Remembering Magda Sabahi on Her 91st Birth Anniv.

Today marks the 91st birth anniversary of the most acclaimed feminist-thinking artist in her generation Magda Sabahi.

Known as the sweetest lady and the most feminist artist in Egypt’s cinema, Sabahi’s strong charisma, and great expressions made her a flawless actress. She mostly played the decent aristocratic lady and independent girl roles and is fondly remembered for her performance as a strong woman in Youssef Chahine’s “Djamila Bouhired”, besides others.

On her birth anniversary today, let’s know a tad more about the legend closely:

Late Egyptian actress Sabahi, born as Afaf Ali Kamel Ahmed Abdel Rahman Al-Sabahi, known for appearing in over sixty films and acting over 10 TV and Radio series.

At just 15 years of age, Magda forayed into cinema as a young girl artist in the comedy film ‘El Naseh’ (1949) starring Ismail Yassin and the giant Farid Shawqi.

The remarkable actress was endowed with a special style of performing the delicate girl and oppressed woman characters that distinguished her from those who made such roles their specialty to the extent that she became the founder of an acting technique emulated by others.

Despite the never-ending controversy over the authenticity of the content in Sabahi’s dramatic life, her stunning work in “Djamila Bouhired” takes off his hat for the legendary actress.

Contrary to widespread belief Magda’s best performance was not in ‘Djamila Bouhired‘. Though she was supremely powerful in the film her best performance is to be seen in a film called “Teenage girls” in 1958 where she played a reluctant young girl with just the right amounts of passion and pathos.

Sabahi, who died in her house in Dokki  district, Cairo, on 16 January 2020, was well-known for some of her seminal works, such as Malish had (1954), Hegret El-Rasoul, Ayna Omry (1957), Banat El-Yom (1957), Al-Ragol Allazy Ohebo (1962), El-Omr Lahza (1978), among many others.

In addition to acting, many big-name actresses of the 19060s went into producing not only as another revenue stream but to influence what projects are being made in Egyptian cinema as well.

Therefore, the pretty actress decided to start their own production studios.

In 1958 she founded her own production studio called Mada Films and produced the historical movie ‘Hegret El Rasoul‘ (1964) in which she starred.

Later, Mada Films produced its second film (Who I love), which was the studio’s first attempt at the Egyptian franchise.

The recipient of various accolades, including numerous awards for best actress for her role in the cinema title  (Jamila, the Algerian), the Damascus International Film Festival in Syria, and the International Cairo Film Festival in Egypt, she was the country’s highest-paid actress in the 1970s.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the iconic star married the renowned actor, and former army officer Ihab Nafe, with whom she had her only daughter, Ghada, in 1965.

After Nafe married the veteran actress, both paired a group of successful movies.