Yousra talks about the challenges she faced during her career in a dialogue session at the El Gouna Festival
In a dialogue session entitled “50 Years of Yousra,” moderated by Mohamed Omar, Director of Global Partnerships at Meta, the audience of the El Gouna Festival in its eighth session celebrated the career of the great artist Yousra, which spanned half a century of creativity and artistic giving, in the presence of critic Tariq El-Shenawy, Hala Sedqy, Ahmed Malek, Ashraf Abdel Baqi, Hani Ramzy, Amr Gamal, Hassan Abu Al-Rous, Laila Alawi, Elham Shaheen, and director Hani Khalifa.
Yousra began the meeting with a spontaneous greeting from the heart, saying: “I love you so much and I am proud of you,” after which Muhammad Omar added with a sincere smile that he had never felt such great honor and pride at any moment as the one that brought him together with Yusra.
He explained that the task of celebrating her was not easy, saying: Six months ago in Ramadan, he was in her house and said to her: “Do you know that you have reached fifty years of age?”, and she answered him jokingly: “May your house be renovated!” She thought that he meant her age, not fifty years of art, so Yusra followed him by thanking him for his initiative, and explained that the preparation process For the exhibition, she spent a lot of time searching through about sixty bags for iconic dresses, to seeing all the stages of her life combined. She also expressed her pride in fifty years of art and her recognition that the audience’s love was the most important motivation.
Speaking about her beginnings, Yousra said that the first ten years of her career were not easy, as they called her “the canned star.” Because she participated in 25 films that came out four years after her debut and failed miserably. She did not realize where the mistake was, whether in her choice or in the work itself. So she decided to study and learn, so she was preparing the montage of the movie “Al-Karnak”. Completely to understand technical terms such as "racor".
She explained that talent alone is not enough, as the artist needs intelligence, patience, and good choices. She pointed out that there are small scenes that may form the backbone of the film, such as her scene with Ahmed Zaki in “His Excellency the Minister,” which defined the character’s history and future, stressing that his absence would have completely changed the fate of the film. She added that intelligence can be gained by learning from other personalities and their journey, and she recalled her admiration for Mrs. Faten Hamama, whom she used to listen to to learn from, saying that she would never forget a conversation she had when they asked her how she mastered other languages, and she said: “From the radio.”
As for her evaluation of her artistic career, she stressed that the choices are important, as are the people around them who educate the artist and push him forward. She recounted a situation with writer Wahid Hamed when she asked him about the script. He grabbed a piece of paper and drew squiggly lines on it and told her: “This is the most important part of the movie… the Climax.”
And frankly, reflecting the maturity of her experience, Yousra indicated that she deals with life situations sometimes with understanding, sometimes with intelligence, and sometimes with distress, but she has learned with the passage of time that the artist has a responsibility towards his audience, even in difficult times. She explained that she does not link her personal life to her dealings with the public, citing a simple example, saying that when a fan asks her to photograph for a few seconds, she never hesitates, because she believes that embarrassing anyone may make life repeat the same situation to her one day.
- For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Related
