JANUARY

Wahid Hamed (1944)

On the second day of 2021, Egyptian cinema lost Wahid Hamed, one of its prominent figures. Born in 1944 in Sharqiya, he graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University in 1967 and began his career writing short stories.

Hamed’s long screenwriting career is punctuated by masterpieces. In 1979 he wrote the TV series Ahlam Al-Fata Al-Taeer (Dreams of the Flying Boy), starring the phenomenally popular comedian Adel Imam and directed by Mohamed Fadel. Hamed and Imam as a duo made a series of collaborations that can be considered significant critiques of the Egyptian political and social scene. In 1983 they made Al-Ghoul (The Ogre), directed by the late Samir Seif. Al-Leab Maa Al-Kobar (Playing with the Giants, 1991), the duo’s first collaboration with director Sherif Arafa, was followed by the black comedy Al-Irhab Wal-Kebab (Terrorism and Kebab, 1992). The third variation on the same theme, and the trio’s third collaboration, was Al-Mansy (1993). It was in 1995 Toyour Al-Zalam (The Birds of Darkness) that Hamed shifted his focus, displaying two sides of the same corruption and dysfunction in the government and the Muslim Brotherhood.

One of Hamed’s significant works was Al-Baree (The Innocent, 1985), directed by Atef Al-Tayeb, starring Ahmed Zaki, Gamil Rateb, and Mamdouh Abdel-Alim. Hamed’s conviction that Wahhabism and Islamic extremism are a major obstacle to building a modern society is clear. In 1994, he wrote the TV series Al-Aila (The Family), directed by Ismail Abdel-Hafez. The series starred Mahmoud Morsy, Abdel-Moneim Madbouly, and Laila Elwy.

In 2010, he made the first season of the TV Series Al-Gamaa (The Brotherhood), directed by Mohamed Yassin, which dealt with the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 and the political circumstances of its rise during the 1930s and 1940s. The season ended with the assassination of the Brotherhood’s founder Hassan Al-Banna. His latest film was film Ehky ya Scheherazade (Scheherazade, Tell Me A Story, 2009), directed by Yousry Nassrallah, starring Mona Zaki.

FEBRUARY

Ezzat Al-Alaili (1934)

On 5 February, the renowned actor Ezzat Al-Alaili passed away at the age of 86. He was born in 1934 in Old Cairo, and graduated from the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts in 1960, his passion for acting having begun at a very young age. His debut appearance was in Salah Abu-Seif’s Ressalah Min Emraa Maghoula (A Message from an Unknown Woman, 1963), featuring Farid Al-Atrash and Lubna Abdel-Aziz.

Al-Alaili famously worked with Youssef Chahine, starring in Al-Nas Wal Nil (People and the Nile, 1964) and playing a role in Chahine’s classic film Al-Ard (The Land, 1969) before performing one of his most memorable and brilliant roles as Sayed/Mahmoud, a man with split personality, in Al-Ikhtiyar (The Choice, 1970), starring alongside Soad Hosni, Mahmoud Al-Meligi, Hoda Sultan, and Youssef Wahbi. Al-Alaili also starred in Iskendriya Lih? (Alexandria... Why? 1979). He starred in Kamal El Sheikh’s Ala Maan Notlek Al-Rasas (Who Should We Shoot, 1975) together with Soad Hosni, Mahmoud Yassin, and Gamil Rateb. He worked with director Salah Abu Seif, starring in three of his films; Al-Saqqa Mat (The Water Carrier Is Dead, 1979), Al-Qadisiya (1981), and Al-Mowaten Masri (The Egyptian Citizen, 1991). Al-Alaili worked with director Khairy Beshara in Al-Touq Wal Eswera (The Collar and the Bracelet, 1986), performing a brilliant and memorable role.

