Ateyyat El Abnoudy
Ateyyat El Abnoudy was raised in a small village by her two parents in a working-class family. El-Abnoudy attended the University of Cairo to attain her law degree, working as an actress at a local theatre to fund her education. While at university, she met her first husband, a journalist and poet named Abdel-Rahman El Abnoudy. Abdel's career gave Atteyyat access to a network of writers, poets, and other artists in Egypt. El Abnoudy played various roles at the theater, such as stage manager and assistant. In 1972 she attended the Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema to finish her film studies. While there, she created "Horse of Mud", which was not only her first documentary, but also Egypt's first documentary produced by a woman. El Abnoudy started her acting career as a means to financially support herself in school while she studied journalism. When El-Abnoudy's career as a journalist began, she took a particular interest in the poor of Egypt, specifically Cairo. This later inspired her to take up production and become a filmmaker who shed light on the plight of some in Egypt. El-Abnoudy quickly became known by two titles: the "poor people's filmmaker" and the "mother of documentaries". She inspired many Arab women filmmakers to follow in her footsteps.
El-Abnoudy's films are known for dealing with political, social, and economic issues in Egypt. They challenged the censored state of film during Egypt's Sadat era. El-Abnoudy further contested the censorship of Egypt's filmmakers when she became the first female to establish her own production company, Abnoudy Film, which supported small filmmakers similar to her. The Physicalities of Documentaries by African Women written by Stefanie Van De Peer
Permissible Documentaries: Representation in Ateyyat El Abnoudy's documentaries written by Stefanie Van De Peer
Popular Egyptian Cinema: Gender, Class, and Nation written by Viola Shafik
Early life and education
She was born in a small village along the Nile Delta in Egypt.