Youssef Chahine, 82; Arab Movie Industry's Leading Filmmaker

That kind of coexistence was the ideal haven for such minorities as Egypt's Christians who prospered, only to suffer later under the nationalization drive of President Gamal Abdel Nasser in post-colonial Egypt.

One of Mr. Chahine's most trenchant critiques of Nasser's regime was 1972's "al-Asfour" ("The Sparrow"), which exposed the failures of the 1967 war against Israel and punctured the adulation of Nasser in Arab eyes.

In his films, Mr. Chahine was unsparing in his criticism of corrupt regimes. He was cynical about the hollow rhetoric of leaders who goaded Arab nationalism to disaster, and uncompromising in his battles over imposed dictates of extremist and political Islam.

He confronted Islamic fundamentalism in his 1997 film "al-Massir" (Destiny), about a tolerant ruler in 12th-century Spain who was harassed by an extremist Muslim sect.

In his later years, he was skeptical of American policy and the violent films from Hollywood. His 2004 movie, "Alexandrie . . . New York," drew criticism from Arab as well as American reviewers and commentators.

An autobiographical trilogy on Alexandria, culminating in the final "Iskanderiya, Kaman Oue Kaman" ("Alexandria Again and Forever") in 1990 advocated tolerance and democracy.

Off camera, he continued this fight in 2006 when, despite his frail health, he joined demonstrators after President Hosni Mubarak cracked down on democracy activists and independent magistrates who declared his election fraudulent.

A small and wiry figure with inquisitive eyes peering from behind thick glasses resting on an imposing Grecian nose, Mr. Chahine told critic Michael Fargeon in the UNESCO Courier that he found his inspiration by observing people "with a sympathetic eye. If you love other people, every story is interesting. Everybody has a magnificent story somewhere inside them. The important thing is to know how to listen to the story and then to tell it."