''Barsoum Looking for a Job'' is a 1923
Egyptian
''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
written and directed by Mohammed Bayoumi, and stars
Bishara Wakim
Bishara Wakim (Arabic: بشارة واكيم) (March 5, 1890 – November 30, 1949) was an Egyptian director and actor born in Faggala, Cairo in 1890.
Career
Wakim, born Bisharah Yoakim, was a Greek Catholic. He was educated in Collège-des-F ...
. It is produced by Mohammed Bayoumi and released on 31 December 1923. The film is the first in the history of
African cinema
Cinema of Africa covers both the History of film, history and present of the Filmmaking, making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the ear ...
.
Plot
Barsoum looks for work to feed himself on a newspaper that costs him nothing. Barsoum collects newspapers thrown by a girl by the window. A boy enters the abandoned house where the protagonist sleeps in a straw den, but is beaten by a man who surprises him as he leaves. Barsoum makes the sign of the cross and prays in front of sacred Christian images and the photo of revolution leader
Saad Zaghloul. Barsoum does not find bread and is in despair. Barsoum is invited to eat with another man by a wealthy gentleman and they eat with voraciousness and hunger, to the point of raising the food from the fork to the landlord and to a girl who is at the table.
Cast
*
Bishara Wakim
Bishara Wakim (Arabic: بشارة واكيم) (March 5, 1890 – November 30, 1949) was an Egyptian director and actor born in Faggala, Cairo in 1890.
Career
Wakim, born Bisharah Yoakim, was a Greek Catholic. He was educated in Collège-des-F ...
as Sheikh Metwalli
* Adel Hamid as Barsoum
* Abdel Hamid Zaki as Bank manager
* Victoria Cohen
* Ferdoos Hassan
* Mohamed Youssef as the kid
* Sayed Mostafa
* Ahmed Lail as The servant
* Ahmed Al-Sharaieb as The doctor
* Mary Mansour as The nurse
* Ahmed Galal as Salem
Overview
The topic of this movie is an appeal for tolerance between
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
during the
1919 revolution. We see Barsoum pray in front of a photograph of
Saint Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, under which there are the crescent, the cross, and the photograph of Saad Zaghloul, the leader of the revolution, showing the motto of unity between Muslims and Christians, one of the slogans of the revolution.
See also
*
Egyptian cinema
The Egyptian film industry is today based mainly in Cairo, which is sometimes referred to as Hollywood on the Nile, Hollywood of the Middle East or Hollywood of the East, despite having its beginnings in the city of Alexandria in the early 20t ...
*
African cinema
Cinema of Africa covers both the History of film, history and present of the Filmmaking, making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the ear ...
*
List of Egyptian films of the 1920s
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, tt8737540
Barsoum Looking for a Job on elcinema
Egyptian drama films
1923 drama films
1920s Egyptian films