THE BLAZING SUN (SIRAA FIL-WADI) Omar Sharif Retrospective

After discovering Omar Sharif while sitting in a Cairo cafe, director Youssef Chahine gave the handsome young actor his first film role as Ahmed, the son of an estate manager.

Set in contemporary 1950s Upper Egypt, this pastoral tale provides a glimpse into the rigid caste system that existed at the time, and the lengths one family will go to in order to keep its own people oppressed.