Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 19 hours ago

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#Yousra #Cartier

What do we want from our icons? To be untouchable? Otherworldly? Beyond this mortal plane? Yousra – the grande dame of Arab cinema – is living proof that all this is nothing without something even more rarefied: a knack for unfiltered honesty.

Growing up in Cairo in the 50s and 60s, the doyenne was raised by a fearless matriarchy, including her own single mother (“She decided on her freedom - and she fought for it”) – an upbringing which she credits with shaping her entire outlook on life and, subsequently, influencing her five-decade-long silver-screen reign. “The word ‘iconic’ has become so cheap,” she tells Bazaar Arabia's Olivia Phillips. “A true icon leaves a legacy. 100 million views on YouTube? This is not a legacy, darling.” Read the full cover story here, from Harper's Bazaar Arabia's September 2023 issue: harpersbazaararabia.com/hbanews/yousra-icon-interview

Editor In Chief and Words: Olivia Phillips
Styling: Nour Bozz
Hair: Yulia Pantiukhina
Make-Up: Raffaele Romagnoli
Jewellery: Cartier
Senior Producer: Steff Hawker
Editor: Farah Abouel Seoud

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