San Francisco Frontiers - Egyptian actor faces challenge in iconic role of singer Umm Kulthum

Marwan Hamed's "El Sett" ("The Lady") premiered this week at the Marrakech International Film Festival, where Zaki told AFP about the daunting task she faced.

"I was very scared at the beginning," she said. "I didn't know where to start."

Zaki is one of Egypt's more recognisable actors but her fears were not unfounded.

Half a century after her death, Umm Kulthum remains a towering cultural figure across the region, distinguished by her unmistakable voice, marathon-length performances, and signature scarf and sunglasses.

So telling the story of a woman in a small Nile Delta village in 1898 who grew up to enrapture millions of listeners proved difficult for Zaki.

The 49-year-old actor said she spent 15 months studying the singer's physicality, posture and vocal timbre, even though she does not sing in her own voice in the film.

- 'Alive among us' -

The film does not open in Egypt but in Paris, where Umm Kulthum took to the stage in 1967 before a sold-out, frenzied Olympia.

She begins "Enta Omri", her most celebrated ballad, as a euphoric fan rushes towards her and collapses before her feet.

The singer donated profits from that show to the Egyptian army for its war against Israel, which was then occupying the Sinai Peninsula.

The movie then rewinds to her childhood in the Nile Delta, where her imam father would disguise her as a boy to perform religious chants in public.

Her father recognised her talent early on, but still feared the ire of an early 20th-century conservative society.

"There's something unbelievable about her journey," said director Hamed, who like many Arabs grew up mesmerised by Umm Kulthum's singing.

"She has all the elements of a unique story."

Hamed told AFP the singer remains "quite alive among us" half a century after her death.

"Not only because of her voice, but also because of what her voice carried for the people," he said.

- Power, vulnerability -

Listeners beyond the Arab world have also been mesmerised by Umm Kulthum, with Bob Dylan once calling her "one of my favourite singers of all time".

Her music revolutionised Arabic music, blending classical poetry with grand orchestral arrangements.

But her hours-long live performances further set her apart from her peers.

"When you watch her on stage, you see a lot of power, but actually behind that was a lot of vulnerability," Hamed said.

"The struggles and the obstacles that she had to go through, her power and her strength were really phenomenal."

After her covert performances in her Egyptian village, Umm Kulthum moved to Cairo in the 1920s and within a decade she rose to fame beyond Egypt.

"She is the voice of the Arab people and embodies hope, strength, and resistance," said Zaki.

Hamed lauded Umm Kulthum for forcing "her choices on the audience, whether in Egypt, the Arab world, or beyond".

He said the film would be a celebration of "her legacy and how she created that legacy" for decades beyond her life.

"Her journey of transformation is not a simple journey," he said.

Z.Sanchez--SFF