Hassan Fayek  •  Ismail Yasseen

Sleepless (1957)

Spoiled rich girl Nadia gets jealous after finding out her father's plan to remarry. She tries to break them apart, spreading lies about her new mother-in-law and getting involved with a man twice her age.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Omar Sharif  •  Mariam Fakhr Eddine

Spoiled rich girl Nadia gets jealous after finding out her father's plan to remarry. She tries to break them apart, spreading lies about her new mother-in-law and getting involved with a man twice her age.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Omar Sharif  •  Mariam Fakhr Eddine

The Barred Road (1958)

Faiza is raised in a family where the mother and the two sisters work in illegal acts. They try to drag her in with them but she refuses. She studies to become a school teacher and decides to move to the countryside away from them, but she finds other temptations ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Ahmed Mazhar  •  Shoukry Sarhan  •  Zouzou Mady

Faiza is raised in a family where the mother and the two sisters work in illegal acts. They try to drag her in with them but she refuses. She studies to become a school teacher and decides to move to the countryside away from them, but she finds other temptations ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Faten Hamama  •  Ahmed Mazhar  •  Shoukry Sarhan  •  Zouzou Mady

Between Heaven and Earth (1959)

In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Hind Rostom  •  Abdelsalam El Nabolsi  •  Abdel Moneim Ibrahim  •  Mahmoud El Meligy

In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Hind Rostom  •  Abdelsalam El Nabolsi  •  Abdel Moneim Ibrahim  •  Mahmoud El Meligy

Three Women (1969)

Three different stories about three women. Three women, the first (Hana), who loves (Adel), but she meets (Sami) to also fall in love with him, the second widow (Tawahida), who loves (Yusef) the employee of the Muslim Council, but he is married, and the third ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif  •  Henry Barakat  •  Mahmoud Zulfiqar
CAST:  Mervat Amin  •  Salah Zulfikar  •  Huda Sultan  •  Sabah

Three different stories about three women. Three women, the first (Hana), who loves (Adel), but she meets (Sami) to also fall in love with him, the second widow (Tawahida), who loves (Yusef) the employee of the Muslim Council, but he is married, and the third ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif  •  Henry Barakat  •  Mahmoud Zulfiqar
CAST:  Mervat Amin  •  Salah Zulfikar  •  Huda Sultan  •  Sabah

A Bit of Torment (1969)

When her stepfather tries to rape her, Amal kills him and flees. She finds refuge in the house of the fine artist Ahmed Khaled who falls for her, but his protégé, the sculptor Sherif, also falls for her and competes with Ahmed to win her favor.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Soad Hosny  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Hassan Youssef  •  Abdel Moneim Madbouly

When her stepfather tries to rape her, Amal kills him and flees. She finds refuge in the house of the fine artist Ahmed Khaled who falls for her, but his protégé, the sculptor Sherif, also falls for her and competes with Ahmed to win her favor.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Soad Hosny  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Hassan Youssef  •  Abdel Moneim Madbouly

Dawn of Islam (1971)

This is the story of young Hassem, the son of a powerful sheik, set at the beginning of Hegira. When the youngster's uncle is murdered, Hassem decides to go to Mecca with a view to finding the culprit and punishing him. But what he discovers there is not the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Hamdy Ahmed  •  Malnya Ahmed  •  Abdel Rahman Ali  •  Mahmoud Moursy

This is the story of young Hassem, the son of a powerful sheik, set at the beginning of Hegira. When the youngster's uncle is murdered, Hassem decides to go to Mecca with a view to finding the culprit and punishing him. But what he discovers there is not the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Hamdy Ahmed  •  Malnya Ahmed  •  Abdel Rahman Ali  •  Mahmoud Moursy

The Criminal (1978)

Monier takes advantage of Zaghloul's naivety to take advantage of his family's financial resources to fund his gambling addiction. But he takes it one step further when he throws Zaghloul into the Nile and pretends that he couldn't save him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shams El-Barudy  •  Hassan Youssef  •  Mohamed Awad  •  Sohair El Barooni

