Hussein El Qalla
A Palestinian producer, born in Safad in 1943. He immigrated with his family to Syria in 1948. He was first politically active with the Arab Nationalist Movement and later with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (where he was a member of the political bureau). He started his career in cinema in Egypt in the early1980s, when he produced and financed the film An Egyptian Story (1982) with Misr International Films (which was founded by the late Youssef Chahine). In April 1983, he established the International Company for Television and Film (Hussein El-Qala), which is still active to this day. He has produced several films that are considered among the icons of Egyptian cinema, such as An Egyptian Story by Youssef Chahine, Dreams of Hind and Camilia (1989) and Wife of an Important Man (1987) by Mohamed Khan, The Kit Kat (1991) and Land of Fear (1999) by Daoud Abdel Sayed, Paper Hero (1988) by Nader Galal, Sleepless Nights (2003) by Hani Khalifa, in addition to several other films. He produced over 22 films, as well as a number of television productions.