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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters When stars are crossed
ARAB film-makers kept a low profile in the closing ceremony of the Cannes film festival on Sunday -- a predictable occurrence, since the official competition this year included no Arab fare. Still, an Arab presence could nonetheless be detected, even beyond Youssef Chahine's Al-Akhar (The Other), which opened Un Certain Regard, the festival's most prestigious fringe section. In the same section, Swedish director Karen Westerlaund's short feature set in Egypt's desert was screened. With Egyptian Kamal Abdel-Aziz as director of photography and Ashraf Abdel-Baqi as male protagonist, this one-scene film delves into the complexities of star-crossed desire, of cross-cultural barriers that, even in the desert, seem never to disappear. The clarification of some cultural misconceptions was one mission that actor Hussein Fahmi, head of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), attempted to undertake while at Cannes. Fahmi had faxed the heads of film festivals worldwide with a request to reschedule 2001's CIFF since the (lunar) month of Ramadan will fall that year in November, which is when CIFF is usually scheduled. This they took to be as a sign of puritanical Muslim mores. In Cannes, Fahmi disabused them of their preconceptions -- and while he was at it suggested that a strong dose of comedies in this year's CIFF, opening on 23 November, would be a good way of starting the millennium.
A time for birthdays, a time for words
THE SUPREME Council for Culture celebrated writer Soliman Fayyad's 70th birthday last week. The event coincided with the publication of Shahadat wa Dirasat (Testaments and Studies), a collection of articles dealing with the veteran novelist and short-story writer's rich body of work and assessing his remarkable contribution to Egyptian literary life. The book includes contributions by 50 literary figures, including critics Ali El-Ra'i, Mahmoud Amin El-Alim, Sami Khashaba, Ibrahim Fathi and Sayed Khamis, poets Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudi, Farouk Shousha and Mohamed Afifi Mattar, and novelists Ibrahim Aslan, Mohamed El-Bisatie, Bahaa Taher and Alaa El-Dib. The author of Al-Oyoun (Eyes), Zaman Al-Samt (The Time of Silence) and Al-Soura wa'l-Zil (Image and Shadow), Fayyad remains an essential force in the history of Egyptian literature. Fayyad's work was a major conduit through which the innovation of Youssef Idris's writing found its way to the 1960s generation of writers, whose books now form the tenets of contemporary literature. His novel, Aswat (Voices), shortlisted for the prestigious Fémina Prize in 1995, dealt, in an unflinchingly direct and powerful manner, with the cultural gap between rural Egypt and the West.
Soliman Fayyad
Lots of toil and not much trouble
PRACTICAL MAGIC (Griffin Dunne, 1998)
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman
Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) are sisters whose only common trait is their sorcery. The romantic, naive brunette Sally, and the sexy, practical red-headed Gillian suffer from an interesting family curse: any man who gets emotionally involved with the witches is doomed to die. Not surprisingly, therefore, their aunts Jet (Diane Wiest) and Frances (Stockard Channing) raise them to stay on their guard against men, thus avoiding any involvement in potentially sticky situations. Gillian, the problem child, becomes entangled in a series of problems following the death of her boyfriend. Kidman's sorcery, in fact, saves the film from the utter dullness inflicted by Bullock's character and performance. While Kidman spices up the plot, Bullock's stuttering and general confusion as she wanders about, waiting for the true love she thinks will break the curse, frustrate many potentially interesting scenes. The film is not devoid of humour, but the two stars seem to be its only claim to magic.
Practical Magic is now showing at Ramsis Hilton and Tiba cinemas.
