May 27, 2016
Faten Hamama’s 85th birthday
This Doodle’s Key Themes
"Lady of the Arabic screen," "Star of the Century," and Egypt's "National Treasure” are just a few of the names associated with the Egyptian actress, Faten Hamama. Discovered as a child at a beauty pageant in Mansoura, Hamama's meteoric rise was perfectly timed to the bloom of the Egyptian film industry.
Hamama began her film career as a 16 year-old student at the High Institute of Acting in Cairo. Over the next 8 years, she would make more than 20 films and become the highest paid female lead in Egypt at the time.
But it's the impact of her success that makes her legacy so important. From her 1964 film, The Open Door which highlighted the need for women's rights to I Want a Solution in 1975 which paved the way for changes to Egyptian marriage and divorce laws, hers was a career of influence. In keeping with her legacy, today's doodle memorializes her role as Layla, the strong, unwavering lead in the film AlBab Al Maftouh (The Open Door).
Named her country’s, “Most Important Actress,” it’s clear Hamama is known by many superlatives and remembered for so many things. But on this what would be her 85th birthday, we salute her brilliant ability to transcend time to inspire us again and again.
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