The 1950s were the beginning of the golden age of the Egyptian cinema industry, and Hamama played a significant part. In 1952 she starred in the film "Lak Yawm Ya Zalem" (لك يوم يا ظالم, "Your Day will Come") which was nominated at the Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award. She also played lead roles in Yousef Shaheen's "Baba Ameen" (بابا أمين, "Ameen, my Father", 1950) and "Sira` Fi al-Wadi" (صراع في الوادي, "Struggle in the Valley", 1954) which was a strong nominee at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award. Hamama is also known for having played the lead role in the first Egyptian mystery film "Al-Manzel Raqam 13" (المنزل رقم 13, "House Number 13"). In 1963, she received an award for her role in the political film "La Waqt Lel Hob" (لا وقت للحب, "No Time for Love"). Hamama was also able to make it to Hollywood; in 1963 she had a role in the crime film, "Cairo".