Accompanied by known musicians, Tania Saleh will celebrate Egyptian and Lebanese cinema by performing some film songs in the opening of the festival
Lebanese singer, songwriter, and visual artist Tania Saleh will perform popular cinema tunes in Egypt this week at the opening of the El-Gouna Film Festival, taking place between 23 and 31 October.
"I am off to Egypt today to perform at El-Gouna Film Festival on 23 October at Cairo Jazz Club on 5 November to pay homage to film songs from Egypt and Lebanon," Tania Saleh stated on Monday.
She will be accompanied by known musicians; Hisham Galal (piano), Ahmed Omran (oud), Hany Bedair (percussion) and Samer George (bass) who are each involved in numerous music projects in the country.
Since 1990, Tania Saleh has gained fame in the Middle East and North Africa for her reflections on the social and political problems of her country and region, making an "original mix of Lebanese tarab, mawwal and dabke flavoured with folk, alternative rock, bossa nova and jazz,” as stated in her bio.
She has since made successful collaborations with international and regional artists like Ziad Rahbani, Toufic Farroukh, Charbel Rouhana, Ibrahim Maalouf, RZA, Nile Rodgers, Charlotte Caffey, and Oscar-nominated director Nadine Labaki.
Her repertoire comprises several albums: Tania Saleh (2002), Wehde (2011), Live at DRM (2012), Shwayit Souwar (A Few Images, 2014), which she dedicated to Arab women, Intersection (2017), and the EP Live in Barcelona (2020).
Saleh’s musicianship extends to Lebanese cinema too, having written lyrics and coached singers for the soundtracks of Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaky’s 2007 film Caramel, as well as Labaky’s 2011 film Where Do We Go Now?
Saleh’s other contributions to cinema include co-writing Rizkallah, the soundtrack to Philippe Aractingi’s 2014 film Héritages.
With at least 45 films set to screen, the fourth edition of the El-Gouna Film Festival will see strict safety measures in addition to minimised capacity to many outdoor activities amid the “challenging circumstances” of the coronavirus pandemic.
Held in El-Gouna, a luxurious Red Sea resort town established by businessman Samih Sawiris, the film festival’s activities are organised by the CineGouna Platform and sponsored by Orascom Development Holding.
Amid strict safety measures to avoid spreading COVID-19, Egypt resumed cultural activities in July with most public events held at outdoor venues.
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