Arte - Omar Sharif Citizen of the World (2019)

Omar Sharif was the defining face of the Arab world in the 1960s, some say, next to Cleopatra, the most famous Egyptian of all. He was an actor, bridge player, nomad, womanizer and bon viveur. He said himself that he would have liked to live the life of Omar Sharif that was described in the newspapers. His appearance in “Lawrence of Arabia” made him a star overnight, “Doctor Zhivago” then became the role of his life. He was already known in Egypt, mainly because of his marriage to the popular actress Faten Hamama; for her he had also converted to Islam. The bond with his homeland was put to a severe test by the film “Funny Girl” at the side of the Jewess Barbra Streisand shortly after the Six Day War with Israel. Insulted by hardliners as a collaborator and spy, he did not return to Egypt for a long time. When the role offers became less, Sharif devoted himself to his greatest passion, the bridge. He achieved professional mastery, but also ran into a lot of debts. To pay them, he took on the weirdest roles - until his sensational comeback with “Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran”. This documentary probes Sharif's deep personal and political contradictions through the candid testimonies of those closest to him, with his son Tarek Sharif as well as grandson Omar Sharif Jr., and among others his film agent Steve Kenis, long time friend Andre Ferreol, egyptologist Zahi Hawass and journalist Catherine Claude. It shows a man full of contradictions who voluntarily spent half of his life in a hotel. Actually rather apolitical, he was passionate about reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis and only returned to his beloved homeland at the end of his life.

A Film by Jascha Hannover ; Florianfilm GmbH Co-Production with ZDF in Association with ARTE

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