Tawfiq Saleh

Tawfiq Saleh

The director of seven shorts and seven full-length feature films, Saleh graduated in 1949 in English literature and was trained in cinema in Paris until 1951. Tewfik Saleh's oeuvre is the only one in Egyptian cinema which may be considered purely "Third Worldist". All his films deal with social injustice, underdevelopment, political abuse and the class struggle. His first film, Darb al-mahabil (1955), co-written by Najeeb Mahfouz, was set in a popular neighborhood but represented a kind of allegory of greed and materialism, dismantling the opportunism of the alley's inhabitants who chase a mentally retarded homeless person after they learn he has won the lottery. It took Saleh another seven years to direct his Sira' al-abtal (1962), set during the cholera epidemic of the 1930s. It featured Shukri Sarhan as a leftist country doctor who battles not only against the disease, but also against the peasant's ignorance, the midwife's intrigues and the egocentric interests of the feudal landowner. Saleh's next films were produced by the General Film Organization. His Yaumiyat na'ib fi-l-aryaf (1968), taken from 'Taufiq al-Hakim"s novel, counts among the best adaptations. Yet he often came up against censorship and bureaucracy. Al-moutamarridoune (1968) and Al-sayyid bulti (1967) (in English: "Mister Fish"), both had to wait two years until their release. In the case of "Mister Fish", which deals with the struggle of working fishermen against a monopolist, the censor used a scene of two young women occupied with removing the hair from their legs to postpone the release of the film. Finally, in the early 70s, Saleh left the country. His Al-makhdu'un (1972), produced by the Syrian National Film Organization and adapted from Ghassan Kanafani's novel "Men Under the Sun", was one of the first Arab films to move away from a melodramatic approach to the Palestinian question and to express scepticism regarding regarding pan-Arab solidarity. Saleh's last feature Al-ayyam al-tawila (1980) was produced by the Iraqi Theatre and Film Organization, and presented _Saddam Hussein_ as a patriotic guerilla. Saleh, who had moved to Iraq in 1973 in order to teach cinema, returned to Egypt in the mid-1980s to teach at the Higher Film Institute.

  • Title: Tawfiq Saleh
  • Popularity: 0.437
  • Known For: Directing
  • Birthday: 2026-10-27
  • Place of Birth: Egypt
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Taufiq Salih, توفيق صالح
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Tawfiq Saleh Movies

  • 1989
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    Alexandria Again and Forever

    Alexandria Again and Forever

    4.7 1989 HD

    Set in 1987 against the backdrop of a hunger strike by the Egyptian film industry, Chahine himself steps in to play Yehia, the famed Egyptian...

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  • 2014
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    Tahar Chériaa: A l'Ombre du Baobab

    Tahar Chériaa: A l'Ombre du Baobab

    6 2014 HD

    Tahar Cheriaa: Under the Shadow of the Baobab documents the career of one of the core fathers of Pan-Africanism and founder of Africa’s first...

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  • 1980
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    Long Days

    Long Days

    4 1980 HD

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  • 1972
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    The Dupes

    The Dupes

    7.1 1972 HD

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  • 1972
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    The Dupes

    The Dupes

    7.1 1972 HD

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  • 1955
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    The Fools Alley

    The Fools Alley

    6.2 1955 HD

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  • 1968
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    The Rebels

    The Rebels

    1 1968 HD

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  • 1962
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    Struggle of the Heroes

    Struggle of the Heroes

    6 1962 HD

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  • 1962
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    The Jug

    The Jug

    1 1962 HD

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  • 1967
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    Mister Fish

    Mister Fish

    1 1967 HD

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  • 1969
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    Diary of a Country Prosecutor

    Diary of a Country Prosecutor

    7.3 1969 HD

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  • 1969
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    Diary of a Country Prosecutor

    Diary of a Country Prosecutor

    7.3 1969 HD

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  • 1955
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    The Fools Alley

    The Fools Alley

    6.2 1955 HD

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  • 1967
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    Mister Fish

    Mister Fish

    1 1967 HD

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  • 1962
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    Struggle of the Heroes

    Struggle of the Heroes

    6 1962 HD

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  • 1959
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    We the Students

    We the Students

    6 1959 HD

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  • 1980
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    Long Days

    Long Days

    4 1980 HD

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  • 1968
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    The Rebels

    The Rebels

    1 1968 HD

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