Not Being Too Old to Change

By Rania Khallaf, "Race for Ramadan" - Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo, Egypt
Issue N° 913 / 4-10 September 2008

Ramadan every year is marked by a host of cultural events, and this year is no exception.

While the usual race is underway at terrestrial television studios to meet the competition set by the satellite channels, elsewhere in Cairo dramatic, literary and other cultural preparations are all feverishly underway.

As far as television is concerned, the main event this Ramadan has to do with the popular drama series shown each year, with competition hotting up among film stars for the highest-profile roles.

In addition to well-known actors whose names have long been associated with Ramadan, such as Yehia El-Fakharani, Yousra, Hussein Fahmy and Mamdouh Abdel-Alim, other actors have this year entered the fray, with Ahmed Rizq, star of the recent film Elly baly balak, the Syrian Solaf Fawakhergy, lead actress in a television drama about the singer Asmahan, and the talented Tunisian actress Hend Sabri, who stars with actor Khaled Saleh in the series After the Departure, all putting on strong performances.

To add to the excitement, several new television channels will be inaugurated this Ramadan, giving more space for new drama series.

According to minister of information Anas El-Fiqi, three new channels will be launched as part of a project to rejuvenate the existing specialist channels. These channels, Nile Drama, Nile Cinema and Nile Life, will be commercial stations designed to "increase the output of the Media Production City and to develop the Voice of Cairo station for audio- visual production," El-Fiqi said.

(...)

Among the actors capturing viewers' imaginations this year is the veteran actor Yehia El-Fakharani, who is appearing in the series Sharaf Fath El-Bab this Ramadan in the role of a civil servant known for his integrity who is accused of accepting bribes.

This accusation turns his life upside down, and it shares features with last year's hit Yetraba fi Ezzou (Raised in Luxury), in which a child-like sixty-year-old man has to rethink his life as a result of the arrival of a cousin, a scientist who emigrated to Germany.

The idea these series share -- of the transformation of an older character who is seen as not being too old to change -- seems to be one that appeals to audiences, perhaps indicating wider hopes of social change.

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Apart from staying in to watch television, those in search of cultural fare this Ramadan can also sample offerings proposed by the various cultural centres.

Among these, Al-Mawred El-Thaqafy is holding its Hay Festival at the El-Genena Theatre in Al-Azhar Park from 11 to 25 September, the Al-Tanboura Troupe from Port Said, which first appeared in 1989, bringing the folk songs of the Suez Canal province to Cairo to kick off the festival.

The programme also includes performances by the Friends Circus Group, the Cairo Dervishes, a group of Sufi dancers, Romeo and Leila, a show by Tunisian performer Ghalia Benali, and a concert by Lebanese musician Rony Barrak, which may be slightly at odds with Ramadan's oriental mood, since his music combines western styles, such as jazz, Latin and rock.

Elsewhere, the El-Sawy Cultural Wheel is celebrating this year's Ramadan by organising a Khan El-Saqiya, an exhibition of handcrafts and paintings with live performances thrown in for free, a Ramadan Village, which will host performances of oriental, Sufi and Nubian music, and an Artists Gallery, which, in cooperation with Asala Society for Traditional Handicrafts, offers stained glass and khayamiya products for sale.

The Egyptian Writers Union is also organising Ramadan events this year from its new premises in the Citadel area.

Poetry reading nights are on the menu, featuring poets from across Egypt, including Ahmed Balboula, Hassan Khedr, Taher El-Brinbaly, Zainab Abulnaga and Soheer Metwalli from Mansoura, Ismail Eqab from Marsa Matrouh, Fouad Taman from Alexandria, and Ezzat El-Tery from Qena.

Other gatherings include open meetings with minister of culture Farouk Hosny, novelists Alaa El-Aswany and Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid and poet Sayed Hegab. A special seminar is planned to celebrate the life and work of the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

Still on a literary theme, Cairo's publishing houses have also shown a willingness to organise events for this year's Ramadan.

The Sphinx Publishing Company is publishing a series of books on Sufism, for example, among them works by Ibn Arabi, while Al-Dar Publishers is republishing a collection of religious books by Ibrahim Eissa.

[Picture: Actor Yehia El-Fakharani in Sharaf Fath El-Bab].