Faten Hamama

Acting

Faten Hamama

Born 1931-05-27 · El Mansoura, Egypt

Faten Hamama (May 27, 1931 - January 17, 2015) was an Egyptian actress and producer. Dubbed "The Lady of the Arabic Screen", she was born in El Mansoura, Egypt. Her legendary journey started as a secret statement between a six-year-old girl and her father after they watched a film in their neighborhood theater, at which leading actress and producer Asya Dagher was present. Faten told her father that she felt the audience was applauding her as the leading actress, and her father hugged her with a vision of helping his daughter become a movie star. She won a contest for the most beautiful child in Egypt, and her dad sent her picture to director Muhammad Karim (a pioneer of Egyptian cinema). Karim was looking for a child for his new film with Egyptian musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Faten auditioned for and got a role in this movie, Yom said (1940) ("A Happy Day"). She impressed the filmmakers so much during shooting that she was actually given more lines and scenes in the picture than were scripted initially for her. Karim put her under contract, and four years later he gave her a role in a film with Mohamed Abdel Wahab again, Russassa fil Kalb (1944) ("A Bullet in the Heart"). With her third movie with Karim, Dunia (1946), Faten showed filmmakers and audiences alike that she was an actress ready for bigger roles. Her father, along with her family, moved to Cairo to help her in her career. She also began studying her craft at the High Institute of Acting in 1946. Faten left Egypt from 1966-1971 because she resisted the political pressure that was applied to her. She divided her time between Lebanon and London, England. During this period Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser asked some prominent critics and writers to try to persuade her to return to Egypt, saying that "Faten Hamama is a national treasure". Her return to Egypt in 1971 breathed life back into Egyptian cinema. She insisted that her films reflect the values of society through family relationships. Her first film upon return was Witch (a short film) with Salah Zulfikar. Her role in Emberatoriet Meem (1972) ("Empire M") as a widow with six children and the struggles she endured to raise them made the film a success both critically and financially, and she earned a special award from an organization in the Soviet Union when the film was shown at the Moscow International Film Festival. Her film Orid Hallan (1975) ("I Need a Solution") which was produced by Salah Zulfikar was not only a big hit but resulted in changes to Egyptian marriage and divorce laws. Faten Hamama is the fourth Pyramid in Egyptian cinema, a legend in her platinum anniversary, the diamond that remained shining and kept glowing over the decades on the silver screen.

Acting credits

No Time for Love poster
7.3

Hamza "a member of the volunteer National Guard" meets up with the teacher Fawzya "Faten", after the fire of Cairo broke out, the British trying to capture all the volunteers in the National Guard , Hamza hiding in the house of one of his friend, and Fawzya help him, and she is trying to formation its own cell in order to hit the English forces in the Canal zone.

No Time for Love

1963

Bitter Day, Sweet Day poster
6.3

Aisha is a widow with five children, Sana, Suad, Lamia, Asmaa and Noor. The eldest got married to Orabi the carpenter, and are living in the family's poor house. Orabi starts acting like he's the man of the house, and the other sisters try to find their way in life.

Bitter Day, Sweet Day

1988

The Barred Road poster
8.5

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 that try to lure her in.

The Barred Road

1958

Appointment with Life poster
6.5

Amal and her friend Fatima are happily in love with Ahmed and Dr. Mamdouh respectively. After it is discovered that Amal has a debilitating condition, her father attempts to keep it a secret.

Appointment with Life

1953

Baba Amin poster
6.0

1950 Cairo, Amin is a simple employee who lives with his family of three, his wife Zahira, son Nabil and daughter Hoda. Amin’s friend Mabrouk convinces Amin to invest his life savings in a project, which he promises, will get him rich. Amin agrees but forgets to take a receipt. Amin suddenly dies and watches on from the after life.

Baba Amin

1950

The Blazing Sun poster
6.9

A wealthy landlord floods and destroys a village on purpose to prevent the people living there from making a profit off their crops. What he doesn't know is that his own daughter, Amal, is in love with Ahmed, a young man from the village.

The Blazing Sun

1954

Orphans' money poster
7.0

A family whose breadwinner dies, leaving his wife and university-student daughter in the care of his son from his first wife. He treats them harshly and wastes their money - especially his sister's money, as he is her guardian - on his own pleasures. The mother and daughter are led by a kind family that takes her by the hand and curbs the son's ambitions.

Orphans' money

1952

Aisha poster
10.0

Madbouly forces his daughter to sell lottery tickets in cafes, while her two brothers work in the field of pickpocketing. The wealthy Yahya meets Aisha and is sympathetic to her because he finds her very similar to the daughter he lost. The wealthy negotiates with Madbouly to take care of his daughter Aisha in his home and to educate and raise her in the best possible way. In exchange for a monthly salary.

