Pioneer Passing

Salah Taher, one of the twentieth century’s leading Egyptian artists and a founder of the Pioneer movement (those who championed painting in the modern era after the art form had been frowned upon for religious and social reasons), passed away last month at age 96.

Taher, who was born in 1911, became one of the best-known names in Egyptian fine arts. Ask any Egyptian to name one important Egyptian painter and Taher would most likely be the name to come to mind. His career encompassed many stages, starting with nude studies, passing through academic realism and abstract art, and ending with Sufi painting.

Taher was not only one of the most famous Egyptian artists, but also one of the most interesting on a personal level. A boxer in the 1930s, Taher also played the violin, was an avid fan of classical music and practiced yoga on a daily basis.

His interests were reflected in his work, and he liked to say that he tried to build his paintings the way a classical composer built his music. He was a personal friend to many of Egypt’s greats, including the actress Faten Hamama and singer Omm Kolthoum, who graced his paintings as well as his life.

Likely to prompt some nationalist outrage: Syrian director Hatem Aly started shooting his new TV serial called King Farouk at Studio Al-Ahram last month.

Be prepared for some rage over Syria’s encroachment into “traditional” Egyptian drama turf. The local press turned Syrian actor Gamal Suleiman into the whipping boy for all Syrian misdeeds (real and imagined) last Ramadan after the high-profile actor played the lead role of an Upper Egyptian drug dealer in the serial Hada’k Al-Shaytan.

Likely to be targeted this time: Syrian actor Tayem Hassan, who played the young Nizar Kabany in the successful Ramadan serial depicting the life of the great poet, will play the last king of Egypt.

Produced by MBC with a budget of LE 20 million, the serial will bring together more than 300 Egyptian and Arab actors, including Ezzat Abou-Ouf, Nabil El-Halafawy and Wafaa Amer, who will play Queen Nazly.

Last month, film studios were abuzz with rumors of more biographical treats in store. It seems a new movie depicting former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will likely get a green light from a Libyan producer in the very near future, while little-known singer Sameh Youssry is trying to convince the family of late musician Omar Khorshid (including his sister Sharihan) to authorize a biographical movie in which Youssry would star.

Surprise showing for Lenin El-Ramly

Retired diva Magda El-Sabah, meanwhile, is rumored to be planning to produce an autobiographical TV serial that she is currently penning herself.

Egyptian producers have become accustomed to having their films screened in Israel, something that apparently happens on a daily basis. Egyptian distributors claim this is done without a licensing agreement of any form —meaning their companies receive no payment.

Last month, playwright Lenin El-Ramly, known for his anti-Israeli leanings, was surprised to find out that his play Saadoun El-Magnoun (Crazy Saadoun) was being performed on a Tel Aviv stage, making it the first Egyptian play to be performed in an Israeli theater. The play, which makes fun of the politics of the Arab world, was produced in Cairo over 10 years ago and was a big hit, starring actor Yehia El-Fakharani.

El-Ramly announced he is not planning to sue, as he believes that international copyright laws are incapable of securing his rights.

Egypt Today Archives The Citadel is under siege from modern construction.

While archeologists and hist-orians continue to warn of the dangers to the historic Citadel district posed by an in-progress office complex being constructed by Alkan Group, rumor has it the Ministry of Culture is planning to invite the private sector to invest in restoring historic Cairo.

Major hotel chains are reportedly being allowed to turn some of the monuments into hotels. Word on the street holds that the first building to be considered is going to be Wekalet Qaitbay next to Bab El-Nasr.

The Wekala was built in 885 by the Mamluk King Al-Ashraf Abul Nasr Qaitbay as a place for traveling merchants to sleep and peddle their wares. It displays all the beautiful characteristics of the Mamluk era’s intricate architecture.

This sounds a bit like the Bab El-Azab project a few years back, when the Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni declared that his ministry was going to turn the historic building into a hotel. The project sparked a media furor and the Ministry promptly dropped the idea.

Are Islamic Cairo’s historic homes soon to be hotels?

If this project proves to be a success, the next building in line will likely be the Oda Pasha Wekala in Gamalia, sources claim.

Cinema Syndicate chief Mamdouh El-Leithi has prompted a new crisis in artistic relations between Egypt and Lebanon.

It all started when El-Leithi refused to issue a work permit for Lebanese director Assad Fouladkar. The director had been working on an Egyptian script for the past five months and had intended to direct a film starring Egyptian actors. El-Leithi stated that he had never met Fouladkar before and knew nothing of his work. He also added that Egyptian art must be performed and directed by Egyptian artists.

Fouladkar, on the other hand, noted that El-Leithi had personally handed him the grand prize at the Alexandria Film Festival two years ago, and that he had been a member of the Cairo Film Festival’s jury this year.

Haifaa Wahbe: innocent victim of cultural nationalism

El-Leithi’s decision comes as a surprise, as the Lebanese and Egyptian cinema syndicates have reciprocal work agreements. Fouladkar took his complaint to the Lebanese syndicate, which in turn has decided to suspend Egyptian actors and filmmakers from working in Lebanon.

