Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		1 - 7 August 2002 Issue No. 597 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Comic music
ON SATURDAY filmmaker Sherif Mandour returned from London where he supervised the developing and editing of Huwa Fi Eih? (What's Up?), a romantic comedy starring pop singer Mohamed Fouad and comedian Ahmed Adam. The film features three new songs by Fouad as well as a duet with Adam. Shot in Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, it is a romantic comedy written collaboratively by Sameh Sirelkhetm and Nader Salaheddin. The soundtrack is the work of Fouad.

Tragic sight
LAST week playwright Lenin El-Ramli's most recent play, Tihib Tshouf Ma'saa? (Like to See a Tragedy?) opened at the National Theatre. Directed by Khaled Galal, the production features Abdel-Rahman Abu Zahra, Mustafa Shaaban, Liqaa El-Khamisi, Mohamed El-Desouqi, Iman El-Serafi and the Lebanese actress Nour. In typical El- Ramli manner the comedy comments on current social conditions, tackling the well- worn issue of generational conflict. The younger generation of a typical middle- class family are the rebels, the older generation try, in vain, to reign them in.

Goodwill millionaire
LEBANESE TV presenter George Qerdahi, the host of the popular Man Sayarbah Al- Milioun (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), was last week appointed as a UN Environment Programme goodwill ambassador. Qerdahi, it has been said, has the demeanour of a diplomat, while his charisma and pan-Arab popularity qualify him eminently for this newly acquired role. As long as the show that propelled his name forward maintains its phenomenal popularity the UN-related activities Qerdahi will take on board are almost guaranteed success.

Revolutionary dream
AS PART of a programme organised by the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (GEOP) to celebrate the golden jubilee of the 23 July Revolution -- GEOP chairman Anas El-Fiqi announced -- the Giza Cultural Centre held seminars, performances of classic and folk music, puppet shows and exhibitions of traditional handicrafts, as well as screenings of a number of relevant films including Rudda Qalbi (Return My Heart), Al-Aydi Al-Na'ima (Soft Hands), Ghuroub wa Shurouq (Sunset And Sunrise), Al-Ard (The Land), Nasser 56, Ayam Al-Sadat (Days of Sadat).

Document display
THE GEOP is in the process of establishing a Manuscript Museum. According to Mohamed El-Sayed Eid, head of the central administration for cultural affairs, the principal object of the project is to collect and safeguard 577 rare books and 1,020 manuscripts in its possession. Currently these documents are to be found in three different GEOP venues: the Tahta Cultural Palace in Sohag; the Shebin Al-Kom Library; and the Tanta Library. The museum will be used as storage space for GEOP's complete collection, which was edited by Youssef Zaidan with selected manuscripts published in five volumes.

Versions of Ya'qoubian
ALAA EL-ASWANI's novel Imarat Ya'qoubian (The Ya'qoubian Building), an expansive social-historical panorama set in downtown Cairo, is to be made in to a film. Scriptwriter Wahid Hamed last week concluded a deal with the author to turn the novel into a screenplay. Hamed, a commercially successful figure who has produced a number of films, is said to have bought the film rights from El-Aswani. The content of Imarat Ya'qoubian may be too long and involved to be conveyed in their entirety but its numerous characters and their tales will no doubt lend themselves favourably to the medium.

Philosopher's stone
HAVING completed his scholarly obligations at Cairo University, poet Hassan Teleb has returned to his latest creative undertaking, Hajar Al-Falasifa (The Philosophers' Stone), a single-poem diwan tackling the timeless relationship between a poet and a scientist-philosopher. To be published by Miret, Hajar Al-Falasifa is the culmination of a long-term project of Teleb's, the central theme of which is the search for truth. The thrust of the poem, the poet announced, is the notion that, while each treads a completely different route, both poet and philosopher have the same destination in view.

Celebrating laughter
BEIRUT's "24 Days of Continuous Laughter" is the first festival of its kind to be held in the Middle East. The comedy event features performers from 40 countries including stand-up comedians, cartoonists and singers in an arena that can hold an audience of up to 7,000. The event, according to Lebanese actor Wajih Saqr, the festival coordinator, reflects the Lebanese people's profound need for laughter, which became an ever rarer commodity in the face of the horrors of the Civil War. Three programme items will be staged daily while fringe activities, including cartoonists working in the open, will take place continuously throughout the duration of the festival. Among the performances featured is the Egyptian stage comedy, Ana Wa Kahyoun Kesebna Al- Melion (Kahyoun And I Win A Million), starring Sayed Zayyan and Wahid Seif.

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