Lesser-Known Facts about Khairy Beshara on His Birth Anniv.

Today marks the birth anniversary of the talented filmmaker Khairy Beshara, fondly known as the Millennium's God Father.

Born in Tanta in 1947, Beshara received his degree from the Egyptian Higher Institute of Cinema, where he marked the beginning of a new phase in his artistic career.

Following his passion, he went to the Polish city of Warsaw on a fellowship for two years where he met his future wife, Monika Kowalczyk.  While in Europe, he watched many western films and decided to reference various world film schools in new localized ways and above all popular ways.

According to Nile Cinema, the maven director, who gave many great films to Arab showbiz and Egypt's cinema, made his career debut with a number of documentaries, such as Tanks Hunter (1974), The Village Doctor (1975), The Sea Gull (1976), and Illumination (1977).

After a while, he stepped away from directing short films to focus on directing long features that were screened at various international film festivals.

His first film Bloody Destinies (1982) won many awards. After this, he made the film House Boat No.70 (1982). It is included in the memorable films of Arab cinema.

However, his outstanding directing in "Crab" 'Kaporia' (1990), starring the legendary actor Ahmed Zaki, opened him up to a large fan base.

He was well known for matching some specific historical events with contemporaneous Arab films. For example, the remarkable cinematographer reflected the spirit of national unity with the fall of the Berlin Wall in such films as " Wild Desire", and "Ice Cream in Gleam," starring Amr Diab and stunning actress Youssra.

Throughout his long-standing career, he directed 50 short movies, 12 long movies, and more than 20 TV series.

He also delivered exceptional films that continue to act as an inspiration to filmmakers, especially the younger stars.

There have been numerous filmmakers who have delivered many successful films at Egypt’s box office, however, very few have had an everlasting impact on generations. Beshara is one such director who obtained tremendous success in the late 1980s when he collaborated with young actors in several films, Dina Refaai,  Egypt's young director, said.

"He gained more recognition for his artistic maturity in such films as the Collar and the Bracelet (1986), Sweet Day, Bitter Day (1988), Desire (1991), America Abracadabra (America Shika Bika) (1993) (shot and edited in Romania), Strawberry War (1993), Traffic Light (1995), Nutshell (1995), and A Night On The Moon (2008)."

He was honored with numerous awards, including 1974 Leipzig 17th International Festival for Short &Documentary Films for Cinema and Television, Official Entry 1975 Sixth National Festival for Documentary and Short Films, Cairo, Egypt, and 1979 Leipzig 22nd International Festival for Short & Documentary Films for Cinema and Television.