Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Theatrical auction
One unjustly forgotten figure, reports Ahmed Youssef from Paris, is the Egyptian dramatist and journalist Yaqoub Sannou' (1839-1912; he was known also as Abu- Nadara, i.e. "he who wears glasses," and Jamses Sanua), an early figure in the history of Egyptian theatre.
Khedive Ismail expelled Sannou' from Egypt following a series of immensely popular skits in which he had satirised Egyptian society and politics, after which Sannou' took up residence in France, resuming his activities in exile from the 1860s on.
The books, writings and documents he produced in French, have never received the attention they deserve, and are now to be offered to prospective buyers in an auction to be held at Sotheby's in London on 17 October.
The auction, says Farid Kayoudji, a well known Egyptian dealer in manuscripts and antiquarian books, will "include rare photographs of the Mahmal Sharif ... his personal photos and rare books dating from an important period in the history of the Egyptian people and its struggles."
The Bibliotheque Nationale, it has been reported, will be bidding at the auction. Not so, sadly, any Egyptian institution, an absence made all the more ironic given the hullabaloo surrounding the opening of the Alexandria Library.

Canal fare
The fifth round of the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Short Features opens on Saturday 27 October, following a five-year hiatus.
This year's festival will be held under the auspices of the National Centre for Cinema, Ali Abu Shadi, the head of the Centre, announced earlier this week. It is organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Ismailia Governorate. To be opened by Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni and the Ismailia governor, the festival will go on for one week, showcasing more than 200 documentaries, short and animation films.
This year's greatest surprise, however, is the presence of the set designer and multitalented artist Salah Mar'i as head of the festival. "This year's round," Mar'i announced, "includes four categories within the official competition: long and short documentaries; short features; animation and video art; and a cinematic panorama covering various aspects of the art of film- making. It aims to encourage creative artists in the field of documentary and short film," he added, "undertaking a form of cultural investment in good films."
"Among the most important categories to be included in this year's round," Amir El- Imari, the director of the festival explained, "is the programme devoted to the Palestinian issue, in the course of which some 27 films will be screened, including the 90- minute Swiss film Shtila, based on Jean Genet's memoirs of the Sabra and Shatila massacres."

Sacred city
On Tuesday the general secretary of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, and Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni inaugurated a large-scale exhibition entitled, "Jerusalem: the Arabs' Capital," held in Al-Hanager Gallery.
The exhibition, with contributions from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Syria as well as Egypt, is "both documentary and artistic," said Hoda Wasfi, director of the Hanager Arts Centre.
"It aims to emphasise the Arabs' right to Jerusalem through photographs and written documents. On the fringe of the exhibition," Wasfi added, "the Ministry of Culture is holding artistic symposia, screenings of documentaries on Jerusalem and Israeli massacres, so that the issue is presented comprehensively to both participants and audience."

Cinema celebrations

OCTOBER looks set to be Egypt's festival month. First comes the Cairo International Film Festival, scheduled between the ninth and the 20th. Three days later, on the 24th, the First Suez International Film Festival is scheduled to begin. This week-long festival, the first of its kind, is dedicated to the memory of Egyptian comedian Ismail Yassin, himself from Suez. According to scriptwriter Mahfouz Abdel-Rahman, the Suez festival's director, 26 Arab and foreign countries are scheduled to join and films from Spain, Hungary, Greece, Morocco, the US and the UK have already arrived. The first round of the festival will concentrate on comedies, and the opening ceremony will honour Egypt's leading comedian, Adel Imam. Three of his films will be screened at the festival and a seminar discussing his career is also planned.
Compiled by Youssef Rakha

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