Faten Hamama: Why is she the lady of the Arab screen?
In the days of anxiety, fear and violence, beauty no longer had a place, so she chose to distance herself and depart. Her heart, which had always beat with love and sprinkled beautiful perfume and art on the Arab world, stopped... Faten Hamama has departed, the lady of the Arab screen has departed, turning with her a page of the most beautiful things written in the era of beautiful art. She is the one who embodied art in its sweetest meanings and highest degrees of authenticity. She was the beautiful, pure face, the creative talent and the most splendid model of the Arab artist.
Faten Hamama held a large place of love in the heart of “Al-Mawed” and nothing is more indicative of that than the title “Lady of the Arab Screen” that was given to her by the late editor-in-chief of “Al-Mawed” Badih Serbey. This title has a story that I will tell the readers of “Al-Mawed” on the occasion of her passing... “Al-Mawed” was the first Arab art magazine to allocate annual trophies for movie stars and in the early fifties, the great star Faten Hamama was the one who won the majority of votes. At the ceremony in which Badih Serbey presented Faten Hamama with the third cup in a row in the poll, he said to her: “In the name of the readers of “Al-Mawed” in the Arab world, I dedicate this cup to you, the cinema audience has crowned you the Lady of the Arab Screen.” Since that time, Faten Hamama’s name has not been mentioned without being preceded by the title “Lady of the Arab Screen.”
The truth is that a long friendship linked Badih Serbey and Faten Hamama, as she used to give him long press interviews, although she rarely gave press interviews. The friendship between them was strong and lasted for more than forty years. There was an unwritten treaty between them, as my father told me, that was built through the years.
The treaty stipulated that Al-Mawed would not publish any news about Faten Hamama, whether artistic or personal, unless it was 100% sure of its accuracy. It also stipulated that the Lady of the Arab Screen would not hide from Al-Mawed any true news about her if it was news that was customarily permitted to be published. Al-Mawed is proud that, over the years, no news about Faten Hamama was published that was not 100% accurate, to the point that she would respond to those who asked her about the accuracy of a news item published about her by saying: "If Al-Mawed publishes this news, then it is 100% accurate..."
As I heard the news of the passing of the Lady of the Arab Screen, Faten Hamama, I recalled all my memories with her since I was a child until I became a professional writer. Fate allowed me to have several interviews with her, the first of which was at her home, which was at the time in the “Le Bon” building in “Zamalek”. I conducted an interview with her in Beirut several years ago when she came to Lebanon as an honoree. That day, I asked her to conduct an interview with me, and I doubted that her busy schedule would allow her to do so. She promised me, and I waited until the phone rang at my house and she was speaking to me, saying: “Come to the hotel, May, we will conduct the interview.” At the time, I could not believe that the hectic schedules had not made her forget to have interviews with the magazine she loved. This shows the amount of loyalty and sophistication she had in her dealings with others, with her audience, and with her loved ones.
The Lady of the Arab Screen was a cultured artist who read a lot and was concerned with the problems of society. Through her art, she addressed several social topics, including: education, population growth, and personal status law. When I asked her during our interview about the new topic she was thinking of presenting, she said that she wished to present a work that talks about the tragedy of refugees in any region of the world because every day we see people carrying their belongings and leaving their homes. This tragedy breaks hearts, and the world must stop it and remove the reasons that could cause it. The Lady of the Arab Screen did not rest until she presented her audience with artistic works that rose to the level of masterpieces.
So she remained crowned with the name “Lady of the Arab Screen” for generations... From time to time, I would talk to the Lady of the Arab Screen on the phone at her home in Cairo, and most of the time she would answer the phone. The last time she told me that she would come to Beirut to be honored by the American University of Beirut and we agreed to meet. When she came to Beirut, I received a call on my phone from Mrs. Bahija Al-Solh Al-Asaad saying: There is someone who wants to talk to you. Suddenly, I heard the voice of Faten Hamama, who was present at a lunch by the “Arab” family, with whom she had a long friendship.
During the lunch, she recalled her memories in Lebanon and remembered my father and wanted to talk to my mother to greet her, so she called me and spoke to my mother and together they recalled their memories over the years. This was the last time I heard the ringing of the voice of the Lady of the Arab Screen who departed our world after crowning the pages of Arab art for generations with artistic masterpieces that will remain immortal in the record of beautiful, high-end art.