Cinema Etceteras: Holiday Special — My One and Only Love (1957) أنت حبيبي
A Film By Youssef Chahine
Event Details
Date: December 12
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Al Bustan Art Gallery
Runtime: 1hr 50 min
Celebrate the holiday season with Cinema Etceteras! Join Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture on Friday, December 11 at 6:00 PM for a special festive edition of our film screening series featuring Youssef Chahine’s Golden Age Egyptian musical romantic comedy, My One and Only Love (أنت حبيبي / Inta Habibi).
Starring legendary icons Farid al-Atrash, Shadia, and Hind Rostom, this 1957 classic follows two reluctant cousins forced into a marriage of convenience to claim a family inheritance—only for sparks, song, and genuine romance to sweep them off their feet. Bursting with unforgettable melodies, screwball charm, and vintage Cairo glamour, it is our holiday postcard from the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema.
About the Film
Before his acclaimed dramatic masterpieces Cairo Station and The Land, visionary Egyptian director Youssef Chahine crafted one of Arab cinema’s most joyful entertainments. When two cousins (played by screen legends Farid al-Atrash and Shadia) are forced into a marriage of convenience to secure their grandfather’s inheritance, hilarious misunderstandings and unforgettable musical numbers gradually turn rivalry into real love—co-starring the dazzling Hind Rostom.
“Iconic Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine is mostly known in the West for his psychologically penetrating masterpiece ‘Cairo Station,’ his sweeping agrarian epic ‘The Land,’ and his ensemble period pic ‘Alexandria…Why?’. In Egypt, his most beloved works are his early entertainments, and ‘My One and Only Love’ is the finest of them all: a musical romantic comedy about a star-crossed couple forced into a marriage of convenience who gradually fall in love with each other. Starring iconic screen legends Shadia and Farid al-Atrash alongside Cairo Station’s Hind Rostom and featuring some of the most memorable musical numbers of its era, ‘My One and Only Love’ is our pick for the Holiday season: a postcard from the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema.”
— Joseph Fahim, Al-Bustan Film Curator
About the Director
Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a friars' school, and then turned to Victoria College until the High School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House, taking courses on film and dramatic arts. After coming back to Egypt, cinematographer Alevise Orfanelli helped him into the film business. His film debut was Baba Amin (1950): one year later, with Son of the Nile (1951) he was first invited to the Cannes Film festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Festival. With Le moineau (1973), he directed the first Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Alexandria... Why? (1979), the first installment in what proved to be an autobiographic trilogy, completed with Hadduta Masriya (1982)(An Egyptian Story (1982)) and Alexandria: Again and Forever (1989).
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle proposed him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie Française: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus' "Caligula," which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing Al-mohager (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream-project, and he finally got to shoot it in 1994. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, he was again selected Hors Competition in Cannes with Destiny (1997).
- IMDb