Mahmoud Yassin

Mahmoud Yassin
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The notion of art for art’s sake is as repugnant to Mahmoud Yassin as are claims that art is haram (proscribed). “Art, in whatever shape or form it takes, has a sublime message,” says veteran actor Yassin. “Apart from the aesthetic merit and artistic quality of the work, it must have a clear social and humanitarian function.”
With this as his philosophy throughout a career that spans more than five decades, the law school graduate has graced Egyptian cinema in over 150 films and starred in roughly 25 theater productions, as well as scores of radio and television dramas.
His personal experience with war as a child growing up in the small coastal city of Port Said, where he was born in 1941, has engrained in him a deep-seated belief in the need to promote social justice and a compassion for the underprivileged. During the 1956 tripartite aggression on his hometown, he had a first-hand encounter with living in a conflict zone.
Partial filmography
1969: A Touch of Fear
1972: Song on the pathway
1973: Night and rods
1974: Where is my mind?
1977: Sonya and the madman
1977: Mouths and rabbits
1979: Conqueror of the dark 1979:
1980: Attention, gentlemen
1981: Traveling without a road
1982: The Trial
1985: The pickpocket
1986: In-camera session
1987: The amulet
1988: Man against the law
1990: Return of the fugitive
1991: License to kill
1992: The scandal
1995: The assassination of Faten Tawfiq
1999: Girl from Israel
On September 29, 2004, Mahmoud Yassin was appointed by the World Food Program as ambassador against hunger, the first Arab to grace the position.