Khaled Youssef

Khaled Youssef (Arabic: خالد يوسف‎; born 28 September 1964), is an Egyptian director and film writer. His films are noted for their use of improvisation and a realistic cinéma vérité style. In a career spanning more than three decades, Youssef's films have encompassed many themes and genres. For several audiences, his films were an early prediction for 2010/2011 Arab uprisings. In his films, Youssef has addressed the issues of authoritarianism, lack social justice, poverty, religious intolerance, corruption, restrictions on the freedom of thoughts and opinion, and the sexual violence in the Egyptian and the Arab communities. As a result, he has been targeted by tens of judicial prosecutions and political harassments, motivated by different governments, over decades. Recently, He became a member of the Egyptian Parliament since November 2015.[1]

Early life

He was born in one of the villages in the Nile  Delta,  Egypt (Kafr Shokr) in 1964 to a father who served as a mayor, in addition to being the secretary of the Socialist Union at Kafr Shukr (the only political organization founded during the rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser ). His father greatly influenced his cultural upbringing both on a social and political level due to his strong ideological beliefs and his bias towards Arab Socialism (Nasserism). His father's relationship with Khalid Mohieddine, member of the July 23 Revolution Command  Council, and one of the main symbols of the leftism and socialism in the Arab world impacted him remarkably in his youth and introduced him to considerable amounts of knowledge and experience which greatly contributed to the formation of his ideological beliefs.

Biography

·        He was one of the most prominent leaders of the student movements in the 1980s.

·        He was the head of the Students' Union at  Zagazig University, (Shoubra faculty of Engineering ) Benha Branch, and President of the Union of Egyptian University Students - 1988-1989.

·        He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in 1990.

·        He was the head of the Film Commission, the Supreme Council of Culture, 2012  -2016

·        He was a member of the 50-member committee tasked with writing a final draft of the Egyptian constitution in 2014.

·        Chairman of the High Committee for Festivals, Ministry of Culture,  2016-2012

·        He has been a member of the Egyptian parliament 2015-2020

·        He is one of the most prominent and renowned directors of Arab cinema. His films are critically acclaimed, which helped him succeed in building a large fanbase.

·        His student work led him to develop meaningful relationships with Egypt's leading politicians, intellectuals, and innovators, such as Youssef Chahine who advised him to work in this field when he noticed his talent. He even asked him to participate in a short documentary called "Cairo As Seen by Chahine".  He was given a role as an actor and has since joined the ranks of film students influenced by the school of Youssef Chahine.

·        In 1992, he became a co-director to, Youssef Chahine, in the film "Al Muhajer /The Emigrant", and he also co-authored the script and dialogue for this film with other authors. He then became the executive director of a number of feature films including "Al Maseer","Al Akhar", and "Alexandria New York ", as well as a number of short films including "Kolaha khatwa ", "9/11/2001",  and "Lumière Brothers";  and he assisted Youssef Chahine in writing the story, script, and dialogue for these films. - In 2000, he authored and directed his first film "Al Asifa/ The Storm ", and he obtained the grand prize(Silver Pyramid) of the International Arbitration Committee at Cairo International Cinema Festival, as well as the reward for Best Arabic Film, in addition to the reward for the best director in the National Festival of the Egyptian Cinema. He also participated in many international festivals, such as the San Francisco Festival in the USA.

·        In 2001, he directed his second film "Gwaz Biqarar Gomhoury", and he was awarded the best director reward at the National Festival of the Egyptian Cinema.

·        In 2004, he directed a film named "Enta Omry" and represented Egypt at the Cairo International Cinema Festival. The film received the Best Actress award.

·        In 2005-2006, he wrote and directed 2 films titled "Ouija" and "Khiana Mshroua", which caught people's attention and garnered considerable public support.

·         In 2007, he collaborated with director Youssef Chahine in directing a film called "Heya Fawda", which constituted a rare precedent in the history of the Egyptian cinema. This film represented Egypt in the official Venice International Film Festival.

·        In the same year (2007), he released his film "Hena Mysara", which sparked controversy not only in Egypt but also worldwide as it was widely successful gaining the approval of both the audience and the critics. The film received most of the prizes of the National Festival for  Egyptian Cinema, such as best film, best director, best film set, and best acting awards.

·        In 2008, he released "Al Rayes Omar Harb". The film received the Best Director Award of the National Festival for Egyptian Cinema.

·         In 2009, he completed his ninth film " Dokan Shehata" after he became known for being one of the most prominent Arab directors, and the most controversial one due to the issues tackled by his films. His cinematic style depends on depicting sensitive issues in a visually appealing and entertaining manner.

·        In 2010, he released his tenth film "Kalemni Shokan", through which he presented his own vision regarding the impact of the communication revolution and how it has contributed to changing the values and traditions in the Arab community.  During the same year, he directed his eleventh film"Kaf El Qamar", but he was able to screen it only by the end of 2011 due to the circumstances related to the 25 January Revolution.

·        "Heya Fawda", "Hena Maysara" and "Dokan Shehata" trilogies are considered to be among the movies that highly contributed to revealing the true reality of the situation in Egypt, showing poverty, oppression and injustice witnessed by Egyptians which was the root cause that lit the spark of the 25 January Revolution.

·        According to the 2013 Dubai Festival referendum, Khaled Yousef's films "Heya Fawda" and "Hena maysara" entered the top 100 Arab films list.

·        In 2018, he resumed his filmmaking career and completed his twelfth film "Karma " which he wrote and directed. The film was given the grand prize at the largest African festival (Fespaco festival ), in addition to receiving the European Union prize and winning a dubbing scholarship in French and English for the film.