Al-Alaili wrote the stage plays Thawret Al-Madina (The City’s Revolution) and Al-Touffan (The Flood), performing in such productions as Al-Omr Lahza (Short Lifetime, 1974) and Tamr Henna in the same year. He made almost as much of a contribution to television as to cinema, starring in countless shows, including Miramar (1970), Al-Esaba (The Gang, 1970), Al-Garima (The Crime, 1977), Al-Gamaa (The Brotherhood, 2010) and — his latest — Qaid Aayeli (A Family Register, 2019) and others. His latest appearance on the silver screen was in Marwan Hamed’s Torab Al-Mas (Diamond Dust, 2018) starring Asser Yassin and Menna Shalabi. Last November, he was honoured in the 36th edition of the Alexandrian Mediterranean Film Festival.

MARCH

Youssef Shaaban (1931)

One of Egypt’s most unforgettable actors, Youssef Shaaban passed away last March at the age of 89 after suffering from Covid-19 complications. He was born in Shubra, Cairo, and studied acting, graduating from the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts. His first break was in Henry Barakat’s Fi Baytouna Ragol (A Man in Our House, 1961), in which he starred alongside Omar Sharif and Roushdy Abaza. Through the 1960s he starred in such successful films as Hassan Al-Imam’s Al-Mougeza (The Miracle, 1962), starring Faten Hamama and Shadia. He took part in Cairo (1963), directed by Wolf Rilla, starring Faten Hamama, Ahmed Mazhar, Kamal Al-Shinawy and Shwikar along with foreign actors George Sanders and Richard Johnson, which revolves around an international gang stealing ancient Egyptian monuments. In the same year he starred in Atef Salem’s Oum Al-Arousa (Mother of the Bride, 1963), starring Emad Hamdi, Tahia Kariouka, and Hassan Youssef. Shaaban starred along with Shadia and Salah Zulfikar in Fatin Abdel-Wahab’s comedy Merati Modier Aam (My Wife Is the General Director, 1966), the film that introduced numerous actors who would go on to become stars including Adel Imam, Tawfik Al-Deken, and Al-Deif Ahmed.

He also played some of his most famous roles in television series like Al-Shahd wal Domou (Honey and Tears, 1983), with director Ismail Abdel-Hafez. He played the intelligence officer Mohsen Momtaz in director Yehia Al-Alami’s espionage television series Raafat Al-Haggan (1988-1992), starring with Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Youssra, and others. Shaaban played the famous role of Salama Farawila in the TV series Al-Mal wal Banoun (Money and Sons, 1992), directed by Magdi Abu Emera, starring alongside Abdallah Gheith, Ahmed Abdel-Aziz, and Sherif Mounir. In the TV series Al-Dou Al-Sharid (The Stray Light, 1998), he gave a brilliant performance as Wahbi Al-Sawalmi, a man from Upper Egypt willing to do whatever it takes to win the elections. The hit TV series had an ensemble cast including Samiha Ayoub, Mamdouh Abdel-Alim, Mona Zaki, Rania Farid Shawky, Somaya Al-Khashab, and Mohamed Riyad.  

APRIL

Mustafa Moharam (1939)

