Ramadan spirituality The opening ceremony of the fifth International Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting immortalised by Sherif Sonbol's lens: 20 troupes gathered to perform together at the Salaheddin Citadel Bir Youssef Theatre. Founded and still presided over by Intesar Abdel-Fattah, this year the festival features spiritual music from 20 countries including Egypt, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, India, Indonesia, and for the first time China, France, Germany, Zambia, Iraq and Emirates. This round honoured Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb, the name of the late Pope Shenouda, the name of late Sheikh Taha El-Fashni, pioneer of religious chanting in Egypt, the name of late writer Khairy Shalabi and Indian Ambassador to Egypt R Swaminathan for his relentless efforts in supporting the festival since its early rounds. Five international workshops and Arab calligraphy exhibitions from China and Turkey are held on the fringe. (see Listings p.18) - For the first time ever this Ramadan, reports Reham El-Adawi, millions of viewers around the world can watch over 50 prime-time Ramadan shows on the day they air through a dedicated YouTube channel: youtube.com/ramadan; a hub for those eager but unable to maintain the Ramadan tradition of watching their favourite Arabic series. "This innovative project is the first of its kind and showcases the momentum YouTube has generated as a destination for premium content for our users," said Ari Kesisoglu, managing director of Google in the Middle East and North Africa. The project is the product of a joint venture between YouTube and Unilever, its main sponsors: "Unilever, Google and YouTube have a strong global relationship based on bringing digital innovations to the public. Thus, we are delighted that two of the Arab world's most beloved Unilever food & beverage brands, Lipton and Knorr, will bring a great online viewing experience to millions of people during the holy month of Ramadan," said David Porter, media director of Unilever MENA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Youtube.com/ramadan features hundreds of episodes from Ramadan television shows for viewers to watch, comment on, favourite and share. High-quality shows uploaded by their copyright owners and aggregated within the hub to combat piracy will be categorised for easy access and browsing; they will generate revenue via the advertisement system on the platform. The Middle East and North Africa region has been the second in the world for the most daily views, with an average of 167 million video views a day. All this news was announced in a press conference at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel, Cairo. Present were Haitham Yehia who leads Google's efforts for YouTube partnerships in the Middle East & North Africa, Wael Fakharani, regional manager, Google Egypt and North Africa, Rawya El-Shater, CBC satellite channel marketing manager, Khaled Abu Zeid, global media representative and Mustafa Metwali from Hawa Ltd. Actor Amr Waked and filmmaker Ibrahim El-Batout held a press conference last week at the American University in Cairo Falaki Theatre to announce the selection of their latest feature film Al-Sheita Elli Fatt (Winter of Discontent) for its world premiere at the Orizzonti section of the 69th Venice International Film Festival. The international jury of Orizzonti will be chaired by Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino with the participation of Sandra den Hamer, Runa Islam, Jason Kliot, Nadine Labaki, Milcho Manchevski and Amir Naderi. The Orizzonti section will grant three awards with no shared awards permitted, and Winter of Discontent, featuring Waked, Salah Hanafi and Farah Youssef, is the Egyptian contribution. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid The Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema, headed by father Boutros Daniel, organised a delightful Ramadan Iftar at the Sea Horse Hotel overlooking the Nile, under the motto Masry wa Bas (Only Egyptian), which gathered many celebrities: Good Will Ambassador Atef Abdel-Latif, Minister of State for Scientific Research Nadia Zakhari, journalist Fatma Naout, writer Naem El-Baz, actors Laila Taher, Ragaa Hussein, Nihal Anbar, Ghada Ibrahim, Madlin Tabar, Amira El-Aidi, Olfat Omar, Mona Hala and Manal Salama, Seif Abdel-Rahman and Magdi Sobhi, singer Hisham Abbas, film critic Tarek El-Shennawi, TV anchor Mufida Shiha, writer Hanan Mufid Fawzi, Jordanian singer Diana Karazon, former MP Mohamed Abu Hamed, producer Adel Adib, screenwriters Faisal Nada and Mohamed El-Gheiti and journalist Hossam Abdel-Hadi. photos: Ayman Barayez The Omani Ambassador to Egypt Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al-Harithi gave a prestigious Ramadan Iftar at the Cleopatra Hall of the Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel. Present were the Lebanese Ambassador Khaled Ziyada, the Bahraini Ambassador Sheikh Rashed Al-Khalifa, the Mauritanian Ambassador Mohamed Bubakr and his Jordanian counterpart Beshr Al-Khasawena, anchor Amin Bassiouni, former minister of culture Saber Azab, and editor of Al-Ahram's evening paper Alaa Thabet. Congratulations! Internationally acclaimed Italy-based Egyptian artist Gamal Meleka has received the medal of the Italian President for the eighth time at the 39th Martinsicuro Festival for Contemporary Art in Italy, while emerging Egyptian artist Samaa Yehia was given the Cup of the Senator in the same celebration -- which took place under the auspices of the Italian ministries of culture and tourism. The celebration was attended by Senator Tancredi Paiolo and many contemporary Italian artists. Sherif Kamel, dean of the School of Business at AUC, was named a member of the World Bank Knowledge Advisory Commission and is currently serving a two-year term. "With the proliferation of technology, people are bombarded with sources of knowledge coming from every direction," said Kamel, who recently attended the commission's first meeting in Washington DC. "With this change in the knowledge landscape, the commission's job is to serve as an effective platform in increasing access to knowledge and in enhancing the quality and impact of that knowledge." "People from around the world will be invited to provide relevant reports and case studies," said Kamel, "to strengthen the bank's role as a knowledge connector around the world by capitalising on technology, examining case studies and customising information to meet the needs of client countries." Kamel's role in the commission focuses on innovations in impact measurement of knowledge services, as well as new opportunities for enhancing the connectivity of knowledge in a rapidly changing knowledge environment. photo: Bassam El-Zoghby The Lebanese singer Oumeima Al-Khalil, born in Al-Fakiha village near Baalbak, gave a concert last week at El-Genaina Theatre, part of the Ramadan Hayy programme organised by the Culture Resource Centre. Early in her career Al-Khalil met the great Lebanese musician Marcel Khalifa, who discovered her great talent and introduced her to the public through his "Al Mayadeen" band; she has since become famous in her own right. In the concert, she presented a range of forms from Oriental tarab with a dance flavour to Oriental melodies mixed with blues and jazz, which is reflected in her greatest hits Elakh, Daret Al-Kahwa, Olt Bakteblak, and Asfour. Ya Sidi is her first song in Egyptian dialect.
