By Madame Sosostris * Dear oh dear, how utterly fantastic to hear, my honey bunnies. The International Advertising Association Egypt YPC held its first annual party in the presence of Al-Ahram Chairman of the Board Salah El-Ghamri, Head of the International Advertising Association Egypt Chapter Hassan Hamdi, President of IAA Egypt YPC Taymour Hamdi, and several advertising agencies. Three ambitious youngsters, who excelled in the field of marketing and advertising were honoured, to my heart's delight: Ahmed Ebeid, Shadi Sherif and Yasser Ghazi. Everyone celebrated the launch of the new, dedicated magazine Evolution. Hosni honouring Caron photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid The Chinese delegation photo: Ghada Abdel-Kader Sharif Abdel-Aziz flanked by Ayyoub and Rateb * Along with my very handsome friend, the President of the 29th Cairo International Film Festival, Cherif El-Shoubashy, Hosni also inaugurated a new, remarkably rich round of the Cairo film festival. What angels in disguise, the both of them. It was her lucky stars that gave my deceptively quiet colleague with the penetrating gaze, Ghada Abd El-Kader, the chance of attending the ceremony at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. The start, Ghada confided, featured a lovely song written by Medhat El-Adel and composed by Amr Mustafa and performed by pop star Khaled Selim accomapnied by drop-dead actress Hanan Tourk, Libliba, a formidable talent, no less alluring for being older, and veteran comedian Abdel-Moniem Madbouli. How my heart melted. El-Shoubashy then welcomed this year's guest country, China, lamenting the death of Syrian filmmaker Mustafa El-Aqad in the recent Amman bombing and saying, along with all of us, "No to terrorism" and dedicating the round to the late film star Ahmed Zaki, forgive me my tears. Present was a coterie of dignitaries, beloved friends, all: Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir, my very darling Omar Sharif, especially-honoured for his contribution to international cinema, the inimitable Gamil Rateb, Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own envoy to the heavens, Lubna Abdel-Aziz, who was among the honorees, that gorgeous scriptwriter Waheed Hamed and French actress Leslie Caron, a delightful presence. All this and more, dears -- for it was the screening of my friend Zhang Yimou 's House of Flying Daggers that made for an aptly ecstatic denouement. * On a rather serious note, my sweeties, I went along with several Al-Ahram Weekly staff to attend a commemoration of World AIDS Day held at Al-Sawy Cultural Centre. The celebration started at 10 am sharp, and soon the children were playing games and receiving prizes. The organisers tried to explain how people can protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. A puppet show ensued and the children danced with the organisers. The entire affair was upbeat and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. Another celebration for World's AIDS Day was held at Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel, Cairo. Among the attendees were Minister of Health and Population Mohamed Awad Tageddin, United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia Nafis Sadik, resident representative of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) deputy director Erma Manoncourt and manager of the project of comabting AIDS in Egypt Nasr El-Said, along with other experts from the World Health Organization (WHO). * Now listen. Last Monday, a press conference was held on the occasion of Germany being the guest of honour of the 38th Cairo International Book Fair (2006). The first such appearance, this -- and it's about time too. Germany, my dears, has one of the most sophisticated and rich cultures in Europe, and it makes sense to introduce the guest of honour programme with it. The German Embassy in Cairo, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Goethe Institute and Deutsche Welle as well as many partners have organised an extensive "Guest Of Honor Presentation" providing for a special German stand and a full cultural programme. There, sweeties, I had the exquisite pleasure of meeting the German Ambassador Martin Kobler,General Egyptian Book Organisation chairman, Nasser El-Ansari and Frankfurt Book Fair director Jurgen Boos as well as catching up with my old, old friend, the director of the Goethe Institute in Cairo and Alexandria, Johannes Ebert. * Congratulations, dears. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has named Adel Mounir (left) the director of the Egyptian Authority for Monitoring Insurance Companies. Mounir met with Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin to discuss the future plan for developing the insurance sector. A hearty well done. * Arab cinema has had a brilliant season. In Cairo and in Dubai a collection of most interesting films promise to wow audiences. This year's Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will take place 11-17 December. Iraq is going to make its DIFF debut with the first feature filmed in Baghdad after the fall of the ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Underexposure, the sole Iraqi entry submitted to this year's DIFF, will make its United Arab Emirates (UAE) premiere next month to an audience eager to see interesting films from the UAE and the region. The film is an unprecedented, uncensored look into the lives, hearts and minds of those living in Iraq during the chaotic days after the ouster of Saddam. It should be painfully poignant, my lovelies. Underexposure, was screened during the 29th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) last week while a second Iraqi film Ahlam participated in CIFF's official competition.