In April, the celebrated Egyptian screenwriter Mustafa Moharam passed away at the age of 82, after his health suddenly declined. Moharam became one of the biggest names in the field of screenwriting in the 1980s and 1990s, having started his career in the reading department of a production company. Moharam wrote numerous memorable films like Ali Badrakhan’s Ahl Al-Qimma (People on Top, 1981), starring Soad Hosni, Nour Al-Sherif, Ezzat Al-Alaili, and Omar Al-Hariri; Hata La Yatir Al-Dokhan (So That Smoke Won’t Fly, 1984), starring Adel Imam, Soheir Ramzi, and Ahmed Rateb, directed by Ahmed Yehia; Al-Raqesa wal Tabal (The Dancer and the Drummer, 1984), starring Ahmed Zaki, Nabila Ebeid and Adel Adham, and directed by Ashraf Fahmi; Wasmet Aar (Stigma, 1986), starring Nour Al-Sherif and Youssra, directed by Ashraf Fahmi; and Atef Al-Tayeb’s Al-Hobb Fawk Hadabet Al-Haram (Love on the Pyramids Plateau, 1986), starring Ahmed Zaki, Athar Al-Hakim, and Ahmed Rateb. In the mid-1990s, Moharam started to focus on television drama, writing the script for the Ihsan Abdel-Quddous adaptation Lan Aaish fi Gelbab Abi (I Won’t Live in My Father’s Robe), which was screened in Ramadan and a huge hit. Directed by Ahmed Tawfik, it starred the brilliant Nour Al-Sherif alongside Abla Kamel in the remarkable role of Fatma, as well as Mohamed Riad, Hanan Turk, Wafaa Sadek, and Nahed Roushdy. Moharam also wrote Aelat Al-Haj Metwali (Al-Haj Metwali’s Family, 2001), also starring Nour Al-Sherif, and directed by Mohamed Al-Nokali; Raya wi Sekina (2005), starring Abla Kamel and Somaya Al-Khashab and directed by Gamal Abdel-Hamid; Al-Batniya (2009), starring Ghada Abdel-Razek and Salah Al-Saadani and directed by Mohamed Al-Nokali; Zohra wa Azwagha Al-Khamsa (Zohra and her Five Husbands, 2010), also starring Ghada Abdel-Razek and directed by Al-Nokali. Many of these were screened in Ramadan.

MAY

Samir Ghanem (1937)

Egypt bid the legendary comedian Samir Ghanem farewell with immense sorrow after he was hospitalised with Covid-19 complications. Ghanem was a remarkably versatile artist — singer, dancer, proto stand-up comedian and cabaret performer as well as actor — and he worked across those forms for nearly half a century, never stopping until the last minute. Between theatre, cinema, television, and radio, he has over 250 roles to his name. Born on 15 January 1937 in Assiut, Ghanem graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Alexandria University. He started his career in 1963 as a member of the trio Tholathy Adwaa Al-Masrah (The Trio of Stage Lights), a stand-up comedy troupe with the late Al-Deif Ahmed — its founder — and George Sidhom. Presenting a huge number of sketches in films, they staged their complete own stage comedies like Tabeikh Al-Malayka (The Angels’ Cooking, 1964), directed by Hassan Abdel-Salam, they also presented the first-ever Fawazir Ramadan (or Ramadan Riddles show), named after them and written by Hussein Al-Said.

Ghanem also appeared individually in Saghira Ala Al-Hobb (Too Young for Love, 1966), directed by Niazi Mustafa, starring the legendary Soad Hosni and Roushdy Abaza and in Hassan Al-Imam’s Amira Hobi Ana (Amira, My Love, 1975), written by Salah Jahine and featuring Hussein Fahmy, Soheir Al-Babli and again he collaborated with Imam in the unforgettable musical Khali Balak Min Zuzu (Watch Out for Zuzu, 1972), starring alongside Hosni and Hussein Fahmy. In 1970 Tholathy Adwaa Al-Masrah lost its founder when Al-Deif Ahmed died, though Ghanem and Sidhom continued to perform under the same name until 1982. It was never quite the same, however. One of Ghanem’s earliest stage appearances was Mosiqa fel Haii Al-Sharqi (Music in the Eastern Neighbourhood), a hilarious version of The Sound of Music, directed by Hassan Abdel-Salam, starring Sidhom and Safaa Abul-Seoud. In 1976, Ghanem and Sidhom starred in the timeless Al-Motazawigoun (The Married Couples), as Massoud and Hanafi, respectively, along with Sherine as Massoud’s wife Lina. The play gained unprecedented success and became one of the comic stage’s timeless classics, inspiring generations with laughter and entering into the language of daily conversation and the collective memory. In 1977, he was the star of the TV series Hekayet Mizo (Mizo’s Tale), written by Lenin Al-Ramly and directed by Mohamed Abaza, and starring Fardous Abdel-Hamid.

