As part of online Ramadan activities, Egypt's Ministry of Culture launched "Fawazeer Cinema Masr", a competition which invites viewers to guess scenes from famed movies performed by the students of Actor's Studio.

The idea is based on Cinema Masr (Egypt's Cinema), one of the plays created and directed by Khaled Galal, head of the Actor's Studio. The play's executive director is Ola Fahmy.

The play premiered in July 2019 to a great success. It includes 65 students presenting on stage more than 40 scenes from memorable Egyptian films in a united dramatic context created by the director. 

The Fawazeer Cinema Masr will post one scene from the play every day during the holy month of Ramadan, at 5.30pm, on the culture ministry's YouTube channel.

In the promo of the competition, posted on 23 April on YouTube, director Khaled Galal addresses the viewers, revealing some details of the project and the competition.

"Together with culture minister Ines Abdel Dayem, we thought of posting 30 scenes from Cinema Masr, once a day. They represent the most important scenes from the most important films of the Egyptian cinema, helping spread the Egyptian culture's values," Galal explains.

He adds that the idea of Fawazeer is also linked to "a beautiful old tradition that we were all brought up with."

Galal refers to Fawazeer, a series of popular competitions that were presented on Egyptian television channels during Ramadan, proving a huge success for over three decades.

"The Fawazeer Cinema Masr will include scenes from comedy films, musicals, drama films, etc," he added. 

Galal also said the ministry is underlining the importance of the "Stay at Home" message amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The ministry launched an initiative called "Culture Between Your Hands", which aims to bring theatre performances, concerts and other cultural events to audiences via online platforms, given the current suspension of any such events.

The first episode of Fawazeer Cinema Masr has already been posted, inviting viewers to guess the film's details.

Actor's Studio operates under the Artistic Creativity Centre, which Galal also manages. He is also the head of the Cultural Production Affairs Sector.

Under Galal, during the past two decades, hundreds of actors enrolled at the Studio have graduated and entered the theatre and film scene, with its most successful play being Qahwa Sada (Black Coffee), which premiered in 2008.

Many of Qahwa Sada's actors have become popular in Egyptian theatre and cinema, including Mohamed Farrag, Mohamed Sallam, Mohamed Shahin, Hossam Dagher, Mohamed Fahim, Mohamed Mamduh, Amir Salah Eldin, Hisham Ismael, and many others.

Qahwa Sada was among the first videos released by the ministry on YouTube.

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