First Assistant Director
The director's final work prior to his early death to chronic liver disease was this gleefully ghoulish horror comedy, which imparted the following straightforward moral: if you smother your wife to death with a bowl of porridge and bury her remains in a shallow grave, purely in order to start a new life with your mistress - then don't be too surprised if your wife returns and is more than a little angry about the situation! Like Shabl's two previous features, the film was released theatrically before also becoming a minor hit on home video.
Set Decoration
Amid the poverty, death, and suffering caused by World War II, 18-year-old Yehia, retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of one-day studying filmmaking in America, but after falling in love and discovering the lies of European occupation, Yehia profoundly reevaluates his identity and allegiances.
Producer
In this Andre Gide adaptation, an activist is released after many years in prison and returns home, shaking up established relationships among his family members at the farm governed by his strict father. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment.
