Tawfiq Saleh

Directing

Tawfiq Saleh

Born — Died

1926-10-27 — 2013-08-18

Place of birth

Alexandria, Egypt

Known for

Directing

Credits

18 titles

The director of seven shorts and seven full-length feature films, Saleh graduated in 1949 in English literature and was trained in cinema in Paris until 1951. Tewfik Saleh's oeuvre is the only one in Egyptian cinema which may be considered purely "Third Worldist". All his films deal with social injustice, underdevelopment, political abuse and the class struggle. His first film, Darb al-mahabil (1955), co-written by Najeeb Mahfouz, was set in a popular neighborhood but represented a kind of allegory of greed and materialism, dismantling the opportunism of the alley's inhabitants who chase a mentally retarded homeless person after they learn he has won the lottery. It took Saleh another seven…

Known for

Alexandria Again and Forever poster
4.8

Set in 1987 against the backdrop of a hunger strike by the Egyptian film industry, Chahine himself steps in to play Yehia, the famed Egyptian director whose life is chronicled in "Alexandria, Why?" and "An Egyptian Story". Obsessed with Amr, the handsome actor he discovered and cast as his alter-ego in parts one and two of The Alexandria Trilogy, Yehia pressures Amr to star in various film projects that change even as Yehia's perception of the young actor begins to change. He first casts Amr as Hamlet, which the actor deems too demanding for his talents, then as the lead in a musical biopic of demigod Alexander the Great, who founded the city of Alexandria in 332 B.C.

Alexandria Again and Forever

1989

Long Days poster
5.3

In 1959, underground revolutionaries try to assassinate Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Kassem in Baghdad. News reports claim they have failed, and at first the revolutionaries lay low, but as the secret police continue to comb the neighborhoods with house-to-house searches, they flee to the countryside. Among those fleeing is Saddam Hussein, the future president of the republic.

Long Days

1980

The Dupes poster
7.3

The film follows three Palestinian refugees brought together by dispossession and hope for a better future. Hiding in the tank of a truck, the men attempt to make their way across the border into Kuwait, the "promised land."

The Dupes

1972

Diary of a Country Prosecutor poster
7.2

Based on the novel by Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim, 1937, Diary of A Country Prosecutor records the daily activities and tribulations of a public official appointed to act as a village justice in the countryside.

Diary of a Country Prosecutor

1969

No artwork available
NR

Directed by Tewfik Saleh.

The Jug

1962

We the Students poster
6.7

Three students, Adel, Hassanein, and Samir, face personal struggles. Adel is rejected by his father for loving his neighbor’s daughter, Hassanein seeks revenge for his father’s murder, and Samir deals with parental neglect after his parents’ divorce. Samir’s relationship with a maid leads to complications, prompting him to seek help from a dancer, Gamalat, for an abortion. The trio robs a bar for abortion money but finds it insufficient. Saidyh dies during the abortion, and Gamalat’s call to neighbors and the police results in their arrest and a fifteen-year prison sentence.

We the Students

1959

Film credits

Behind the camera

Long Days poster
5.3

In 1959, underground revolutionaries try to assassinate Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Kassem in Baghdad. News reports claim they have failed, and at first the revolutionaries lay low, but as the secret police continue to comb the neighborhoods with house-to-house searches, they flee to the countryside. Among those fleeing is Saddam Hussein, the future president of the republic.

Long Days

1980

Long Days poster
5.3

In 1959, underground revolutionaries try to assassinate Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Kassem in Baghdad. News reports claim they have failed, and at first the revolutionaries lay low, but as the secret police continue to comb the neighborhoods with house-to-house searches, they flee to the countryside. Among those fleeing is Saddam Hussein, the future president of the republic.

Long Days

1980

The Dupes poster
7.3

The film follows three Palestinian refugees brought together by dispossession and hope for a better future. Hiding in the tank of a truck, the men attempt to make their way across the border into Kuwait, the "promised land."

