Cosponsored by UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies.New Prints! The musical genre in Egyptian cinema traces its origin to the early 1930s, when it was dominated by megastars Umm Kulthum and Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab. But by the late 1940s and on into the golden decade of the 1950s, musical films starring a wide variety of performers provided pleasure and entertainment to viewers throughout the Arab world. Singers Layla Murad, Farid al-Atrash, Abd al-Halim Hafez, Muhammad Fawzi, and Shadia, and dancers Naima Akif, Tahiyya Karioka, and Samiya Gamal were just some of the major highlights of the Egyptian cinema in its 1950s efflorescence. The films presented in this program provide a sampling of this rich tradition. Music on the Nile features a range of performers, from the giants to novelty acts, and takes us from the concert hall to the cabaret, from Pharaonic temples to the fashion runway, from life in the streets to life in sumptuous mansions, from earnest nationalist narrative to slick Hollywood-style commercialism. Best of all, this program brings us an aspect of Egyptian cinema rarely seen in the United States-the Egyptian cinema most familiar to Egyptian audiences. For anyone interested in learning about Egyptian culture, these musical comedies showcase an evolving musical tradition rarely brought to the attention of American audiences, and provide a glimpse of Egyptian society at leisure. Program Notes by Livia Alexander, Walter Armbrust, and Roberta Dougherty, adapted from their notes and essays for the series.Music on the Nile: Fifty Years of Egyptian Musical Films is presented by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). It has been funded in part by the United States Information Agency, The Egyptian Cultural Development Fund, and Misr Studios and Film Production Co. Kind assistance has been provided by the Office of Foreign Relations at the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and the Egyptian National Film Center. Permission for films has been kindly granted by Mr. Mohamed Yassine, Union for Video and Filmmakers Co.; Mrs. Madiha Yousry, Madiha Yousry Films; Mr. Muhammad Khafaga, Misr Distribution Co.; Mr. Ibrahim Shawki, al-Ahram Companies Group. PFA thanks Livia Alexander, Film Program Director, and Susan Peters, Film Program Coordinator, ARCE. Discounted tickets are offered to ARCE members with valid membership cards.Sunday April 4, 1999