Along with Adel Imam, Nour Al-Sherif, Mervat Amin, Lebleba, and Sidhom, he also starred in filmmaker Mohamed Abdel-Aziz’s Al-Baad Yazhab Lel Maazoun Marteen (Some Visit the Marriage Officiate Twice, 1978), a comedy about marriage and relationships and jealousy between couples. Ghanem and Sidhom also starred in the play Ahlan Ya Doktor (Hi Doctor, 1980), directed by Hassan Abdel-Salam and written by Faisal Nada. Ghanem starred in a huge number of films including Al-Banat Aiza Eih (What Girls Want), directed by Hassan Al-Seifi, featuring Soheir Ramzi, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Hayatem and Ahmed Adawia as well as 4-2-4 (1981), a football-focused comedy directed by Ahmed Fouad, featuring Younis Shalabi, Lebleba, Ahmed Adawia. He starred alongside Farid Shawky, Karima Mokhtar, Ahmed Rateb, Isaad Younis, and Dalal Abdel-Aziz in Omar Abdel-Aziz’s Yarab Walad (A Boy Child, Amen, 1984), one of the best loved screen comedies of all time. In 1983 Ghanem joined forces with director Fahmy Abdel-Hamid for Fawazir Fatouta, initially under the title Fatouta and the Films, playing the two characters of Fatouta and Samoura. The show gained huge acclaim and public success, establishing a new archetype with the miniature figure of Fatouta in his signature green suit, black shoes and bowtie all too big for him. Another season, Fatouta and the Personalities, was screened in 1986. Ghanem performed in more than 30 plays, many of which are deeply engraved in the Egyptian psyche. The highlights include Goha Yahkoum Al-Madina (Goha Rules the City, 1985), Akhoya Hayes wana Layes (My Brother Is Happy and I’m Lost, 1992). In 1984, Ghanem married actress Dalal Abdel-Aziz and they had two daughters, Donia and Amy, both well-known actresses.

AUGUST

Dalal Abdel-Aziz (1960)

Dalal Abdel-Aziz passed away nearly three months after she contracted Covid-19 together with her late husband, the legendary comedian Samir Ghanem, who passed away on 20 May. She was unaware of Ghanem’s death. Abdel-Aziz was born in 1960 in Zagazig, she graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Zagazig University before moving to Cairo. Her acting career took off in 1977 when director Nour Al-Demerdash became aware of her talent.Though a stage actress for many years already, Abdel-Aziz first made an impression as Dr Zanati’s nurse in Ahlan Ya Doktor (Hi Doctor), written by Faisal Nada, directed by Hassan Abdel-Salam and starring Ghanem and George Sidhom. She also starred in Fares wa Bani Khaiban (Fares and the Losers, 1987), and Akhoya Hayes wana Layes (My Brother Is Happy and I’m Lost, 1992). She also starred in the play Hobb Fil Takhshibah (Love in Prison, 1994) directed by Samir Seif.In Ramadan TV, Abdel-Aziz participated in Fawazir Fatouta, directed by Fahmi Abdel-Hamid, in which Ghanem plays himself, Sammoura, as well as the tiny, green-clad director Fatouta.

