Safaa Fathy is an Egyptian poet, documentary filmmaker, playwright, and essayist. She is best known for her film ''Derrida's Elsewhere'', a documentary which focuses on the life and concepts of controversial philosopher Jacques Derrida.

Early life and career

Fathy was born in Minya, Upper Egypt on July 17, 1958. She studied English literature in Cairo. Fathy participated in the student movement while in Egypt but later left the country and settled in Paris in 1981. In 1987, she was an assistant director at the Deutsches Theater located in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

. Fathy worked with Heiner Muller in 1990. She completed her doctoral thesis at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in 1993; her thesis was on

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

. Before becoming a filmmaker, Fathy worked as a stage director. Currently she serves as director of programme at the

International College of Philosophy International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in Paris.

Selected works

Poetry

Collections

*''Revolution goes through walls'', collection in Arabic, also published in English and French translations *''A name to the sea'' *''Al Haschiche'' (, a book of poetry accompanied by film-poem, ''Hidden Valley'') bilingual Spanish-French, ''Ediciones sin nombre'', Mexico *''…où ne pas naître'', bilingual collection in Arabic and French *''Little Wooden Dolls''

In collective volumes

*''Ma langue est mon territoire'', Collection Folies d’encre, Eden, Paris *''Anthology of Contemporary Arab Women Poets''

Theatre

''Ordalie ; Terreur'' (2004, )

Books

*''Tourner les mots'' with Jacques Derrida

Essays and other writings

On philosophy and politics

*''L’aporie of lui'' in Derrida à Coimbra. Palimage Editores, Coimbra, Portugal. 2006 *''Un(e) spectre nommé(e) « avenir »'' in Cahiers de l’Herne on Jacques Derrida. 2005 *
Derrida, metteur en scène ou acteur
' Magazine Littéraire, N° 430. 2004 *

' Vacarme, 2002

On poetry, theatre, cinema

*
hôra/Luz y desierto. Revelación de lo oscuro
' (Spanish, 2010) *''Hisser les voiles: Odyssée féminine à travers la Méditerranée''. Microfisuras, 1999* *''Dissidences et dissonances. Cartographie d'une poésie égyptienne''. Almadraba (revue), Seville. 1998 *''Exil'', in Pour Rushdie, La Découverte, Paris. 1993

Selected filmography

Documentary

*
Mohammad sauvé des eaux
' (Mohammad Saved from the Waters), TS production, Paris *
Dardasha Socotra
', UNESCO, government of Yemen. *
D'ailleurs, Derrida
', Arte, France *''

Maxime Rodinson Maxime Rodinson (26 January 1915 – 23 May 2004) was a French Marxist historian, sociologist and orientalist. He was the son of a Russian-Polish clothing trader and his wife, who both were murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. After st ...

: l'Athée des Dieux'' (Maxime Rodinson, Atheist of the Gods), France *
Ghazeia, danseuses d'Egypte
' (Ghazeia, Egyptian Dancers), Canal plus, France *''Hidden Faces''

Fiction

*''Nom à la mer'', film-poem, text Safaa Fathy, read by Jacques Derrida Cavitch, Max (2021).
Specters of Translation: Jacques Derrida, Safaa Fathy, and Nom à la mer.
''Oxford Literary Review'' 43.2: 209-48. *''Silence'', short fiction, Mention spéciale du Jury, Rencontres de Digne-les-Bains 1997, prime à la qualité CNC *''Doisneau''

References

External links

* *

at Allocine. (French)
Review of ''Derrida's Elsewhere''
Reginald Lilly, ''The French Review'', Vol. 77, No. 2 (Dec., 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fathy, Safaa 1958 births Living people Egyptian women poets Egyptian women film directors 20th-century Egyptian poets 20th-century Egyptian women writers 21st-century Egyptian poets 21st-century Egyptian women writers