Arab melodrama draws on familial strife just as much as the melodramas of classic Hollywood and popular Indian cinema, and here Chahine, like Minnelli and Visconti, expands the family melodrama to examine a disillusioned nation. The story concerns a benevolent farmer, his troubled son and his grandson, who is beginning to chafe under his father's restrictions; the situation is given an explosive charge by the return from prison of the patriarch's beloved younger son. The film's screenplay is co-written by songwriter Salah Jahin, who also wrote the score. (Yes, Prodigal Son is also a musical.) Jahin's earlier music had praised Nasser, and his work on this film was meant to expiate the guilt he felt for helping to inflate Egypt's expectation of its leader.

Directed by Youssef Chahine.

Egypt/Algeria 1976, video, color, 120 min. Arabic with English subtitles

Starring: Souhair Al Mourshidi, Shoukry Sarhan, Raga Hussien, Said Ali Quwerat, Ali Al Sherif, Hoda Sultan, Mahmoud El MELIGY, Magda El Roumi, Ahmed Mihriz,Hisham Selim, Ahmed Bedeer

Date: 1976
Duration: 120 Minutes
Subtitles: English, French

Directed by: Youssef Chahine
Scenario: Youssef Chahine, Salah Jaheen, Farouk Balouaa
The story is adapted from a novel by Andre Gide.
Editor: Rashida Abdel Salam
Cinematographer: Abdel Aziz Fahmy
Camera Operator: Mahmoud Al Akhal, Mahmoud Bakr
Music: Abou Zeid Hassan
Sound: Kamal Miksar
Set Design: Magdi Nashed, Mohamed Bougoumaa
Costume: Mohamed Ezzat

Production: Misr International Films, Al Ounisek

Source:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2009janfeb/chahine.html
www.misrinternationalfilms.com/awdet-el-ibn-el-dal-return-prodigal-son