Film director Youssef Chahine, 82, dies in Cairo

YOUSSEF Chahine, one of Egypt’s most lauded movie directors whose films over nearly five decades often went on Fellini-esque flights of fancy and tackled social ills and Islamic fundamentalism, died yesterday in Cairo. He was 82 years old.

His death comes about four weeks after he fell into a coma following a brain haemorrhage. Chahine was flown to France in critical condition for treatment but later sent back to Al Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo, according to Egypt’s official new agency, MENA.

Chahine’s eclectic work made him one of the few Egyptian directors to gain an audience abroad, particularly in Europe and France, where he won a lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.