Past Film/Video | Classics | Series & Festivals

Destiny

(Youssef Chahine, 1997, Egypt)

35MM Print

A man with facial hair wearing a headcovering kneels while holding someone's hand.

This late epic from a titan of Egyptian cinema is at once a historical melodrama, an exhilarating musical, and a political plea.

The celebrated filmmaker Youssef Chahine's Destiny tells the life of the influential medieval philosopher Ibn Rushd (known in the West as Averroes), an advocate for tolerance who speaks out against religious extremism. Set in Córdoba in the 12th century where a secular and multicultural society flourished under Muslim rule, Destiny shows Averroes fighting for free speech, literacy, and rationalism. He strives to preserve the writings of great thinkers such as Aristotle but is targeted by powerful clerics. His followers use lively, sensuous singing and dancing as a rebuttal to the joyless austerity of the zealots. Chahine made the film at a time of rising fundamentalist extremism in Egypt, and its relevance is sadly stronger than ever. And its spectacle (Steamy romance! Raging battle scenes! Rousing song and dance!) remains just as captivating. In Arabic with English subtitles. (135 mins., 35mm)

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IMAGE CAPTION
Destiny, courtesy of Leisure Time Films.

"A big, lush, boldly kitschy piece of political pop."
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

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COPROMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Getaway Brewing
Seventh Son
Antiques on High

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
Ohio Department of Development

Greater Columbus Arts Council

The Wexner Family 
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts 
CampusParc 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation 
Axium Packaging 
Nationwide Foundation 
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Mike and Paige Crane 
Nancy Kramer 
Ohio State Energy Partners 
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection 
Larry and Donna James 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Bruce and Joy Soll 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman 
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle 
Jones Day 
Alex and Renée Shumate

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Destiny