New film across cinemas starting 29 October
- Shelby Oaks, starring Michael Beach, Keith David, Brendan Sexton III
- Good Boy, starring Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman
- Time Hoppers: The Silk Road, starring Emily Gin, Angel Haven Rey, Jayce McKenzie, Tareek Talati, Aliyah Harris, Omar Regan
- Bugonia, starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aiden Delbis
- Maruko: Friend’s Promise, starring Eman Hayel, Abeer Issa, Nabil Najem, Suhair Fahad
Cleoparta - ballet
28, 29, 30, 31 October, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, main hall, Zamalek, Cairo
In conjunction with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Cairo Opera House performs the Cleopatra ballet.
The work is staged by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, to the music by Mohamed Saad Basha.
The ballet consists of two acts: the first lasts for one hour and as per musical tradition it is preceded by an overture. The first act includes 12 dances, while the second one has 13 dances and lasts 45 minutes.
The ballet premiered in 2019 at the Cairo Opera, with choreography by José Perez, costume designer Manuela Scerri, set designer Mohamed El Gharabawy, lighting designer Yasser Shaalan, and artistic director Erminia Kamel.
The script of Cleopatra ballet was written by José Perez and Erminia Kamel.
Read more here
17th Cairo Jazz Festival
The 17th edition of the Cairo Jazz Festival (CJF) will kick off on 30 October and continue until 7 November featuring Egyptian and international jazz musicians.
This year’s festival will be dedicated to the late Lebanese composer and cultural icon Ziad Rahbani. The festival will feature a special concert, a film screening, and a seminar highlighting Rahbani's enduring influence on Arab music and theatre.
The festival will take place across numerous stages, from the American University in Cairo (Tahrir Campus) to the halls of El Sawy Culturewheel and Rawabet Arts Space. The festival will also extend to Sheikh Zayed City, with performances at Teatro Arkan, while Alexandria will host events at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Jesuit Cultural Centre.
Read more about events linked to Ziad Rahbani here, and about Egyptian participation in the festival here. Check the CJF’s full programme at the festival’s Facebook Page.
Ali El-Haggar - music
Wednesday 29 October, 8pm
El-Sawy Culturewheel, River Hall, 26th of July street, Zamalek, Cairo
Veteran singer Ali El-Haggar is one of the best-known singers in Egypt and the Arab world over the past four decades.
His songs carry lyrics drawn from the poetry of Salah Jahin, Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudy and Sayed Hegab to music by the country's most renowned composers such as Baligh Hamdy, Sayed Mekkawy, Omar Khairat, among others.
Some of his most popular hits are Arfa (Do You Know), Hona Al-Qahera (Here is Cairo), and Dehket Al-Masageen (The Prisoners’ Laughter).
The Telephone - one-act opera
Thursday 30, Friday 31 October, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, small hall, Zamalek
The Telephone is a 1947 comic opera by Gian Carlo Menotti about a man named Ben who is repeatedly interrupted by his girlfriend Lucy's phone calls while trying to propose to her.
It is a one-act opera for two singers and a chamber orchestra, and its plot highlights the humorous frustration of being constantly interrupted by the phone.
In its Cairo Opera performance the role of Lucy will be presented by Ingy Mohsen (soprano) and Ben by Ezzat Ghanem.
Black Theama - music
Thursday 30 October, 8pm
El-Sawy Culturewheel, River Hall, 26th of July street, Zamalek, Cairo
Performing on many stages in Egypt and in the region to thousands of their fans, Black Theama was nominated at the 2013 World Music Awards for Best Group, Best Live Act, Best Song, and Best Video Clip for the song Fi Belad Al-Ayy Haga (In the Country of Anything).
With the band members coming from Aswan, their compositions and arrangements create a fusion between Nubian, Sudanese, and other African influences, alongside reggae, hip-hop, and R&B.
Cairokee - music
Friday 31 October, 8pm
El Arena, New Cairo 3
Founded in 2003, Cairokee band's major breakthrough came during the Egyptian revolution in 2011 when they released a hit single Sowt El-Horreya (The Voice of Freedom), followed by Ya El-Midan (Oh, the Square) featuring singer Aida El-Ayoubi.
The band has released several studio albums, including Matloob Zaeem (2011), Wana Maa Nafsy Aad (2012), El-Sekka Shemal (2014), Nas w Nas (2015), Noaata Beida (2017), The Ugly Ducklings (2019), and Roma (2022).
Sweet Sound Band - music
Friday 31 October, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, small hall, Zamalek
Led by Mounir Nasr El Din on violin, the ensemble also includes Medhat Dokla on drums
Alaa Farrag on keyboard and lead singer, Mohsen Dokla on bass, Omar Eltoudy on keyboard and piano, and Judith Consulta vocals.
Opening of Grand Egyptian Museum
Saturday 1 October, 4pm
The music segment will feature music by Hesham Nazih performed by grand orchestra conducted by Nayer Nagui.
Hesham Nazih is one of Egypt's most celebrated contemporary composers, acclaimed for his cinematic versatility and distinctive ability to blend orchestral richness with Middle Eastern sonorities.
His international breakthrough came with his score for Marvel's Moon Knight (2022), in which he fused Western orchestration with authentic Egyptian instruments. The score received critical acclaim worldwide and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award and a World Soundtrack Award in 2022.
He won the Music Movie UK Award as Breakthrough Composer of the Year in 2023.
Read more here
Free admission to Adam Henein Museum
1-7 November
On the occasion of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the Adam Henein Foundation for Fine Arts announced that its museum in Harraniya will open its doors to the public free of charge from 1 to 7 November.
Designed by architect Sohier Saleh, the Adam Henein Museum opened on 18 January 2014 in Cairo's Al-Harraniya district.
The three-story museum displays more than 4,000 works by Adam Henein, including sculptures, paintings, and a small sketchbook containing his thoughts and writings. It also features a sculpture garden showcasing several of his granite and bronze works.
Read more here
Un|Controlled Gestures - contemporary dance
Sunday 2 October, 8pm
Rawabet Art Space, 5 Hussein Basha Al Meamari, Downtown Cairo
The 4th edition of Un|Controlled Gestures features artists in their evolving creations developed during a three-week residency in Cairo.
The artists explore how bodies connect to new pathways and develop new vocabulary to grasp a trembling world. The notion of 'shaking up bodies' languages' is reimagined from the perspectives of the seven choreographers who have come together to share and construct, dismantle and reassemble.
Un|Controlled Gestures - 4th Edition is an initiative of the Goethe-Institutes in North Africa and the Middle East in cooperation with several international bodies.
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