Dear Shaded Viewers,
I just came back from the opening of Youssef Nabil's I Saved My Belly Dancer with an exhibition of black and white hand coloured photographs and the most amazing 12 minute film inspired by the 50's golden age of cinema in Egypt and Youssef's fraught relationship with his home country. This is Nabil's second solo exhibition with the Galerie Nathalie Obadia, their last collaboration was with his solo show You Never Left in 2010.
The two main actors in the film are french actor, Tahar Rahim, and Salma Hayek, sublime casting. The film is about Youssef's fascination with belly dancers and his anxiety over the disappearance of an art form, Salma Hayek plays the part of a last remaining belly dancer. The film is without dialogue but the images are so strong that it doesn't need any to transmit the message.
- Youssef Nabil, I Saved My Belly Dancer #XIII (d
