“Are you an Egyptian Superhero?”: the Vanguards’ Influence on the Media.

Residing in the Opportunity District in Expo 2020 on the outskirts of Dubai, the Egypt pavilion glittered under the noon sun, embellished with gold and prospects for the future.

Egypt is a household name for many people in the MENA region in multiple industries, namely its entertainment industry. However, it's name is echoing across the seas in Western countries as well.

Ancient Egypt has long been fashion’s muse, from fashion houses like Chanel to Cairo’s souks, it's a prevalent notion around us. Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain, worked with two Egyptian powerhouses Azza Fahmy and Okhtein to create bustiers for Paris Fashion Week for his women’s show which also had allusions to ancient Egypt. He shared with Vogue Arabia the reason behind the fascination

“It’s timeless. This is the paradox that I love. Maximal, minimal, the future, and the past.”

Another popular recent event was the Dior men’s show which took place in Giza and brought together its ambassadors, along with stars of the region to a divine runway near the Pyramids, wherein we saw folkloric papyrus baskets matched with sandy Dior tech wear. Creative Director Kim Jones mentioned in the evening of: “When I go into the desert, I look at the sky”

Another area in which Egyptian artistry glows is cinema. Egyptian cinema had early beginnings from the screening of the first projected short film by the Lumière Brothers in Alexandria in 1896, from there Alexandrians started working on bringing film-making to Egypt. This was a project that had required support from the French Pathé and Italian companies until the establishment of Studio Misr by Taalat Harb, which catalyzed the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema, which is largely considered to be the era of the 1940s to 1960s, during which actors headed to stardom in Cairo. The ascension to Western screens can be credited to Omar Sharif, who is mostly recognized for his role in the films Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, for which he won Golden Globe awards, has paved the way for other Egyptian and Arab actors, including Rami Malek, who was the first person of Egyptian heritage to win the Academy Awards.

Leila Mourad and Youssef Wahbi, who frequented the screen alongside each other

Omar Sharif

This ascension to the west isn’t exclusive to the silver screen, as Egyptians are also making an appearance on TV screens. The Hulu self-titled comedy show Ramy, which delves into the life of an Egyptian-American family, has brought many actors to the spotlight, such as Amr Waked, who was an established name in Cairo, Hiam Abbass, A Palestinian Actress and Director alongside May Calamawy, who was recently in Marvel’s Moon Knight as Layla / Scarlet Scarab, the company’s first Egyptian superhero.

May Calamawy with Ramy Youssef and Bella Hadid on set

As a culmination of this article, in the words of Calamawy, when asked about Arab representation, she said,

"This isn’t just valuable because we get to express ourselves, but because it gives us the freedom to discover what we want to express when historically we haven’t been given that space to explore and figure it out.”

Laila Ibrahim

6F14 - Y13

References
AlSayyad, Yasmine. 2018. “Walking Through the Whitney Museum with Rami Malek.” The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/walking-through-the-whitney-museum-with-rami-malek.

“Balmain's Olivier Rousteing on His African Roots and Why Egypt Has Forever Been a Place of Endless Inspiration.” 2023. Vogue Arabia. https://en.vogue.me/fashion/olivier-rousteing-balmain-creative-director-love-letter-egypt/.

Ifteqar, Naheed. 2022. “Egyptian-Palestinian Actor May Calamawy on Starring in 'Moon Knight', 'Ramy', and the Power of Representation.” Vogue Arabia. https://en.vogue.me/culture/egyptian-palestinian-actor-may-calamawy-moon-knight-layla-el-faouly-ramy-dena-hassan/.