Egyptian actor Omar Hassan Youssef revealed his willingness to present a documentary film to document the artistic journey of his parents, artist Hassan Youssef and retired artist Shams Al-Baroudi.
Omar confirmed that he succeeded in convincing his mother to appear for the first time on the screen after announcing her retirement in the mid-eighties of the last century, during a television interview on the satellite "Cairo and the people", where he is currently working on the initial preparations for the film.
Documenting a journey and clarifying fallacies
Omar Youssef denied – in a special statement to Al Jazeera Net – what has been circulated in a number of websites about the return of his mother to acting, stressing that it is a documentary film dealing with the artistic career of Hassan Youssef and Shams Al-Baroudi, and that he was recently able to convince his mother to appear in the film after it was scheduled to appear his father only.
Shams Al-Baroudi (social media)
Omar explained that his mother interacts through social media platforms and responds to followers herself, so he convinced her to respond to all the fallacies and rumors about her through a documentary film chronicling her career and that of his father, starting with studying at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts.
On whether the film will also address their artworks, he said that it will address this stage, which he described as an important stage in their lives and cannot be overlooked, even if there are works that his mother regretted submitting, they will be addressed from this context, and these works will not be celebrated.
Omar Youssef stressed that the "documentary" will shed light on his father's rich artistic history, such as the film "Yemen Revolution", which was filmed on the orders of the late Field Marshal Abdul Hakim Amer, in the era of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a film that was banned, and then allowed to be shown at the beginning of the new millennium.
The young actor pointed out that he is keen to respond to some rumors that dealt with the stages of his mother's retirement and wearing the hijab, to respond herself to everything that is said and explain the reasons for this stage in the lives of both Hassan Youssef and Baroudi.
The film will also address Al-Baroudi's meeting with Hassan Youssef, and how the story of love, marriage and forming a family began, where photos and videos of the family will be used during the film, and it will be determined later whether actors will be used to present their roles in youth or not, according to the director's vision whether the film will include narrative scenes or will be satisfied with dialogue only, through which a number of relatives and close friends will also appear.
Platform selection and onboarding team
On whether it will be neutral in the preparation of the film, Omar Youssef commented saying to Al Jazeera Net, "There will be a specialized preparation for the film, it is my idea, and I will not write it, but the axes will be through a specialized team and will choose a large interlocutor who asks questions to suit their status, which is common in documentary work that is implemented on a global level."
Omar Youssef confirmed that there are negotiations with some platforms to settle on the party that will produce the film, and then show it, and that preparations are now being made to choose the work team, whether the director and the preparation.
On whether this step will encourage his mother to return to work again to act again through works commensurate with her current stage, Omar denied this completely, and said that the idea of Baroudi's return to acting is not possible at all.
He added that it is possible that she will reverse the decision to appear in the documentary before it is implemented, and only his father, the artist Hassan Youssef, will be used.
In another context, Omar explained that his father does not interfere in his artistic choices, although he consults him but does not impose his point of view on him.
It is noteworthy that Hassan Youssef began his artistic career in the late fifties of the last century, while Baroudi began her career in the early sixties, and together they presented a number of works of art and achieved great success, before announcing retirement and announcing Baroudi wearing the hijab in the mid-eighties of the last century.
Al-Baroudi had announced her regret for some of the films she made during her artistic career, while the artist Hassan Youssef returned again, but through some social series and a number of religious works, the most famous of which is the series "Imam of the Preachers", during which he presented the character of Sheikh Muhammad Metwally Al-Shaarawy.