Ubiquitous Egyptian actor Hassan Hosny was named as the recipient of the Faten Hamama Appreciation Award. The award will be granted during the upcoming 40th Edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, when it opens on 20 November. The festival referred to the 87-year-old Hosny on its official Facebook page as “an example of an artist evolving with the times and constantly taking on diverse roles and new challenges.” With a career spanning nearly 60 years, between films, television series, and plays Hosny appeared in more than 400 titles. Hosny said that the award is the biggest honour of his life, equivalent for him to winning an Oscar. The festival's president Mohamed Hefzy has said the award celebrates Hosny as “one of the stars that has enriched Egyptian cinema with memorable films, in addition to supporting and mentoring the young actors he worked with.” Born in 1931 in Old Cairo, Hosny went from acting in school plays to appearing in small roles on the silver screen in the 1960s. His early films included La Waqt lel Hob (No Time for Love, 1963) and Bent El-Hetta (The Girl Next Door, 1964). During the 70s he acted in further features including Souq El-Harim (Market of Women, 1970), Amira Hoby Ana (Amira, My Love, 1974), El-Karnak (Karnak, 1975), El Hob Taht El-Matar (Love Under the Rain, 1975), among others. It was when he starred in Atef El-Taieb's 1982 film Sawak Al-Utubis (The Bus Driver) that he became noticed for his unique talent in portraying the role of the villain. This professional turning point opened up more roles for him, as he worked with some of Egypt's best directors such as Mohamed Khan for the film Zawget Ragol Mohem (The Wife of an Important Man, 1987), and Fares El-Madina (Knight of the City,1993). He also worked with Radwan El-Kashef for Leh Ya Banafseg (Why so, Burgundy?, 1993), Osama Fawzy for Afarit El-Asphalt (Demons of the Asphalt, 1996) and Dawoud Abdel-Sayed for Sareq El-Farah (Joy's Thief, 1994) – a film in which Hosny earned five awards for his character Rokba. Throughout the 1990s Hosny was ever present on screen in a new phase of his career, appearing in supporting roles in commercially popular films alongside a new generation of young stars such as Alaa Wali El Din, Ahmed El Sakka, Karim Abdel Aziz, Mohamed Henedi, and Hany Ramzy among many others. 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
