♣ The International Union of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education President Ali Al-Samman gave a reception at his residence in Giza to celebrate the former minister of antiquities Zahi Hawass being honoured by the Italian government. Hawass received the Golden Pyramid for efforts in cultural exchange between Egypt and Italy. Present were the former minister of administrative development Ahmed Darwish, diplomat Nihad Al-Askalani, critic Louis Geris, tourism expert Amr Badr, British writer Victoria Harper, National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority head Amr Badawi, writer Hanan Mufid Fawzi, society lady Brigiette Louvivre, Al-Ahram writers Hala Mustafa, Gamal Zaida, Sahar Abdel-Rahman, Magi Al-Halawani and media figures Jasime Taha Zaki and Omar Zahran.
ª Masr Al-Gedida Cultural Salon, presided over by Rita Badreddin, held an honorary celebration for Roukia Al-Sadat, daughter of the late president Anwar Al-Sadat, for the release of her new book Ebnatoh (His Daughter). Present were Ambassador Ismail Abu Zeid, TV presenters Hayat Abdoun, Dina Farouk and Hoda Al-Deeb, poet Ali Omran, Major General Adel Taha and professor of international law Nabil Helmi, Iman Negm and Mohamed Al-Sadat. ¨ A 25 January protester, Shaimaa Samir, obtained her Master's degree at Cairo University's Faculty of Mass Communication with a dissertation entitled The Future of Journalism Legislation in Egypt in the Coming Decade 2010-2020. The committee included professor of journalism Awatef Abdel-Rahman as supervisor, president of the Egyptian Centre of Legal Awareness, judge Khaled Al-Qadi and Dean of Mass Communication at the Al-Ahram Canadian University Laila Abdel-Meguid.
♥ The American University in Cairo (AUC) Press is participating in the 44th Cairo International Book Fair, scheduled to begin on 23 January and close on 5 February at the International Fairgrounds, Nasr City. The AUC pavilions will be held in two locations: the Italia Hall and Hall 3 where new books and bestsellers will be offered at a discount.
♣ The American College for Human Development (ACHD) held its annual conference in Egypt for the first time, according to Nesmahar Sayed, who attended the event. The celebration took place at Salon Verde, Cairo Marriott and started with a presentation on ACHD by PE General Secretary to the Board of Trustees Amr Gawad. In collaboration with Alkarma Company, ACHD granted honorary doctorates to seven Egyptians in seven disciplines as announced by Alkarma CEO Ahmed Amgad and Bassant Al-Hadari: veteran comedian Mohamed Sobhi, for improving family morals through The Wanis Family TV series in the 1990s; tourism expert Enan Galali; Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Masri and Islamic preacher Amr Khaled; TV anchor Amr Al-Leithi; footballer Mahmoud Al-Khatib; inventor Haitham Dessouki; and self-development expert Khaled Obbeya. ACHD was registered as a private college with its headquarters in Florida, US. The core structure and college programmes of ACHD were based on the seven areas of human success in life reflected in the prizes: spiritual, health, personal, family, career and financial. Ghena Nasser, ACHD director of colleges, concluded the ceremony by thanking all attendees and wishing them a prosperous future. ª The Egyptian documentary 1/2 Revolution won the audience award for Best Feature Documentary in the third Karama Human Rights Film Festival (KHRFF) organised by the Royal Culture Centre (RCC) in the Jordanian capital Amman. The film is co-directed by Omar Sharkawi and photography director Karim Al-Hakim, and co-produced by Prophecy Films and Danish Globus Film. This year the Karama Festival showcased 40 films from 20 countries. The 71-minute 1/2 Revolution is the intimate story of a group of friends living in downtown Cairo who struggle to stay together during the first chaotic days of the revolution. Seeing many demonstrators heading their way to the middle of Tahrir Square, Sharkawi and Al-Hakim grab their cameras to capture the historical events taking place around them. Since its premiere at the eighth Dubai International Film Festival in December 2011, the film has received many awards including the Golden Award at Al-Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival in Doha in April 2012 and a Special Mention at the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentary and Short Films in June 2012; it was screened in the Muhr Arab Documentary Film Festival and proved controversial in Danish theatres. In January 2012 it was selected to participate in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance International Film Festival, making it the first Egyptian production to feature at Sundance and the first Arab documentary in competition since 2008.
♥ More news on El Sawy Culturewheel — where the Al-Masriyeen band conducted by Hani Shenouda gave a patriotic concert that started with the famous song Ya Aghla Esm fel Wogoud (The Most Precious Name in the World) and featured another, Ya Bladi (Oh, My Country), dedicated to the mothers of those who died in the revolution. Band members wore black and red for the occasion. Among the audience were Human Rights Society member Essam Al-Khatib, artist Radwa Bassem, singer Ahmed Al-Etrebi and director Hisham Abdel-Khalek.
