Aziza Amir
| Aziza Amir | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | عزيزه امير |
| Born |
Mofeeda Mahmoud Ghoneim 19 December 1901 Damietta, Egypt |
| Died | 28 February 1952 (aged 50) Cairo, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Occupation | Actress, screenwriter, producer |
| Children | Amira Amir |
Aziza Amir (Arabic: عزيزة أمير; 17 December 1901 – 28 February 1952) was an Egyptian actress, producer, and screenwriter. She has legendary status in Egyptian film.
Aziza Amir was born Mofida Mohamed Ghoneim in Damiettia, Egypt on 17 December 1901. Amir went to school at Hosn El Massarat on Mohamed Ali Street. Her dad worked at sea to provide for her family. Amir changed her name due to the general outlook of Egyptian society on theatre women and how it would’ve negatively affected her family's reputation. After the revolution of 1919 women's levels of energy rose and they wanted to make a difference. Amir got her acting start in the theater. Aziza then took the stage and started working as a theatre actress. She played the part of Napoleon's Daughter on stage, and that is how she met her first husband Ahmed EL Sheirei.
She joined the "Ramsis" acting troupe in 1925. She acted in the theater until 1935, when she decided to focus her attention on films. After years in the theatre business she decided to get into the cinema business, She starred in what scholars arguably call the first Egyptian film ever made Laila (1927) was released on 16 November 1927. The release of Laila (1927) was met with a lot of backlash and controversy by Egyptian Nationalists, due to its Turkish Director Wadad Orfi and German producers. There were disputes while the film was being made and, as a result, Orfi was replaced by Stephane Rosti. Both the media and Amir husband's family at the time of Laila's release opposed her participation in the film; Laila went on to be a success.
In 1933, she wrote, directed, and starred in Pay for your Sins (1933).
Egypt's film industry began to thrive in the 1940s; Amir began to write more screenplays as a result. She would eventually have seventeen writing credits to her name.
Amir had an adopted daughter Amira who acted alongside her in the film My Daughter (1944).
Amir would star and produce a total of twenty five films in her lifetime.
Amir also starred in the silent film Fattah min Istanbul (1928) and played the role of Brezka in the film Ahl El Kahf.
Amir got into the film industry and stayed and worked in different factions of film production, be it producer, actress or director. She produced a movie about the Palestinian struggle with her husband Mohamed Zul Fokar and Soad Mohamed in the lead. Talaat Harb was cited saying "she achieved what men had not been able to achieve." Taha Hussein said "she possesses the golden voice."
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