Her cinematic career started to pick up in the 1980s, when she starred in Omar Abdel-Aziz’s comedy Yarab Walad (A Boy Child, Amen, 1984), Al-Ragol Yoheb Martein (The Man Loves Twice, 1987), directed by Atef Salem. In 1990, she starred alongside Adel Imam in Al-Noum fil Assal (Sweet Oblivion, 1996), directed by Sherif Arafa. In the 2000s she performed a remarkable role in Asrar Al-Banat (Girls’ Secrets, 2001), directed by Magdi Ahmed Ali with a screenplay by Azza Shalabi and starring Ezzat Abu Ouf, Sawsan Badr, and Maya Shiha. Afterwards, Abdel-Aziz worked extensively with the younger generation, starring with Ahmed Helmi in Khaled Marei’s Asef Ala Al-Ezaag (Sorry for the Inconvenience, 2008) and again with Ahmed Helmi in Amr Salama’s Sonei fi Masr (Made in Egypt, 2014). On television, Abdel-Aziz participated in numerous grand productions like Layali Al-Hilmyia (Hilmyia Nights, 1987-1989) in its two seasons alongside number of great actors like Yehia Al-Fakharani, Salah Al-Saadani, Mohsena Tawfik, and others. She appeared in the TV series Hadith Al-Sabah wal Masaa (Dialogues of Morning and Night, 2001), alongside Abla Kamel, directed by Ahmed Saqr, based on Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, which was adapted by Mohsen Zayed. n recent years, Abdel-Aziz participated in TV series Lahfa (2015) alongside her daughters Donia and Amy, directed by Moataz Al-Toni. A year later she appeared as a guest of honour in TV series Nelly wi Sherihan (Nelly and Sherihan) again with her two daughters. The series was directed by Ahmed Al-Gendi. In 2017 she appeared with her husband Samir and her daughter Donia in the TV series La La Land also directed by Ahmed Al-Gendi. She appeared in the TV series Sabei Garr (Farthest Neighbour); directed by Ayten Amin, Nadine Khan, and Heba Youssry. Her last appearance was in a Ramadan TV series Melouk Al-Gadaana (Kings of Knighthood), directed by Ahmed Khaled Moussa.

Faisal Nada (1940)

The renowned playwright and screenwriter Faisal Nada passed away at the age of 81 last August. He was born in the Cairo neighbourhood of Abdine and graduated from Cairo University’s Faculty of Commerce in 1963. He was a member of the university’s theatre troupe and embarked on his career during his university years, when he started to write for the stage. He wrote the comic stage’s timeless classic Al-Motazawigoun (The Married Couples, 1976), starring Samir Ghanem, George Sidhom, and Sherine.

He also wrote some of the most unforgettable plays and films in Egyptian history, including Ahlan Ya Doktor (Hi Doctor, 1980), directed by Hassan Abdel-Salam and starring Samir Ghanem, George Sidhom, and Dalal Abdel-Aziz. He also wrote the screenplay of the film Nehayet Ragol Tazawag (The End of a Man Who Married, 1983), starring Samir Ghanem, Poussy, Hala Fakher, and Ali Al-Sherif, and directed by Adel Sadek.

But his best-loved film may be Yarab Walad (A Boy Child, Amen, 1984), starring Samir Ghanem, Ahmed Rateb, Isaad Younis, Dalal Abdel-Aziz, Farid Shawki, and Karima Mokhtar, and directed by Omar Abdel-Aziz. Nada wrote the script of the film Al-Abkari wal Hobb (The Brilliant and Love, 1987), directed by Ahmed Al-Sabawi, starring Farouk Al-Fishawi, Elham Shahine, Mahmoud Al-Gendi, Hoda Ramzi and Aida Riad. In 1990, he collaborated with director Inas Al-Deghedi on the film Qadiyet Samiha Badran (The Case of Samiha Badran), starring Nabila Ebeid, Youssef Shaaban, and Salah Qabil. He wrote the film Al-Gabalawi (1991), starring Kamal Al-Shinawy, Samah Anwar, directed by Adel Al-Assar, and collaborated with Tarek Al-Nahri on Gahim Emraa (A Woman’s Hell, 1992), starring Fifi Abdou, Ibrahim Nasr, and Nahla Salama. Nada also wrote for television Wa Hazamatny Emraa (A Woman Defeated Me, 1998), directed by Youssef Abu-Seif, featuring Mahmoud Yassin, Shams, and Salah Abdallah.

NOVEMBER

Gazbia Sirry (1925)

An icon of the earliest generation of woman artists in Egypt, Gazbia Sirry was born in the Cairo neighbourhood of Boulak, and attended the Higher Institute for Woman Teachers — the basis of what would later become the Faculty of Art Education, Helwan University — where she would later teach. She studied in Paris, Rome, and London, living abroad for many years.

