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)