
Directing
Community Rating
6.3
TMDB estimate
Born
March 6, 1919
Died
January 29, 1988 (age 68)
Born in
Al Mansoura, Egypt
Hassan El Imam is an Egyptian director. He was born in the city of Mansoura in 1919, and received his education at a French school in Cairo, but after his father died following a financial crisis, Hassan was forced to work at an early age to provide for his family, and as he was fluent in both English and French, he started working as a translator. He then moved to working in film as an assistant director to Youssef Wahba. El Imam started his directorial career in a period that was dominated by melodramas and tragic stories in film, which was the major influence on his style and aesthetic, and led his films to become blockbusters, despite the constant panning from critics even after his death. El Imam's directorial debut was “Mala'ikat Gohanam” (Hell's Angels) in 1946. His most famous films from this period include: “Al Yatimatan” (The Two Orphans) (1948), “Zalamoony Elnas” (People Oppressed Me) (1950). In 1962, El Imam started a new phase in his career, by landing as a substitute for director Salah Abu Seif on the film adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz's “Bein El Qasrein” (Between the Two Palaces). He then continued to direct extremely successful film adaptations of Naguib Mahfouz novels, including “Zuqaq Almidaq” (Almidaq Alley) (1963), “Qasr Elshouq” (Palace of Longing) (1966), and “Alsokkareya” (1973). Despite meeting acclaim from audience, El Imam has always been accused by critics of ruining Mahfouz's novels with his film adaptations. In the 1970's, El Imam started shifting away from melodramas and experimented with different genres, mainly comedies and musicals that were also highly successful among audiences, starting with “Khally Balak men Zuzu” (Take Care of Zuzu) in 1972, which had a theatrical run of over a year and became one of the highest grossing Egyptians films of all time. He invested Zuzu's success afterwards to make other musical comedies like “Hekayty ma'a Elzaman” (My Story with Time) and “Amira Hobby Ana” (Amira my Love). El Imam co-wrote most of his films, and was known for seeking inspiration from French popular stories and fairy tales. He died on the 29th of January, 1988 at the age of 66.

Graveyards for Rent
1986

The era of love
as Director
1986

Bokra Ahla Men El-Naharda
as Director, Writer
1986

Bitter honey of love
as Director
1985

Kaydahonna Azeem
as Director
1983

Lial
as Director
1982

Who is he in society?
as Director
1982

Fangs
as Narrator
1981

Blood on Pink Dress
as Director, Writer
1981

Do not wrong women
as Director, Writer
1980

El-Ganna Taht Qadmeha
as Director, Writer
1979

Queen of Tarab
as Director
1979

Hob Fauq Al-Burkan
as Director, Writer
1978

Al-Qadeya Al-Mashhora
as Writer, Director
1978

Prayer of the oppressed
as Scenario Writer, Director, Dialogue
1977

Rendezvous with Soso
as Writer
1977

Al-Karawan Loh Shafayef
as Director, Writer
1976

Be Good to Your Parents
as Director, Writer
1976

Qamar Al-Zaman
as Director, Writer
1976

Badia Masabni
as Writer, Director
1975