Aisha

1953

Son of the Nile poster
7.2

Hemaidah is a Farmer who hates country life. He hates working in fields and taking care of the animals in his farm. Though unsatisfied with her, he marries Zebeidah, a woman in the same village.

Son of the Nile

1951

Struggle in the Harbor poster
6.5

Ragab, a poor sailor, returns home to Alexandria after three years of absence, during which he tried to save money to marry his one true love, Hamedah. But there's trouble on the harbor, and with an old friend.

Struggle in the Harbor

1956

Empire M poster
6.3

Well off widow working Mother "Mona" is struggling raising 6 kids at different ages ranging from elementary school to University graduating students. The day she thinks to bring a new husband home proves to be a very difficult task.

Empire M

1972

Towards glory poster
7.0

Khaled, a self-made university student, suffers from the treatment of his father, Abdel Aziz Bey, and the plots of his stepmother, Munira, and her ill-mannered sister, Fardous. However, he does not hesitate to strive for his future. Khaled stands against Rahmi Bey and opposes his resounding slogans and destructive opinions. This man who fights him and launches campaigns against him is the father of his beloved and university colleague, Suhair.

Towards glory

1948

I Want a Solution poster
7.5

It is impossible to live between Doria and her diplomatic husband, Medhat, who asks him for a divorce, but he refuses. She is forced to go to court and file a divorce. Doria falls into the maze of the courts and is exposed to a series of problems and obstacles that undermine her dignity. Things get complicated when the husband comes with false witnesses testifying against her in secret. She loses her case after more than four years.

I Want a Solution

1975

Land of Dreams poster
6.8

Nargis, a middle-aged woman, is preparing to leave Egypt for the United States to reunite with her grown children, who are mesmerized by the allure of the "Land of Dreams". However, as her departure draws near, she is plagued by deep reluctance and fear of leaving her life and identity behind.

Land of Dreams

1993

The Nightingale's Prayer poster
7.8

This compelling tale of love and betrayal, set in the upper Egyptian countryside, follows the story of Amna as she plots her revenge on the engineer who destroyed her family's honor.

The Nightingale's Prayer

1959

Punishment poster
NR

The trio of a Wife and her lover plotting a murder for her husband. Their maid gets into Jail instead of them. This maid had a daughter that gets to be raised by her friend. The wife gets into jail shortly after she was arrested for misusing the well of her son. In Jail she meets with her maid and confess to her with her sin that led to this destiny, then she dies. After twenty years she gets out of Jail to see what has the fate introduce to her daughter and the killers daughter that share same lover.

Punishment

1948

The River of Love poster
8.2

Nahr el Hub is the Egyptian adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina".

The River of Love

1960

Cairo poster
5.1

An assortment of international criminals plans to steal priceless Egyptian artifacts from a Cairo museum. MGM remake of Asphalt Jungle set in Egypt.

Cairo

1963

Sleepless poster
6.3

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.

Sleepless

1957

Ways of the Heart poster
7.0

A poor medical student, falls in love with her wealthy colleague who does not feel her at the beginning. He falls in love with her after he sees the sincerity of her feelings towards him, and asks her to marry him, but there are those who want to keep this marriage from happening

Ways of the Heart

1956

Dunia poster
10.0

Dunia meets the rich, frivolous young man, Mohamed. An illegitimate relationship develops between them and she becomes pregnant with his child. Mohamed disappears and she cannot face anyone with her child, so she decides to kill him. Her secret is revealed and she goes to prison. She decides to take revenge on him and searches for him until she finds him. She hides her past from him, but she is surprised that he shows her his love and decides to marry her and introduces her to his family, which puts her in a conflict between love and revenge. The mother reveals Dunia's past and she decides to commit suicide.

Dunia

1946

The Sin poster
7.7

Aziza and her husband Abdullah are both day laborers who work on various farms. When Aziza is brutally raped by a guard while she is picking potatoes in a field, she tries to hide the pregnancy and plans to kill the baby once it is born.

The Sin

1965

Sayedat el kasr poster
6.8

A chance meeting at an auction brings together Sawsan, a working-class girl and Adel, heir to a vast fortune with several estates to his name. This leads to a whirlwind marriage. This development spells trouble for Adel's fair-weather bourgeois clique, who are used to manipulating him with their own financial interests at heart.

Sayedat el kasr

1958

The Virgin Wife poster
NR

Mona meets Magdy and Fouad in Alexandria and falls in love with Fouad who loves her back, but Magdy asks her to marry him and her mother agrees because of his wealth. After Mona marries Magdy, she finds out that he's impotent, which causes a series of problems.

The Virgin Wife

1958

Behind the camera