Laila
Directed byAziza Amir
Stephan Rosti
Wedad Orfi
Written byWedad Orfi
Stephan Rosti
Produced byAziza Amir
StarringAziza Amir
Stephan Rosti
Assia Dagher
CinematographyHassan El-Helbawi
Edited byAziza Amir
Production
company
Isis Film
Release date
  • 16 November 1927 (1927-11-16) (Egypt)
Running time
90'
CountryEgypt
LanguageEgyptian Arabic

Laila is a 1927 Egyptian silent film directed by Aziza Amir, Stephan Rosti, and Wedad Orfi.[1][2][3] It stars Aziza Amir, Stephan Rosti and Assia Dagher.[4][5][6] It is the first feature-length Egyptian film.[7][8][9][10]

Plot

In the middle of a barren desert, Laila grows up in a quiet oasis overlooked by the ruins of ancient Memphis. It is the village of Raouf Bey, who meets Laila and admires her, and tries to please her, but it is related to the young man Ahmed, who previously saved her from falling into the clutches of Salem when he tried to assault her. Ahmed gets engaged to Laila, after which he meets a Brazilian female tourist staying in a hotel near the village. The girl succeeds in making Ahmed fall in love with her and takes him from Laila, whose is pregnant. The village people discover Laila's pregnancy and expel her. While Laila is walking helplessly, she is hit by a car. She discovers that its driver is Raouf, who is carrying her in his hands to his house to give birth to their child and she dies while giving birth to her child.

Cast

  • Aziza Amir: Laila
  • Stephan Rosti: Raouf Bey
  • Assia Dagher: Teacher
  • Wedad Orfi: Sheikh Ahmed
  • Hussein Fawzi: Alcaballero de Fernandez
  • Alice Lazar: The Brazilian girl
  • Bamba grimaced: Salma
  • Ahmed Lail: The servant
  • Ahmed Al-Sharaie: The doctor
  • Mary Mansour: The nurse
  • Ahmed Galal Salem

Production

In production stage, the film was scheduled to be produced under the name The Call of God, and as a result of filming being stopped due to producer Aziza Amir being dissatisfied with the scenes filmed by Wedad Arfi, then filming was completed after a while, and its name was changed to Laila. The film was developed and printed at the film producer's home, which was turned into a studio on Al-Barjas Street in the Garden City neighborhood. The external scenes were filmed between the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, and the streets of Cairo.[11]

Reception

Among those attending the film's premiere were the economist Talaat Harb and the musician Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. The premier of the film was attended by the prominent poet Ahmed Shawqi who praised the artist Aziza Amir by saying, “She did what men were unable to do.”

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mahdi, Waleed F. (2020-10-21). Arab Americans in Film: From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-5496-4.
  2. ↑ The Arab Nahda as Popular Entertainment: Mass Culture and Modernity in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2023-11-16. ISBN 978-0-7556-4741-5.
  3. ↑ ‏فكر و إبداع (in Arabic). ‏رابطة الأدب الحديث،‏. 2006.
  4. ↑ Parnell, Jo (2020-11-13). The Bride in the Cultural Imagination: Screen, Stage, and Literary Productions. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-7936-1614-2.
  5. ↑ Leaman, Oliver (2003-12-16). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-66252-4.
  6. ↑ Bisschoff, Lizelle (2017-07-05). Africa's Lost Classics: New Histories of African Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-57739-7.
  7. ↑ Starr, Prof Deborah A. (2020-09-22). Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-97612-2.
  8. ↑ Mellor, Noha (2011-05-16). Arab Media: Globalization and Emerging Media Industries. Polity. ISBN 978-0-7456-4535-3.
  9. ↑ Mattar, Philip (2004). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa: D-K. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 978-0-02-865771-4.
  10. ↑ "The Egyptian Women as a cinematic figure and her status in Film industry since 1920 and till now". wlahawogohokhra.com. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  11. ↑ Davis, Glyn; Dickinson, Kay; Patti, Lisa; Villarejo, Amy (2015-02-20). Film Studies: A Global Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-62338-0.
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