Egyptian Star Yousra began her talk in her masterclass heldin El Gouna Film Festival saying that celebrating the sixth exceptional edition of the festival this year because of the events in Gaza that will not be forgotten even with the passage of time, and also the fact that the whole world is in abnormal conditions, but the advantage of any festival is that there is an ongoing discussion and there is a truth that appears because it is recorded.
Yousra added that life experiences in work and choices taught her a lot in her life during the stations with directors, writers and great professors who left a great mark on her, saying: “If I had a history, it would be from the professors I dealt with and who taught me many things, for example, when I was young, I would go and have a cup of coffee with Professor Wahid Hamed or Youssef Chahine, learning from them and from their brains.”
She talked about her cooperation with the Adel Emam, saying: “I made 17 films with Adel Emam, some of my best works. He is light-hearted, remembers everything, makes life delicious and easy, and you enjoy working with him. He chooses important topics.”
Regarding the bold roles that were offered to her, Yousra said: “It depends on the role, whether I benefit from it or it benefits me, and boldness is part of my style.” She continued: “I worked with Raafat El-Mehi in the best movie, which is “El-Awkatto,” and there were people who stood against us in court. I will never forget a situation where some passersby called me and said, “We want to marry you, Attia.”
Regarding receiving offers from abroad, Yousra said: “I had two opportunities to work outside Egypt, one in Hollywood and one in France, and I refused both because I didn’t like the scenario and was offered a million dollars at the time. I have never loved or wished to work abroad because I am number 1 in the Arab world and people love me to go abroad and be number 12. Why i should do that ?”
The masterclass run by Marianne Khoury, the artistic director of GFF, and as part of the activities of the sixth exceptional session: “I presented some of my best movies with director Ali Badrakhan, and I enjoyed working with Marwan Hamed, Samir Seif, and Mohamed Abdel Aziz and Salah Abu Seif.
She added: “Enas El Degheidy, we started together in the first movie titled Palace in the Air, and I saw her movie Pardon me, the law, and one of her special features is that she is bold, and we worked together on the movie Dantla with Elham Shaheen, who is a great actress, and Mahmoud Hemeida, and the movie The Red Rose with Ahmed Ramzy, and it was one of our dreams that we would see it, but Enas El Degheidy is lazy and does not want to work except in her own way, but she is special and scary on the set.”
Yousra continued: “I wanted to become a doctor and then I said no to work in the diplomatic corps, and I did not understand what that meant, my mother and grandmother are the ones who discovered that I know how to act.”
She pointed out: “In Maamoura in Alexandria, I was 17 years old, and I saw a crowd and a lot of people gathered around Soad Hosni, and she had diamonds in her eyes. I prayed to God, saying, “Oh God, I want to be like her,” and I dreamed of the moment when I would be like her.”
She continued: “I shot twenty films, all of which were in cans, and they called me the canned star at the time.”
The master class was attended by director Marwan Hamed, Hoda El Mufti, Nisreen Tafesh, Ahmed Hatem, director Enas El Degheidy, writer Engy Alaa, director Mariam Abou Ouf, writer Mohamed Amin Rady, singer Abu and his wife, director Yousry Nasrallah, Amr Mansy, and Amir El Masry.
An exceptional session of the El Gouna Film Festival is being held after it was postponed from its scheduled date last October due to the events in Gaza, after adding a program dedicated to Palestinian cinema, in addition to the festival program, to include screening a group of films about Palestine in cooperation with the Palestinian Film Foundation.
The festival awarded the “Creative Achievement” award to director Marwan Hamed, presented to him by star Yousra, in recognition of his rich cinematic career and his serious contribution to shaping the contemporary Egyptian and Arab cinema industry scene, through various works that constituted an artistic and commercial shift in recent years, making Hamed one of the most important directors in Egypt and the Arab world.
The sixth edition of El Gouna Film Festival includes 23 films in the feature film competition, 15 films in the feature documentary competition, and 14 films in the short film competition, in addition to a group of films that are being screened outside the competition.
Published December 17, 2023.
