Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		15 - 21 August 2002 Issue No. 599 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Lilo speaks Arabic
A SPECIAL screening was organised last week of the Arabic dubbed version of Walt Disney's animated motion picture Lilo and Stitch. Lilo, a lonely Hawaiian girl, wished upon a falling star for someone to be her friend. Stitch, a mischievous alien, the product of a genetic experiment gone wrong, answers her call, landing on earth and disguised as a dog.
The Arabic narrative is directed by Islam El-Azzazi, who also provides the voice for Stitch. Lilo is dubbed by Aya Hamdi. Other voices include Muhsin Helmi, Amr Yehia, Zayed Foad, Amal Asaad, Samia Jahin, Nasser Shahin and Samir El-Banna.
Artistic appointment
MINISTER of Culture Farouk Hosni has appointed Hazem El-Mistikawi as the new director of the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art. A sculptor, El-Mistikawi has been a regular participant at international symposia in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Sarajevo.

Best books
EGYPT was well-represented in the Best 100 African Books of the Twentieth Century Competition organised by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. The names were announced at a ceremony held recently in Cape Town. Prizes went to Naguib Mahfouz for the Cairo Trilogy, Abdel- Rahman El-Abnoudi for his poetry collection Al-Mawt Ala Al-Asfalt (Death on Asphalt) and Gamal El-Ghitani for his novel Al-Zeini Barakat.

People for peace
THE 13th Ismailia International Festival for Folklore starts on 24 August, for a week, with 25 Arab and other countries participating. The festival includes 28 troupes performing in nine theatres in Ismailia, in addition to the Cairo Opera House halls, as well as theatres in Sharqiya, Suez, Port Said and North Sinai. The theme of this year's festival is Palestine and Peace.
Jarash farewell
THE JARASH Cultural Festival, under the patronage of Queen Nour, ended this week. The closing ceremony featured Egyptian singer Hisham Abbas.
Also participating from Egypt were performers from the National Circus as well as folk singers and dancers and a delegation from the Reda troupe.
Fairuz nights
LEBANESE singer Fairuz held her traditional yearly concert at the Beiteddin Festival this week. This year's concert saw Fairuz return to her classic repertoire of songs composed by the Rahbani brothers while her son's compositions took backstage.
Girls in Washington
MAGDI Ahmed Ali's Asrar Al-Banat (Girls' Secrets) will take part in the official competition at this year's Washington Film Festival in October.
The film has already received several prizes, including the golden award from the Beirut Film Festival, the bronze from the Milan Festival and a special audience award from the Soussa Festival.
Faten to Venice
ACTRESS Faten Hamama will attend the Venice International Film Festival (19 August -- 8 September). The Festival will screen Du'aa Al-Qarawan (Nightingale's Call) as well as another Egyptian classic, the late Atef Salem's Ga'aluni Mugriman (They Made a Criminal of Me).
Love in Syria
THE 14TH Mahabba Festival, organised by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, has selected the Egyptian film Al-Sahir (The Magician) starring Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz and directed by the late Radwan El-Kashef, for screening. The film was shown on Monday at the Assad Sports City in Latakia.
Other films participating in the Syrian cultural festival include the Syrian Al-Tajin Al-Aswad (Black Stew) and Qamaran wa Zeitouna (Two Moons and an Olive), the Taiwanese Love Moods, the French Dinner for the Dumb, and from the US Star Wars, Don't Say a Word and The Green Mile.
Saving film heritage
MINISTER of the Public Sector Mukhtar Khattab will inaugurate a centre to store film negatives belonging to the Misr Company for Studios and Film Distribution next month. The centre will house the negatives of 1,800 films owned by the company in cold storage facilities.
More donations
THE FIRST Alexandria International Book Fair closed with a ceremony honouring figures who had recently donated books to the Library of Alexandria. Among those honoured are Henry Amin Awad, Bahiga Nagati, Hussein Bikar, Sami Khashaba and El- Sayed Mohamed Badawi.

Spreading culture
AN EGYPTIAN Cultural Centre will be established in Sydney. The agreement between the Egyptian and Australian governments establishing the centre will be concluded later this year. There are 40,000 Egyptian emigrants in Australia.
Meanwhile, members of the Aswan Folk Troupe visited Australia as part of the Egyptian Embassy's celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the July 1952 Revolution.
By Amina Elbendary

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