It always makes my heart sing, my dears, to see Egyptians being celebrated for their achievements abroad. Our very own international superstar Omar Sharif was in the news in a big way this week, after being given a lifetime achievement award at the 60th round of the Venice Film Festival. Sharif is also in Venice to promote his new film, Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur'an.
The film opened to critical acclaim; its subject matter -- a profound friendship that develops between an older Muslim shopkeeper and a young Jewish teenager in 1960s Paris -- shows that Sharif is never one to shy from controversy, and is sure to raise eyebrows back home.
The actor, however, seems to have his mind on other things. He told one newspaper that he lamented having never been in love in Venice, which he called the most beautiful city in the world.
Dear Omar, I say, just send me a ticket -- there's still time!
The Wafaa Al-Nil Festival has extremely ancient roots. But while our ancestors the Pharaohs used to sacrifice a beautiful girl to the river each year to guarantee a good harvest, the Tohoti Group for Egyptian Studies, headquartered in Alexandria, is organising its own modern version of the event.
A children's artistic competition is being held, as well as an exhibition featuring the best works produced by the young ones. A scientific forum on "The River Nile and the Health of Egyptians" is also set to take place. A number of topics related to water pollution will be discussed by Ahmed Hamza, a professor at the Supreme Institute for Health, Ahmed El-Hedini, an agricultural engineer, and others. An evening of poetry is also scheduled for 11 September, featuring the work of a group of gifted Alexandrine poets including Hassan Talb.
The festival concludes with a 15 September concert -- to be held at the Alexandria Creativity Centre -- featuring the Alexandria Children's Choir, conducted by Hamdi Raouf.
The celebrations are being held under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Education Minister Hussein Kamel Bahaaeddin, Youth Minister Alieddin Hilal, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Mamdouh Riyad and Alexandria Governor Abdel-Salam El-Mahgoub.
I am happy to announce, my sweets, that Al-AhramWeekly's very own gifted photographer Sherif Sonbol has been invited by the New York Public Library to show a selection of his photos at the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts. The prestigious exhibit will certainly be a piece of cake for Sonbol, who has previously exhibited his photos in Egypt and Germany, amongst other places.
For the New York show, which will open on 8 September and run for five weeks, Sonbol has chosen photos of both high-brow and more folksy cultural events -- from Opera House pianists to belly dancers and mulids. Definitely a show not to be missed!
The Grand Hyatt Cairo recently hosted a conference organised by the Egyptian Organisation for Biological Products and Vaccines. Entitled "Egypt-Africa Towards the Future", the conference was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health. With a panoramic view of the Nile in the background, the conference was honoured by the presence of Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Health Minister Awad Tageddin.
My heartiest congratulation, my loves, goes out to my dear colleague Sanaa El- Beesi, the editor-in-chief of Nisf Al- Donia magazine, who recently celebrated the wedding of her nephew Walid Abdel-Salam, a deputy Attorney General, to the gorgeous Linda Abul-Kheir. The lavish wedding -- which took place at the Ramsis Hilton -- was attended by a bevy of luminaries, including popular vernacular poet Abdel-Rahman El- Abnoudi, as well as a galaxy of legal professionals. The crowd was entertained by pop star Tamer Hosni and belly dancer Nour.
Superstar Mohamed Heneidi, up and coming actors Mamdouh Kedwani and Leqaa El-Khamisi, as well as director Mohamed Yassin -- basically, the team responsible for the successful summer comedy Askar Fil-Mo'askar (A Soldier in the Camp) chronicling the comic adventures of a Central Security Forces conscript -- recently did something quite original. They held a private screening of the film for 2000 soldiers from the Central Security Forces. The film was screened at Major General Refaat Ashour Sector for Central Security in Maadi (where parts of the movie were apparently actually filmed), in the presence of Assistant Interior Minister for Central Security Asaad Abul-Nasr and other high-profile Cairo Central Security officials.
Congratulations are due for my friend Mohamed Saleh, the former director of the Egyptian Museum and future supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to open in 2005. Saleh was just elected as a member of the board of directors of the National Manuscripts Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Pack of Cards
It always makes my heart sing, my dears, to see Egyptians being celebrated for their achievements abroad. Our very own international superstar Omar Sharif was in the news in a big way this week, after being given a lifetime achievement award at the 60th round of the Venice Film Festival. Sharif is also in Venice to promote his new film, Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur'an.
I am happy to announce, my sweets, that Al-Ahram Weekly's very own gifted photographer Sherif Sonbol has been invited by the New York Public Library to show a selection of his photos at the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts. The prestigious exhibit will certainly be a piece of cake for Sonbol, who has previously exhibited his photos in Egypt and Germany, amongst other places.
For the New York show, which will open on 8 September and run for five weeks, Sonbol has chosen photos of both high-brow and more folksy cultural events -- from Opera House pianists to belly dancers and mulids. Definitely a show not to be missed!
The Grand Hyatt Cairo recently hosted a conference organised by the Egyptian Organisation for Biological Products and Vaccines. Entitled "Egypt-Africa Towards the Future", the conference was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health. With a panoramic view of the Nile in the background, the conference was honoured by the presence of Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Health Minister Awad Tageddin.
Congratulations are due for my friend Mohamed Saleh, the former director of the Egyptian Museum and future supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to open in 2005. Saleh was just elected as a member of the board of directors of the National Manuscripts Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