Monier takes advantage of Zaghloul's naivety to take advantage of his family's financial resources to fund his gambling addiction. But he takes it one step further when he throws Zaghloul into the Nile and pretends that he couldn't save him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shams El-Barudy  •  Hassan Youssef  •  Mohamed Awad  •  Sohair El Barooni

The Liar (1975)

When Hamdy publishes an investigative report condemning the owner of a textile company and accusing him of embezzlement and bribery, the owner tries to clear his name by getting the factory workers and Hamdy to change their testimony.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Mahmoud Yassine  •  Mervat Amin  •  Madiha Kamel  •  Shwikar

When Hamdy publishes an investigative report condemning the owner of a textile company and accusing him of embezzlement and bribery, the owner tries to clear his name by getting the factory workers and Hamdy to change their testimony.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Mahmoud Yassine  •  Mervat Amin  •  Madiha Kamel  •  Shwikar

This is Love (1958)

Hussein is a conservative engineer who finds a perfect wife in Sherifa whom he thinks has never been in love. Ten days into their marriage, he learns that she had a past affair, and he merely regards her as a fallen woman.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Lobna Abdel Aziz  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Mahmoud Azmy  •  Abdel Moneim Ibrahim

Hussein is a conservative engineer who finds a perfect wife in Sherifa whom he thinks has never been in love. Ten days into their marriage, he learns that she had a past affair, and he merely regards her as a fallen woman.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Lobna Abdel Aziz  •  Yehia Chahine  •  Mahmoud Azmy  •  Abdel Moneim Ibrahim

A Woman's Youth (1956)

A rural mother sells her only cow in order to enroll her son, an imam (Shukri Sarhan) at Dar al-Uloom College. When an imam arrives in Cairo, he rents a room in the Citadel area from a domineering woman named Shafa'at (Tahiya Karioka) who is fascinated by his youth ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shadia  •  Tahiya Cariocca  •  Shoukry Sarhan  •  Abdel Warith Assir

A rural mother sells her only cow in order to enroll her son, an imam (Shukri Sarhan) at Dar al-Uloom College. When an imam arrives in Cairo, he rents a room in the Citadel area from a domineering woman named Shafa'at (Tahiya Karioka) who is fascinated by his youth ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Shadia  •  Tahiya Cariocca  •  Shoukry Sarhan  •  Abdel Warith Assir

Letter from an Unknown Woman (1962)

A famous singer, who is known for being a womanizer, meets his neighbor who is enamored with him and sleeps with her. When she gives birth, she has to leave her past behind and forget about her flippant ex-lover to look after her son.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Farid Al-Atrash  •  Lobna Abdel Aziz  •  Mary Moneib  •  Amina Rizk

A famous singer, who is known for being a womanizer, meets his neighbor who is enamored with him and sleeps with her. When she gives birth, she has to leave her past behind and forget about her flippant ex-lover to look after her son.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Farid Al-Atrash  •  Lobna Abdel Aziz  •  Mary Moneib  •  Amina Rizk

Mr. K (1994)

In villa Sonsen, a wealthy woman named Kismat Hanim lives with her relatives: her brother-in-law Kamel, his son, the singer Fouad, her business manager Qadri and her secretary Laila. Kismat has a spoiled dog that everyone is forced to serve and they all compete to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Sanaa Gamil  •  Abdel Moneim Madbouly  •  Anoushka  •  Hassan Hussein

In villa Sonsen, a wealthy woman named Kismat Hanim lives with her relatives: her brother-in-law Kamel, his son, the singer Fouad, her business manager Qadri and her secretary Laila. Kismat has a spoiled dog that everyone is forced to serve and they all compete to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Salah Abu Seif
CAST:  Sanaa Gamil  •  Abdel Moneim Madbouly  •  Anoushka  •  Hassan Hussein
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