The Dupes

1972

The Dupes poster
7.3

The film follows three Palestinian refugees brought together by dispossession and hope for a better future. Hiding in the tank of a truck, the men attempt to make their way across the border into Kuwait, the "promised land."

The Dupes

1972

Diary of a Country Prosecutor poster
7.2

Based on the novel by Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim, 1937, Diary of A Country Prosecutor records the daily activities and tribulations of a public official appointed to act as a village justice in the countryside.

Diary of a Country Prosecutor

1969

Diary of a Country Prosecutor poster
7.2

Based on the novel by Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim, 1937, Diary of A Country Prosecutor records the daily activities and tribulations of a public official appointed to act as a village justice in the countryside.

Diary of a Country Prosecutor

1969

No artwork available
NR

Directed by Tewfik Saleh.

The Jug

1962

We the Students poster
6.7

Three students, Adel, Hassanein, and Samir, face personal struggles. Adel is rejected by his father for loving his neighbor’s daughter, Hassanein seeks revenge for his father’s murder, and Samir deals with parental neglect after his parents’ divorce. Samir’s relationship with a maid leads to complications, prompting him to seek help from a dancer, Gamalat, for an abortion. The trio robs a bar for abortion money but finds it insufficient. Saidyh dies during the abortion, and Gamalat’s call to neighbors and the police results in their arrest and a fifteen-year prison sentence.

We the Students

1959

Mister Fish poster
10.0

What could change in the life of el bultai family after the death of their grand el sayed el bultai .

Mister Fish

1967

Mister Fish poster
10.0

What could change in the life of el bultai family after the death of their grand el sayed el bultai .

Mister Fish

1967

Struggle of the Heroes poster
6.4

A difficult period in Egypt in the year 1947, when the villages of Egypt attacked cholera. A doctor (Shukri), who tried to serve the villagers to save them from poverty and hunger, is appointed in a village. (Adel Bey) The feudal lord of the village exploits its people to work on his land as forced labor and whoever objects to hand him over to a mental hospital, taking advantage of his influence.

Struggle of the Heroes

1962

Struggle of the Heroes poster
6.4

A difficult period in Egypt in the year 1947, when the villages of Egypt attacked cholera. A doctor (Shukri), who tried to serve the villagers to save them from poverty and hunger, is appointed in a village. (Adel Bey) The feudal lord of the village exploits its people to work on his land as forced labor and whoever objects to hand him over to a mental hospital, taking advantage of his influence.

Struggle of the Heroes

1962

The Fools Alley poster
6.3

Khadiga lives in a poor neighborhood with her parents. She tries to save up money so she could marry her sweetheart Taha. Taha buys a lottery ticket in hope of winning a lot of money, but it ends up in Khadiga's religious father's hands who throws it away. The ticket gets picked up by the town's fool, who gets lucky and wins, driving the town into chaos.

The Fools Alley

1955

The Fools Alley poster
6.3

Khadiga lives in a poor neighborhood with her parents. She tries to save up money so she could marry her sweetheart Taha. Taha buys a lottery ticket in hope of winning a lot of money, but it ends up in Khadiga's religious father's hands who throws it away. The ticket gets picked up by the town's fool, who gets lucky and wins, driving the town into chaos.

The Fools Alley

1955

The Rebels poster
7.0

A sick doctor is admitted to an isolated sanatorium located in the middle of a desolate desert. As a patient, he becomes aware of the discrepancy that exists between the conditions of the privileged patients, who are well-treated, and the poor ones, who particularly suffer from a lack of water. With the help of the doctor, the poor patients rebel and undertake to restore justice and order in the hospital.

The Rebels

1968

The Rebels poster
7.0

A sick doctor is admitted to an isolated sanatorium located in the middle of a desolate desert. As a patient, he becomes aware of the discrepancy that exists between the conditions of the privileged patients, who are well-treated, and the poor ones, who particularly suffer from a lack of water. With the help of the doctor, the poor patients rebel and undertake to restore justice and order in the hospital.

The Rebels

1968