♣The Nile Hall saw the opening of the 61st round of the Catholic Centre Film Festival with the attendance of the Minister of Culture Saber Arab and the director of the Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema Father Boutros Daniel. The 2012 prizes went to filmmaker Wael Ihsan for Saa wi Nos (An Hour and a Half), actors Maged Al-Kidwani, Ahmed Bedeir and Mohamed Imam (who shared one prize), screenwriter Ahmed Abdallah, cinematographers Samer Selim, editor Sherif Abdine, the film Mesawwar Ateel (Snapshot), set designer Hamdi Badawi and Abdel-Salam Moussa, sound artists Mohamed Fawzi and Hani Adel, film critic Samir Farid, actress Boushra for her role in the film Geddo Habibi (My Beloved Grandpa), actor Yehia Al-Fakharani for his role in the TV series Al-Khawaga Abdel-Kader and actress Laila Elwi for Napoleon wal-Mahrousa (Napoleon and ‘Cairo' the Protected). Actors honoured for their lifetime's achievement included Mahmoud Yassin, Elham Shahine, Ahmed Rateb, the name of the late Nadia Lotfi, filmmaker Dawoud Abdel-Sayed and radio presenter Amal Fahmi.
♥On Tuesday 19 March, a celebration of the life and contributions of Mark Linz, former director of the AUC Press (1984-86; 1996-2011), who passed away on 9 February 2013, will take place at the Ewart Memorial Hall, Tahrir Square, at 5pm. Linz established the AUC Press as the Middle East's leading English-language publisher.
♠Internationally acclaimed Egyptian painter Khaled Hafez explores the complex nature of Egyptian identity in his first ever solo exhibition in the United Arab Emirates. “Moving Forward by Day”, opening at Meem Gallery in Dubai on 17 March, and ongoing until 2 May, features paintings and drawings; it will include early work such as Tomb Sonata in Three Military Movements (2012), 7.5x2 metres oil on canvas. The exhibition marks a change in the artist's choice of subject matter. Since the January 2011 Revolution in Egypt, Hafez had concentrated on literal depictions of social and political upheaval. In this work he returns to his lifelong obsession with the complex nature of Egyptian identity, revisiting the iconography of earlier works and exploring the fluid interrelations between identity and the symbols used to express it. Still, many of the works on show were created as an act of protest: “Two years on from the revolution, I have abandoned my active role as a citizen and gone back into my studio as a form of defiance,” the artist explains. “What I am fighting against, what I am resisting in my work is a public discourse that seeks to unify and impose a single truth or ideology upon the rich and diverse reality of Egyptian identity.”
