Hanan Turk

Hanan Hassan Mohamed Abd El-Karim, Hanan Turk, was born in 1975 into a family of five members. Her father owned his own factory for clothes. She started off as a ballerina and completed her studies in the Ballet Institute in 1993. She then became a member of the Cairo Ballet Group and soon after moved to the Classic Ballet Group.

Hanan had no idea till then that her true career was not ballet and that destiny had great fame in store for her as an actress. When the famous director, Khairy Beshara , saw her, he offered her the chance to act for the first time. Her first role was alongside Nadia El Guindy in Wild Desire (1992) . After that the young ballerina was thirsty for more and thus came her next role in "Al-Suqout Fi Bir Sabe'" (1994) with the director Nour El-Demerdash . The television series was a great success and many more followed after. Among them were Al-Sabr Fel Malahat, Al-Mal We Al-Banoun and "Ln A3esh Fe Gelbab Aby" (1996) . In 1993, she was offered yet another role on the silver screen: Dehk, we leab we gad we hob (1993)

Then came her big chance when she was chosen by the famous director Youssef Shahine to play a part in Al-Mohager in 1994. Then Hanan appeared, in 1997, alongside the singer Mohamed Fouad in Ismailia Rayeh Gayy, which proved to be a big success in the box office. In the same year she had the opportunity to work with Youssef Shanhine once again by starring in Al-Massir.

Luck came her way once again with leading roles in Al-Akhar and Fata men Israel in 1999. The next year saw more cooperation between the young star and the famous director and the box office hit Al-Assefa was released in the theaters. In the year 2000, the now famous actress appeared on the television screen in Ramadan in a role in the successful television series Opera Aida. Hanan witnessed more success in the following year, with a role alongside the famous actress Samira Ahmed in Amira Men Abdeen. The series marked the return of the esteemed actress and brought more fame to Hanan. But that was not all she did that year; she also played the leading female role in Ga'ana El-Bayan El-Taly, opposite Mohamed Heneidy. The film proved to be a major hit in the box office and brought out the comedian in Hanan.

The year 2001 was no different from the previous years; Hanan played a role in Gawaz Be Karar Gomhourey. Then came her true hits Harameya Fi KG2 and Harameya Fi Thailand in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The year 2003 was also a busy year for the young actress with leading roles in Sahar El Layali - which was a major hit and won many prizes in different festivals - and _Deil El-Samakah_.

In 2005 the film _Donia (2005)_ by Lebanese director _Jocelyn Saab_ was released, in which Hanan played the leading role. The movie centers around the title character Donia, a belly dancer and poet. When the film aired at the 2005 Cairo International Film Festival, it left the audience split between those who supported the film's call for intellectual freedom and its stance against female circumcision, and those who disapproved of the title character's desire to physically express herself through dance. It was also controversial that so many scenes were filmed in Cairo's slums, which could be seen to tarnish Egypt's international image. The film was especially controversial in Egypt for taking up the tradition of female circumcision, among other reasons; it received a good deal of attention in Europe.