Skip to main content
Back to search
  • Add to playlist

Samia forever

The second part of the triptych “Regard sur le cinéma musical arabe” (a look at Arab musical cinema), Samia forever pays a resounding tribute to the woman who, for more than twenty years, was the “Marilyn Monroe” of Egyptian musicals. Between film extracts, archives and testimonies, the film traces the life of Samia Gamal (1924-1994) who, by becoming a cinema legend, established herself as one of the icons of Oriental dance. 

“Perhaps dance was innate in me”, she said. And so it had to be to dedicate one’s life to that art as, while Oriental dance (“raqs al-sharqui”) is a cultural phenomenon as old as it is indisputable, Egyptian society has always stigmatised its dancers. Born in Upper Egypt, Zainab Ibrahim Mahfuz arrived in Cairo with her family in 1932. She worked in a sewing workshop until her father’s death (she was then 16), before meeting Baadia Masabni, the inventor of modern Oriental dance, who would be her mentor. It was in Baadia's troupe where she met Tahia Carioca, her closest rival, that Samia Gamal developed her own style. In 1944, she made the acquaintance of the playboy actor Farid al-Atrash with whom she formed a duo de charme for five years both on the silver screen and in real life. Samia Gamal owes her star status not only to her sensual beauty and the quality of her dance, but also to her romantic woes, at the convergence between her life and her roles.

Samia Forever

Artistic direction / Conception : Saïda Boukhemal

Production / Coproduction of the video work : Potlatch production, CNC, TV5 Monde, Cinémathèque de la danse, Groupe OCEI

Our videos suggestions
27:33

Demain la veille, spécial Dominique Bagouet

Bagouet, Dominique (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:00:20

Babilée 91

Babilée, Jean (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:52

Ghazeia danseuse d'Egypte

  • Add to playlist
04:00

The birth of "coupé décalé"

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
05:54

Coupé Décalé Act 2

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:35

Ostrich

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:54

Wedding (The)

Primus, Pearl (France)

  • Add to playlist
26:11

Coupé Décalé

Orlin, Robyn (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:14

Coupé Décalé studies Extract

  • Add to playlist
02:40

Coupé Décalé Act 2

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:56

The Wedding [extract 1]

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:39

Ostrich [extract 2]

Carlès, James (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:28

Six seasons

Khan, Akram (United Kingdom)

  • Add to playlist
02:05

Douar [teaser]

Attou, Kader (France)

  • Add to playlist
04:00

Very Wetr !

Chopinot, Régine (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:17

Yvette Chauviré

Chauviré, Yvette (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:38

Yvette Chauviré

Fokine, Michel (France)

  • Add to playlist
47:41

The heart of the sand

Acogny, Germaine (Senegal)

  • Add to playlist
28:55

Carolyn Carslon, A Woman of Many Faces

Carlson, Carolyn (France)

  • Add to playlist
Our themas suggestions
By accessing the website, you acknowledge and accept the use of cookies to assist you in your browsing.
You can block these cookies by modifying the security parameters of your browser or by clicking onthis link.
I accept Learn more