Career

Acting

  • Al Kahira Monwara Beahliha (1991) - The role of the unemployed
  • Gwaz Biqarar Gomhour (2001) - The role of the director
  • Enta Omri (2004) - The role of Dean of the College
  • Ouija (2005) - The role of assistant director
  • Khyiana Mshroa (2006) The role of Kamal Hanna

Authoring

  • Al Muhajer - (participated in the scenario with others)
  • Al Maseer - screenplay and dialogue with Youssef Shahine
  • El Akhar - scenario and dialogue with Youssef Shahine
  • El Assifa - Author (story and screenplay and dialogue)
  • Gwaz Biqarar Gomhoury – (dramatic vision)
  • Ouija - Author (story and screenplay and dialogue)
  • Khyiana Mshroa - author (story and screenplay and dialogue)
  • Hena Maysara - screenplay and dialogue with Nasser Abdul Rahman
  • Kaf El Kammar - screenplay and dialogue with Nasser Abdul Rahman

Directing

  • 1994 Al Muhajer film by Youssef Shahine (assistant director)
  • 1995 Short film Lumiere brothers by Youssef Shahine (executive director)
  • 1996 Fate film by Youssef Shahine (executive director)
  • 1997 Short film Kolaha khatwa by Youssef Shahine (executive director)
  • 1998 The Other film by Youssef Shahine (executive director)
  • 2000 Storm (director)
  • 2001 Marriage by a presidential decree (director)
  • 2002 Alexandria New York film (executive director)
  • 2004 Enta Omri (director)
  • 2005 Ouija (director)
  • 2006 Khyiana Mshroa (director)
  • 2007 Heya fawda? (director)
  • 2007 Hena Maysara (director)
  • 2008 Rayes Omar Harb (director)
  • 2009 Dokkan Shehata (director)
  • 2010 Kalemni Shokran (director)
  • 2011 Kaf el Kamar (director)
  • 2018 Karma (director)
  • "Andalusia", a four-language historical drama (Arabic, English, French, and Spanish ) featuring a group of international actors and stars.

Personal life

Married to Saudi Formative Artist Shalimar Sharbatly, and has 3 children

Political views

He was one of the prominent leaders of the student movement in the eighties and he was elected to be the head of the Students' Union in his faculty (Faculty of Engineering in Shubra), then (Zagazig University - Banha Branch). Together with the presidents of the Egyptian University Students Unions, he formed the Egyptian Students Union, elected its president, and led numerous student demonstrations and sit-ins that led to his arrest on several occasions.

·        After graduating in 1990, and then joining the cinema industry, he remained a member of the opposition among the national forces and movements, as well as political parties.

·        When he began his filmmaking career, he remained true to his style and made films that reflected the true reality of the Egyptian people and their harsh circumstances, and even foresaw and predicted the revolution that took place more than three years later with all its details, which made it difficult to distinguish between what he had shown in his films before the revolution and what the Egyptian people did in the  25 January Revolution.

When the25 January Revolution actually broke out, he was at the forefront of the ranks of protesters. When some people tried to take advantage of the police's absence and tried to rob the Egyptian Museum, within minutes he managed to release an appeal through many satellite channels urging the Egyptian people to go to the museum to protect it. This had a great impact on Egyptians, who flocked by the thousands and were able to protect the museum from looting, which would have affected the most important monuments in human civilization. He remained in the field with millions of Egyptian protestors until Mubarak was ousted. He remained committed to achieving the goals of this revolution. For this reason, when the Muslim Brotherhood managed to take over it, he did not back down and took on the role of exposing that this brotherhood was an enemy of this revolution. He even predicted the fall of the Brotherhood's rule within a maximum of one year. He remained committed to his stance and vocally stood up against them in all forums and suffered his share of their criminal aggression in front of the Media Production City where his car was vandalized and he barely escaped with his life.  This act did not scare him into dismissing his fight against them.

When a minister of culture affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood was appointed, he and a few colleagues planned to occupy the ministry, hold a sit-in and prevent the minister from entering the ministry to protect Egypt's cultural identity and stop him from imposing the brotherhood's agenda. The sit-in actually took place at the ministry's headquarters. The minister was prevented from entering the ministry for more than a month until June 30 when he joined the rest of the Egyptian people in their revolution, which ousted the Brotherhood's regime. Khaled Youssef was chosen among the 50 Egyptians tasked with drafting the new constitution. When the presidential election began, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi chose him to be part of his advisory committee, along with four national figures. During the long-awaited elections for Egypt's parliament,  he ran as a member of the House of Representatives from his hometown (Kafr Shukr) and won and became a member of the House of Representatives in 2015.

Along with a few fellow members of the House of Representatives, he joined the only alliance opposing the government's policies -(25-30 Alliance  ) - and rejected all the economic and social policies issued by the government, which led to further impoverishment of the people. He voiced his disapproval of the political system in the case of ceding the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which he affirmed belonged to the Egyptians. Then came the final clash in the case of amending the constitution, which he considered to be an attack on all the progress the Egyptians had reached due to the new constitution; he even considered it a betrayal that would mean the blood of martyrs was shed in vain. He even submitted his resignation from Parliament, but it was not accepted and he was threatened with death or imprisonment. As a result, he traveled to Paris and continued his role as a vocal member of the opposition to the political system and exposed its tyranny and corruption from there.

References

[2] [3] [4]

  1. Director Khaled Youssef wins House of Representatives seat, Egypt Independent, November 24, 2015.
  2. "Egypt's liberals decry shadow of the Brotherhood". Reuters. 2012-12-22. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  3. كتب. "President selects 50-member committee to amend constitution | مدى مصر" (in Arabic). Madamasr.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  4. "Artists say Egypt's culture minister trying to quash free expression". LA Times. 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
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