The breadth and power of Sirry’s work was showcased in a Zamalek Gallery retrospective four years ago, including sketches, water colours, graphic works, as well as oils. They show the influence of the Egyptian surrealist Samir Rafi’ as well as that of cubism, Islamic design and the 1952 Revolution, which set the tone for much of her early work.

Rather than moving from nationalist realism into a fantastical mould, interacting with grassroots culture, Sirry employed what the critic Farouk Bassiouni calls “a conscious modernism” to create “an Egyptian expressionism” — evident in her famous series on children’s street games including The Kite (1960), a particularly well-known painting acquired by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bassiouni stresses Sirry’s drawing on the art of arabesque, her deep understanding of architectural rhythm, and her connection to nature.

The observer will trace in Sirry’s development a movement from human faces and figures increasingly abstracted through geometric patterns to houses — perhaps her richest period — and from houses to the quietude and stillness of the desert.

Soheir Al-Babli (1937)

The renowned Egyptian actress and stage icon Soheir Al-Babli  passed away last November at the age 86, having spent three weeks in hospital following the onset of a coma. Al-Babli  will forever be remembered for a number of unforgettable comedic roles, notably Bakiza Hanem Al-Daramaly on screen, and Effat Abdel-Kerim, then Sekina on stage, all benefiting from her distinctive style of performance, her trademark mode of enunciation, and the way many of her catchphrases entered into the vernacular lexicon.   

Al-Babli  was born in 1937 in Damietta, after completing secondary school she joined the Institute of Theatrical Arts and the Musical Institute at the same time. Her talent had been obvious since a very early age and her father encouraged her to pursue acting.

Her debut appearance on screen was in Eghraa (Seduction, 1957), directed by Hassan Al-Imam and featuring Sabah and Shokri Sarhan. The first film she starred in was Lokandet Al-Mofagaat (The Hotel of Surprises, 1959) with Hind Rostom and Ismail Yassin, directed by Eissa Karama. In 1960 she also starred in Ezzeddine Zulfakar’s Nahr Al-Hobb (Love River), with Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif. She also starred opposite the great comedy duo Fouad Al-Mohandess and Shwikar in Niazi Mustafa’s Akhtar Ragol fil Allam (The Most Dangerous Man in the World, 1967).

She appeared in Youssef Chahine’s Hadouta Masriya (An Egyptian Story, 1982), starring alongside Nour Al-Sherif, Youssra, Mohamed Mounir, Mohsen Mohieddin, and Mahmoud Al-Meligy.

Al-Babli  made her name on stage with her remarkable wit and charisma, becoming a cornerstone of commercial theatre in Egypt and the Middle East, and starring in the timeless classic Madraset Al-Moshaghbeen (The School of Mischief, 1973), directed by Galal Al-Sharkawy, featuring Hassan Mustafa, Adel Imam, Said Saleh, and Ahmed Zaki.

Al-Babli  also joined Abdel-Moneim Madbouli and Shadia along with actor Ahmed Bedeir in Raya wi Sakina (1982), directed by Hussein Kamal and written by Bahgat Amar, one of the theatre’s most unforgettable pieces. She also starred in Al-Dokhoul Bel Malabes Al-Rasmiya (Formal Dress Required, 1979), with Abu Bakr Ezzat, Isaad Younis and Ahmed Nabil, directed by Al-Sayed Radi.

As for her television career, she brilliantly played the role of Bakiza Hanem in the memorable TV series Bakiza wi Zaghloul (1987), with Isaad Younis (who also wrote the series), directed by Ahmed Badreddine and starring, besides Younes and Al-Babli , Mustafa Metwalli, Salah Qabil, Zouzou Nabil and Hassan Mustafa. A year later Al-Babli  appeared in the spinoff film Leilet Al-Qabd ala Bakiza wi Zaghloul (The Night of the Arrest of Bakiza and Zaghloul), directed by Mohamed Abdel-Aziz.

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*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly