Shadi Abdel Salam - The Tragedy of The Great House

The Tragedy of The Great House

The Tragedy of the Great House, also known as Akhenaten, was to be a historical epic on the reign of the Pharaoh Akhenaton. However, the film was not completed before Abdelsalam's death, owing to his insistence on Egyptian funding; he repeatedly rejected offers from foreign sources (including several generous ones from French backers), insisting that a film on Egyptian history be made exclusively with Egyptian money. Abdelsalam worked on this project for 10 years during which he made 4 rewrites of the script but never decided on a final version of the film and died before completing it, although most of the decorations, scenes, and costumes were finished.