Lebanese singers being banned is nothing new —religious conservatives in the People’s Assembly once mused about, but never proposed for debate, a full ban on “immoral” Lebanese singers including Nancy Agram, Elissa and Haifaa Wahbe — but actors? Welcome to cultural nationalism, Egyptian style.

Sometimes, seeko-seeko just isn’t destined to make it to the big screen: Last month, El-Sawy Culture Wheel’s Fourth Festival for Short Feature Films brought together 54 films from different Arab countries. One high profile entrant, however, was never screened.

Ayten Amin pulled her film Ragelha (Her Man) from the event after she was reportedly asked to cut 20 seconds for ‘moral’ reasons. Her 10-minute film is based on a short story by Ahdaf Souief that depicts the jealousy between a first wife and second wife. The controversial 20 seconds are a scene in which the elder wife seduces the younger one, eventually making love to her and leaving marks on the younger woman’s body.

Too risky for El-Sawy?

The winners were Nahar wa Leil (Day and Night), directed by Islam El-Azzazy (gold); Al-Ziyara (The Visit), directed by Ezz Eddin Saeed (silver); and Sabah El-Foll (Good Morning), directed by Sherif El-Bendary (bronze).

Amin’s film was the only Egyptian film to participate in the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in France. Amin, a graduate of the American University in Cairo, will try to take her film to upcoming festivals in Canada, Belgium and Italy. (MJ)

Industry insiders say the television adaptation of the best-selling novel Omaret Yacoubian (Yacoubian Building) has been set for next Ramadan. Atef Beshay will write the serial for the small screen and reportedly will make crucial changes from the novel.

The character of Hatem Rashid, the gay journalist played in the film version by Khaled El-Sawy, will be reworked as a straight journalist. Director Rabab Hussein has already begun the casting process and has chosen Hussein Fahmy as Zaky El-Dessouky Pasha (played in the film by Adel Imam) and Salah El-Saadany as businessman Zaki Azam (played in the film by Nour El-Sherif).

Hussein Fahmy Pasha

Renowned Islamic scholar Dr. Mohamed Emara was at the center of a religious controversy last month when his latest book, Fitnat Al-Takfir Bain Al-Shiia wal Wahhabiyya wal Soufiyya (The Sedition of Declaring Infidels Between Shi’a, Wahhabis and Sufis), was released by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

With a release unfortunately coinciding with Coptic Christmas, the work was soon criticized for allegedly intimating that Islam invites Muslims to kill and persecute all non-Muslims. Egyptian Copts in particular took issue with a specific paragraph they believe incites prejudice against Christians. In his own defense, Emara pointed out that he was quoting the controversial section from a book by El-Imam El-Ghazali (who died in 1907) —and that El-Ghazali was himself basing his commentary on an old manuscript.

The Ministry of Awqaf promptly pulled the book off the market and has reportedly destroyed all copies. (MJ)

Egyptian filmmaker Khaled El-Haggar was invited to serve as a guest speaker at the Berlinale Talent Campus, a workshop on the fringes of the Berlin International Film Festival, which took place February 8–18.

El-Haggar and Tunisian filmmaker Dora Bouchoucha took part in the Euromed workshop dedicated to filmmakers from Mediterranean countries.

The Campus offers assistance to 350 young screenwriters, directors, producers, cinematographers, actors, film editors, composers and sound designers from over 100 countries to meet and learn from acclaimed film professionals. Past guest lecturers have included the likes of Brazilian director Walter Salles, British director Stephen Frears, American actor Dennis Hopper, Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle and German director Wim Wenders. The main focus of this year’s Campus is the search for identity and a home in a globalized (film) world.

El-Haggar’s latest film Mafish Gher Keda (None But That) was screened at the Fifteenth Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles, which took place February 8–19.

This month will see the launch of the first Women’s Film Festival, to be held March 8–16 in Cairo. The event is organized by Cadre, the audio-visual development foundation, and aims to protect human rights while working toward total equality between men and women.

The festival will show shorts, documentaries and features by Arab filmmakers. The festival’s free screenings will take place simultaneously at the Artistic Creativity Center of the Cairo Opera House and at the Auditorium Hall of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

In other festival news, the dates for the long-awaited Malta International Film Festival (MIFF) have been set for September 15–23. Organized by the Association for Cultural Exchange Between Europe and the East (AECEO), the event will see the Maltese Ministry for Tourism and Culture cooperate with private Maltese companies and AraMage Artistic Production, a film company based in Egypt.

Egyptian-born film writer Hesham Abdel-Khalek has been chosen to serve as festival director. Abdel-Khalek recently signed an agreement with Medscreen (an audiovisual program under the European Union’s Euro-Mediterranean, or Euromed, program) to develop a special section entitled Arabesque, in which the newest feature films from the Arab world will be screened.

In addition to the official competition, the festival will also include a panorama of Iranian cinema and recent French Films. In its first event, the festival will pay tribute to British filmmaker Ken Loach and late American star Marlon Brando. et