Briefs

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Operatic hip

MOHAMED Mounir, Nubian-born rock star, was recruited for the Opera House's New Year's Eve celebrations, which took place at the centre of the grounds and lasted till the small hours of the first day in 2003. A motley assortment of new and old songs, the concert included tracks from Mounir's latest album, put together in Germany, as well as Sufi- and folk-inspired numbers. It featured several foreign musicians including the German guitarist and oud-player Roman Ponka.

Al-Shorouk honoured

UNESCO's biannual "Children's Literature in Service of Tolerance" Award was last week given to Dar Al-Shorouk for Amal Farah's recent book, Hulf Bulf, a good vs. evil story set in a fantasy world and beautifully illustrated by Safaa Nab'a. One of four books to win the prize, out of a total of 453 volumes representing 54 countries, Hulf Bulf is Dar Al- Shorouk's fourth internationally awarded publication this year.

Book Fair beckons

THE 35th BOOK Fair's Higher Committee, headed by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, convened this week to discuss this year's symposium topic and the event's numerous activities, to take place in 11 locations across Cairo. Three thousand publishers, representing 90 countries, are to exhibit their latest publications.

General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) head Samir Sarhan announced that the deadline for the submission of books to participate in the first Best Arabic Book Competition, to take place on the fringe of the Fair, is 17 January. A committee of writers and intellectuals has already begun reviewing submissions, which so far amount to nearly 250 books. Winners will be announced during the opening ceremony on 23 January. The fair is to go on till 6 February.

Little Oscars

THE CINEMA Art Association, headed by Abdel-Moniem Saad, is in the process of determining the winners of the 2002 Egyptian Oscars. Out of 27 films screened during that year, Saad has explained, the Association jury selected 16 for participation in the competition: Samir Sief's Maali Al-Wazir (His Excellency the Minister), Rami Imam's Amir Al- Zalam (Prince of Darkness), Inas El- Deghiedi's Mudhakirat Murahiqa (Diaries of a Teenage Girl), Ali Badrakhan's Al-Raghba (Desire), Radwan El-Kashef's Al-Saher (The Magician), Sandra Nashaat's Harameya Fi KG2 (Thieves in KG2), Fakhreddin Neguida's Sihr Al-Uyoun (Eye Magic), Sherif Arafa's Mafia, Said Hamed's Sahib Sahbu (Soul Mates), Mohamed Yasine's Muhami Khul' (Khul' Lawyer), Ashraf Fahmi's Al-Ishq wal- Damm (Love and Blood), Mohamed El- Naggar's Qalb Garie' (Bold Heart), Mohamed Abu Sief's Al-Naama wal-Tawous (The Ostrich and the Peacock), Ahmed Yehya's Rihla Mashbouha (Suspect Journey), Ahmed Awwad's Kazalik fil-Zamalek (Thus in Zamalek) and Wael Hassan's Al-Limby. The results are currently being awaited with excitement and trepidation.

Halasa revisited

JORDANIAN writer Ghaleb Halasa (1932- 1989) is at the centre of a large-scale, three- month publishing project undertaken by Dar Azmena. The news was announced last week by publisher Elias Farkouh during a seminar celebrating Halasa's anniversary to which many writers including Edwar El-Kharrat and Yumna El-Eid contributed. The project, which aims to make all of Halasa's creative writing available (many important books by the author have been out of print), is supported by the Jordanian National Bank and has been approved by the relevant authorities as well as Halasa's copyright holders.

Qasem Amin

OF ALL the Ramadan serials Qasem Amin, the televised biography of the turn-of-the- century champion of women's liberation seems to hold greatest interest. Last week the subject of a Leons Garden City Club discussion-reception, held at the Nile Hilton, the serial was discussed by a host of academics and National Council for Women members in the presence of director Inaam Mohamed Ali as well as the relevant stars, including Merna, Azza Bahaa, Khaled El-Sawi and Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

On Saturday, moreover, the Culture and Media Committee of the aforementioned Centre organised a more formal seminar on the serial at the Supreme Council for Culture headquarters. Presided over by SCC secretary-general, critic Gaber Asfour, who praised the role of such high-brow television dramas in enhancing the public's awareness of both history and social issues, the seminar was also attended by Ali, script writer Mohamed El-Sayed Eid and writer-journalist Nawal Mustafa.

Fakhreddin dies

ACTOR Youssef Fakhreddin, aged 65, died of heart troubles last Wednesday in his house in Athens, Greece. Fakhreddin remains an icon of the golden age of Egyptian cinema, having participated in classics by Hassan El-Imam, Atef Salem and Mahmoud Zulfuqar, acting opposite some of Egypt's best known stars, from Soad Hosni to Nelly and Mahmoud Abdel- Aziz.

Fakhreddin retired from public life following the death of his wife, actress Nadia Siefennasr, in a car accident in 1974. Although he maintained contact with his sister, the celebrated actress Mariam Fakhreddin, Fakhreddin settled in Athens from the mid-1970s on. On his death he had not visited Egypt for almost a decade.

Compiled by Youssef Rakha