Youssef Chahine (Arabic: يوسف شاهين‎ [ˈjuːsɪf ʃæˈhiːn]; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director.He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. A winner of the Cannes 50th Anniversary Award (for lifetime achievement), Chahine was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif. A well regarded director with critics, he was often present at film festivals during the earlier decades of his work, Chahine gained his largest international audiences as one of the co-directors of 11'9"01 September 11 (2002).