”Life After Siham” Takes Part in Youssef Chahine Centenary at Arab World Institute

By Ahmed Fawzy

As part of the celebration of Youssef Chahine’s centenary, Namir Abdel Messeeh’s “Life After Siham” is to take part in the celebration held by the Arab World Institute in Paris within an exceptional program running for several days. This program combines film screenings and roundtables in order to shed light on one of the most prominent figures of Arab cinema. The film will be shown on Thursday, January 22nd, in the auditorium.

The reason behind the film’s participation in the centenary is Abdel Messeeh’s usage of multiple scenes from “Return of the Prodigal Son” and “Dawn of a New Day” by late esteemed director Youssef Chahine. Basically, he believes that his films highlight 60 years of Egypt’s history, chronicling it from the 1950s to the beginning of the new millennium. He presented films about the High Dam, Setback, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s death, and other events in Egypt. Moreover, the soundtrack in Chahine’s films resonates with the spirit of his film and speaks about his parents and their time. He stated, “Youssef Chahine is one of the most prominent Arab filmmakers who combined personal concerns and common issues in a stunning visual language. I like his boldness and ability to transform cinema into a way of understanding oneself and society. Indeed, his presence in the film was a tribute to his soul”.

Abdel Messeeh noted, “I love Chahine’s cinema. I met him once when I was 18. At that time, I came from France during the filming of “The Destiny”. I wished I could have been one of the film assistants. I was studying cinema in France, but the opportunity wasn’t available”. Concerning the usage of Chahine’s scenes in his film, he noted, “The idea of using these scenes popped into my head during the editing stage. Cinema is a collective memory through which we can view and reclaim our lives. Our memory is shaped by our relationship with our families, as well as cinema. As for the sixties, I don’t know what happened in it. I didn’t live during that period, but I could remember the scenes in which I saw this visual equivalent through my father’s words. Cinema has become an alternative to reality and memory. Indeed, cinema has created works that are carved in memory. Through it, I transformed my father and mother into stars of Chahine’s films in a poetic way”.

The film takes place after Siham’s death. Namir refused to accept that she was gone forever. From his point of view, the mother is immortal. Therefore, he starts a journey to discover his family’s history between Egypt and France. Following in the footsteps of Chahine’s cinema, a lively story, filled with love, is told.

“Life After Siham” is written and directed by Namir Abdel Messeeh and stars Siham Abdel Messeeh, Wajih Abdel Messeeh, and Nermin Abdel Messeeh. It is shot by Nicolas Duchêne. The soundtrack is presented by Roman Demey. Editing is by Benoît Alavoine and Emmanuel Manzano and music is by Clovis Schneider. The film is produced by Awida Films, in collaboration with Camille Laemlé, Les Films D’ici, Red Star and Ambient Film.