THIS evening, at 6pm, a gathering to honour Ahmed Zaki, one of Egypt's most talented and versatile actors, will be held in the American University in Cairo's Ewart Hall. For over 35 years, Zaki has impressed critic and ordinary cinema- and theatre-goer alike, and for the last 20 years he has been the yardstick according to which quality acting in Egypt has been measured. Consistently, and with remarkably few lapses, he has been a dedicated and energetic actor, bringing his charisma and talent to the roles he has played, whether comic (as in Hassan Ibrahim's Al-Beih Al-Bawwab ), romantic (as in Atef El-Tayeb's Al-Hobb fawq Hadabit Al-Haram and Mohamed Khan's Maweid ala Al-Ashaa ), tragic (as in Atef El-Tayeb's Al-Barie ), or even light-commercial (as in Nader Galal's Hassan El-Loll ). Zaki has played the part of two Egyptian presidents: Gamal Abdel-Nasser in Mohamed Fadel's Nasser '56 and Anwar El-Sadat in Mohamed Khan's Ayyam El-Sadat which Zaki himself produced and which will be screened at this evening's gathering. For some time, he was hoping to act in and perhaps produce a film about President Hosni Mubarak. Zaki was about to start working in a film in which he was to star about the late singer Abdel-Halim Hafez -- who was and still is loved by millions -- when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After receiving some treatment for his illness, Zaki has decided to discontinue all tests, treatments, and chemotherapy sessions. Many actors, directors and media personalities will be attending the AUC gathering in honour of Ahmed Zaki, including: Mona Zaki, Ahmed El-Saqqa, Ola Ghanem, Ahmed Ezz, Donia Samir Ghanem, Hala Sedqi, Reham Abdel-Ghafour, Samira Mohsen, Raghda and Mohamed Khan, to name but some. The crowd of fans, one anticipates, will be large indeed.
