Afrita hanem ( ar, عفريتة هانم, English: ''Little Miss Devil'') is a 1949 Egyptian film about Asfour, a poor singer, played by Syrian musician

Farid Al Atrache Farid al-Atrash ( ar, فريد الأطرش; October 19, 1916 – December 26, 1974), also written Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor. Having immigrated to Egypt at the age of only nine ...

, who falls in love with Aleya, the somewhat spoiled daughter of his boss.

Plot

Asfour wants to marry Aleya, but her father won't let the marriage happen due to Asfour's class status. Asfour turns to a genie for help, but the genie, a female genie named Kahramana, played by noted Egyptian actress and dancer

Samia Gamal Samia Gamal ( ar, سامية جمال, born as Zaynab Khalil Ibrahim Mahfuz, 5 March 1924 – 1 December 1994) was an Egyptian belly dancer and film actress. Biography Born in the small Egyptian town of Wana in March 1924, Samia's family move ...

, falls in love with Asfour instead, and tries to manipulate his desires.

Reception

According to the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

’s book ''100 Film Musicals'', ''Afrita hanem'' critiques modernity: “Running through all these films (as through so many Indian films), exploring moral dilemmas in bourgeois family settings, is a discourse in which western modernity – cars, clothes, manners – is viewed negatively in relation to traditional values. The sage who presides over the genie in Afrita Hanem pops up from time to time to deliver homilies about materialistic greed and selfishness.”Hillier, Jim and Douglas Pye. ''100 Film Musicals (Bfi Screen Guides)''. British Film Institute, 2011, p. 16.

References

External links

* 1949 films Egyptian speculative fiction films 1940s Arabic-language films Films directed by Henry Barakat Egyptian musical comedy films 1949 musical comedy films American black-and-white films {{Egypt-film-stub