Seeing Red

SEXY LINGERIE DOES it for most men, but for serious actor Hisham Abdel Hamid, seeing his co-star Wafaa Amer in a red-and-black nightgown was just too much. Ill come back when you learn how to act, screamed a vexed Abdel-Hamid at Amer before storming off stage in the middle of Alfred Farags Gawaz ala Waraqet Talaq (Marriage on Divorce Papers). Showing off the bruises on her arm courtesy of Abdel-Hamid, Amer rushed to file a complaint with the actors syndicate, alleging that Abdel-Hamid was upset because she wore a different nightdress instead of the yellow one she usually appears in. Meanwhile, Gawaz director Ahmed Abdel-Halim can kiss goodbye his dreams of taking the play around theater festivals abroad as the play has now reached an untimely end a shame say critics who had showered the government production with good publicity and positive reviews.

Copycat, Copycat

MORE CELEBRITY mudslinging with Al Qahira newspaper slamming renowned TV presenter, playwright and satirical columnist Youssef Maati for plagiarism. Chunks from poet Kamel El-Shinnawis memoirs El-Saat (The Hours) inexplicably appeared on the pages of Maatis latest book Nogoom Fi Ezz el Dohr (Stars in Broad Daylight). The plagiarism was allegedly so blatant that only a few words were altered here and there, claimed the Al Qahira article. These are my own personal experiences, Maati said in self-defense. The case is nothing more than telepathy. Could be, but five whole sections worth?

moving In the Right Direction

FOR THE FIRST time since the 1960s, a documentary film has been screened at a commercial cinema. Directed by Hala Galal as part of Aflam Misr al Alamias Films pioneer women series, Dardashat Nisaiyya (Female Chitchat) follows the lives of a middle-class Egyptian family, marking the hardships and triumphs of the everyday life of Egyptian women.

Zahi Hawass

Meanwhile, the film community said its last goodbyes to pioneer special effects director El-Sayed El-Shahry. The much-loved director leaves behind an acclaimed collection of documentaries, feature films and television series.

lost and found

APOLISH EXPEDITION working in Alexandria has discovered 13 lecture halls that are believed to be part of the old Bibliotheca Alexandrina, built by the Romans 2,300 years ago. The expedition was also able to distinguish special seats for lecturing professors. The Roman amphitheater in Alexandria, which has now been annexed by the new Alex Opera, is thought to be another of the Bibliothecas lecture halls.

In other news, Shala, the picturesque mud city of Siwa, has been added to the World Heritage Antiquities recorded by the UNESCO.

Finally, the public bath of Hammam Serag Eddin has recently been restored in Sammanod. The bath is considered an excellent example of the Islamic architecture of the Middle Delta area.

Pharaohs Rule

MINISTER OF CULTURE Farouk Hosni came under heavy attack last month at the Peoples Assembly when Dr. Zakaria Azmy questioned the usefulness of an antiquities protocol between Egypt and Qatar, since most Gulf countries look on monuments as heathen statues that must be pulled down. The minister replied that Sheikh Saud Bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani the director of the National Culture, Heritage and Arts Council of Qatar, had always been interested in Egyptian antiquities, so much so that he has agreed to give back 80 pieces from the Akhnaton era. Dr. Zahi Hawass came by the pieces during his visit to Qatar last December, and it was then that Sheikh Saud promised to give them as a present to Egypt.

The goods will be exhibited in the Tel el-Amarna museum, expected to be completed in two years time. The pieces have yet to arrive. et