Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 16 - 22 May 2002 Issue No.586
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Wadi' Al-Safi

Celebrating liberation
TO MARK the second anniversary of the liberation of southern Lebanon on 25 May 60 Arab artists -- led by Wadi' Al-Safi -- will perform and record a new operetta Hikayat Watan (A Nation's Story), with music by Fadi Subhi and lyrics by Elias Nasr. The operetta is produced by the Lebanese Union of Professional Artists.

A retiring Pavarotti
TENOR Luciano Pavarotti, 66, failed to appear for two performances of Tosca at the New York Metropolitan Opera season's finale last Wednesday and Saturday because of a flu, apologising only two hours in advance. Rumours have been circulating that the tenor will be retiring from major opera performances and that his appearance at the Met would be his last at the venue.

Film prizes
MINISTER of Culture Farouk Hosni awarded prizes at the Eighth National Film Festival at a ceremony held at the Small Hall of the Cairo Opera House on Saturday. This year's round -- 9 to 19 April -- was limited to the official competition and the award ceremony was postponed in deference to events in Palestine.
Prizes for best picture and director went to Dawoud Abdel-Sayed's Muwatin wa Mukhbir wa Harami (Citizen, Informer, Thief), best actress to Hind Sabry and best actor to Salah Abdallah for their lead roles in the same film. Second production prize went to Magdi Ahmed Ali's Asrar Al-Banat (Girls' Secrets); third prize to Radwan El- Kashef's Al-Sahir (The Magician). The prize for best script went to Azza Shalabi for Asrar Al-Banat, best cinematography to Maher Radi for Mudhakirrat Murahiqa (A Teenage Girl's Diaries), best editing to Rashida Abdel-Salam for Sukut Hansawwar (Silence! We're Shooting), and best music score to Rageh Dawoud also for Mudhakirrat Murahiqa.
... and more
TWO EGYPTIAN films won prizes at the Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam. Radwan El-Kashef's Al-Sahir (The Magician) and Magdi Ahmed Ali's Asrar Al-Banat (Girls' Secrets) won the gold and silver eagle respectively while Mohamed Abu Seif's Al- Na'ama wal-Tawous (The Ostrich and the Peacock) was awarded a certificate of recognition.
Palestinian filmmaker Mahmoud Mosa'd's Al-Shatir Hassan (Clever Hassan) won the golden eagle for short features while Syrians Nicole Baziguian and Hisham Al-Za'uqi won first prize in the long and short documentary categories for Turuqat Mali'a bil-Mishmish (Paths Full of Apricots) and Ghuraba' Dawman (Always Strangers) respectively.

Arabs hit Cannes
SIX ARAB films are participating in this year's Cannes Film Festival held from 15 to 26 May. Palestinian Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention, Syrian Osama Mohamed's Sunduq Al-Dunya (Pandora's Box), Algerian Yamina Bashir's Rashida, Mauritanian Abdel- Rahman Siasku's Al-Tariq ila Al- Sa'ada (The Way to Happiness), Libyan Ghassan Salhab's Ard Magghoula (Unknown Land) will all be screened as part of the official competition. Palestinian Hani Abu Asaad's short documentary Zawag Rana (Rana's Marriage) is also to be shown outside competition.

No more cats
CATS, London's longest running musical, has closed. The Andrew Lloyd Webber hit was based on T S Eliot's 1939 children's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The final night culminated in a spectacular finale featuring past and present cast members including Elaine Page, Brian Blessed, Paul Nicholas and dancer Wayne Sleep.
The Broadway production of Cats closed in 2000.

Summer book fair
MINISTER of Culture Farouk Hosni announced the launch of the First International Book Forum to be organised by the General Egyptian Book Organisation, beginning 15 July. Scheduled to be held at the Citadel, the forum will host around 1000 Egyptian, Arab and international publishers and will include 10 core seminars discussing contemporary issues as well as 10 poetry evenings and other cultural activities.

Singing for peace
A CONCERT promoting world peace was held at Rome's historic Coliseum last Saturday. Hosted by legendary singer Ray Charles, it featured a line-up of international artists including Algeria's Cheb Khaled, Argentina's Mercedes Sosa, Palestinian Nabil, Israeli singer Noa as well as Italian Nicola Piovani, winner of an Oscar for the soundtrack to Life is Beautiful. They performed songs about peace and equality, with emphasis on the Middle East conflict.

Dancers strike
ON SATURDAY members of the Tannoura dance troupe refused to begin their regular performance scheduled at the Citadel following reports that the Israeli ambassador to Egypt planned to attend.
The dancers took a unanimous decision not to go up on stage. Informed of their decision Anas El-Fiqi, head of the Cultural Palaces, agreed. The ambassador had not been formally invited by the Ministry of Culture to the event.
Compiled by Amina Elbendary

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