Vedat Örfi Bengü

{{Short description|Turkish film producer and actor (1900–1953)}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Vedat-Orfi-Bengu.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Wadad Orfi | birth_date = October 14, 1900 | birth_place = Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1953|5|25|1900|10|14}} | death_place = Istanbul, Turkey | nationality = | other_names = Wedad Orfi, Wadad Orfi, | occupation = Film producer, actor | years_active = 1917-1953 | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Vedat Örfi Bengü''', also spelt as '''Wedad Orfi''', and '''Wadad Orfi''', (October 14, 1900 – May 25, 1953) was a Turkish-Egyptian silent film producer and actor.<ref name="Armes">{{citation|last=Armes|first=Roy|year=2008|chapter=Orfi, Wedad|title=Dictionary of African Filmmakers|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253351166|page=105|quote=Egyptian silent filmmaker of Turkish origin.}}</ref>

==Career== ===Controversy depicting Muhammad=== In 1926, Örfi approached Youssef Wahbi to play the role of Muhammad in a film, which would be financed by the Turkish government and a German producer.<ref name="Shohat">{{citation|last=Shohat|first=Ella|year=2009|chapter=Sacred Word, Profane Image: Theologies of Adaptation |title=Cinema and Politics: Turkish Cinema and The New Europe|editor-last=Bayrakdar |editor-first=Deniz|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1443804158|pages=17}}</ref> Whilst the President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the Istanbul Council of Ulamas gave their approval to the film, the Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo published a juridical decision stipulating that Islam forbids the representation of Muhammad and his companions.<ref name="Shohat"/> Thereafter, King Fouad warned Whabi that he would be exiled and stripped of his Egyptian citizenship if he took part in the film.<ref name="Shohat"/> Consequently, the film was later abandoned.<ref name="Armes"/>

===Leila/Layla – the first Egyptian feature film === By 1927 Örfi produced and starred in the film "''Neda Allah''" ("The Call of Allah") which was a collaborative project with Aziza Amir.<ref name="Mejri">{{citation|last=Mejri|first=Ouissal|year=2017|chapter=The Birth of North African Cinema|title=Africa's Lost Classics: New Histories of African Cinema|editor-last=Bisschoff|editor-first=Lizelle |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1351577397|pages=29–30}}</ref> The film was later remade and released as ''"Laila"'' ("Leila") with some of Orfi’s original shots left in the film.<ref name="Mejri"/> The latter production is often considered to be the first Egyptian feature film.

===Filmography===

====In Egypt==== *1927: ''Laila'' *1928: ''The Victim'' / ''al-Dahiyyah'' *1929: ''The Beauty from the Desert'' / ''Ghaddat al-sahra'' *1929: ''The Drama of Life'' / ''Ma Sat al-Hayat''

====In Turkey====

==Personal life== In the 1930s Örfi moved to Turkey.<ref name="Armes"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Portal|Egypt|Turkey|Biography}} * {{IMDb name|0649763}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poussi}} Category:1900 births Category:Film people from Istanbul Category:Silent film producers Category:Turkish expatriates in Egypt Category:Egyptian film producers Category:Turkish film producers Category:1953 deaths