Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		12 - 18 September 2002 Issue No. 603 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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Furore in Venice

THIS year's winner of the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, The Magdalene Sisters, directed by Scottish filmmaker Peter Mullan, has come under attack by the Vatican.
The film follows the lives of four girls in the 1960s, employed as servants by the Catholic Church in Ireland, and contains graphic scenes of their abuse at the hands of nuns in the notorious Magdalene asylums, the last of which was closed in 1996.
Children's art

SUZANNE Mubarak will inaugurate the Alexandria International Museum for Children's Art on 19 September. It is part of a new complex of museums at Agami. Built over an area of 3,200 square metres, the museum boasts a collection of works by children from 85 countries, housed in 18 galleries.
Politics by the sea

THE ALEXANDRIA International Film Festival, due to open on the 18th, has dedicated its current round to the memory of the July Revolution. The festival will honour those Free Officers who contributed to the cultural scene -- Ezzeddin Zulfuqar, Ahmed Mazhar, Youssef El-Seba'i -- in addition to screening a panorama of films related to the revolution.
Yes minister

CHERIF El-Choubachi, director of the Cairo International Film Festival, has chosen filmmaker Samir Seif's Ma'ali Al-Wazir (His Excellency the Minister) to participate in this year's festival. The film stars Ahmed Zaki, Youssra, Hisham Abdel-Hamid and Libliba. Wahid Hamed's script deals with a man who is included in the cabinet by mistake and remains a minister for years, amassing a fortune through corruption.
Hisham Abdel-Hamid also stars in Mohamed Kamel El-Qalyoubi's Kharif Adam (Adam's Autumn), included in the festival.
The 26th round of the CIFF is scheduled to begin on 15 October.
Rahbani notes

LEBANESE musician Mansour Al- Rahbani, who is recuperating from back surgery, is in the process of writing the lyrics and score for a new musical dealing with the last of the Muslim dynasties in Andalusia. Rahbani has yet to announce the members of his cast although there are rumours that his sons Marwan, Ghudayy and Osama will participate in the composition of the music while Marwan will direct the show.
Babel, Babel

WHILE the world waits in anticipation of a US-led strike against Iraq, Baghdad is continuing with preparations for the 14th round of the Babel Festival. Due to begin on 22 September and last till the first of October, the festival is expected to host participants from Arab, Asian, African, Latin American as well as European countries. The festival includes musical concerts, dance performances, and plays. Art exhibitions and a book fair are also planned.
Counselling the library

ISMAIL Serageddin, director of the Alexandria Library, has announced a board of counsellors for the library comprising 100 figures drawn from the disciplines and subject areas on which the library will focus -- philosophy, history, literature, arts, social sciences, natural sciences and technology. The board is to meet once a year and will change every three years.
Lebanese film

ALSO at the Alexandria Library, a week of Lebanese film began this week under the title "Lebanon: War and Peace". Seven films were scheduled for screening, including Joceline Saab's Kan Ya Makan Beirut (Once Upon a Time Beirut), Maroun Baghdadi's Huroub Saghira (Little Wars) Ziyad Doueri's Beirut Al-Gharbiyaa (West Beirut) and Jean Chamoun's Tayf Al-Madina (Shadow of the City).
Pharaoh in Venice

AN EXHIBITION of 275 Egyptian artefacts was inaugurated in Venice earlier this week. Titled "The Pharaoh", the exhibition is the first such event in Venice in 20 years and includes some 78 pieces from the collection of the Egyptian Museum.
National home

SAAD Zaghloul's home, Beit Al-Umma (House of the Nation), is due to open this month after extensive refurbishment to turn the building into a museum. Built in 1920 the house has been renovated at a cost of LE15 million. In addition to serving as a cultural centre the building will showcase some 750 artefacts and personal objects belonging to Zaghloul and his wife.
Magic and mafia

TWO EGYPTIAN films, the late Radwan El-Kashef's Al-Sahir (The Magician) and Sherif Arafa's Mafia, have been selected to take part in the upcoming Eshtar Film Festival in Lebanon. The festival opens on 17 September and continues for 10 days.
By Amina Elbendary

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