Mahmoud Abou Zeid, the scriptwriter behind several well-known Egyptian films including El-Keif (The High) in 1985 and El-Aar (Shame) in 1982, died on Monday after a bout of illness, according to a post on Facebook by his son. Abou Zeid was born in 1941 in Cairo, and graduated from the Higher Cinema Institute in 1966. He worked as a scriptwriter for various Egyptian television series until 1968, and then began to focus primarily on writing for cinema. He is best-known for writing El-Keif, a film starring Mahmoud Abdelaziz, Nora, Yehia El-Fakharani and Gameel Rateb. The film centres on Gamal, who decides to give up university and make a living as a band singer at weddings. His brother Salah, a chemist, tries to help him quit his drug habit by giving him a non-narcotic drug, which picks up popularity as Gamal's greedy drug lord capitalises on its success. Among the other films Abou Zeid wrote were Banat Fel Gamaa (Girls at University) from 1971, Domooa Sakhena (Hot Tears) from 1976, Hob La Yara El-Shams (A Love That Doesn't See the Sun) from 1980, Gary El-Wohoosh (Monsters Run) from 1987, and his last film Bon Soiree in 2010. One of his best-known works for television include El-Amma Noor (Aunt Noor), a series from 2003. He also wrote for the stage a play titled Goz we Loz (A Husband and Almonds) in 1993. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
