Is it reasonable to honor movie stars at theater festivals?
The decision of the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater to honor the great artist Mahmoud Hemida during its 31st session, from September 1 to 11, started a debate in art circles and on social media sites about its worthiness honored at a theater festival. He is a movie star who only played two plays on his journey. Playwrights wrote criticizing this choice, while others defended Hamida and its long history.
Controversy also arose in the last session of the Experimental Festival, when it was announced that the artist Laila Elwi would be honored, which provoked the same controversy among performers, which made her to apologize for not accepting the honor.
The head of the Aswan Festival, the film writer Mohamed Abdel Khaleq, wrote on his Facebook account: “Mahmoud Hamida is an outstanding artist and has a career of research in acting and art techniques. He is aptly revered in all theater forums, including experimental ones,” describing him as “the sheikh of actors”.
In turn, the critic Dr. Samia Habib wrote on Facebook: “We met great artists at the opening and closing of the experimental festival through its sessions, such as Yousra, Elham Shaheen, and Mahmoud Yassin. The playwright among them was generous, and the rest were guests who were happy to be present among the playwrights. The idea was promotion, not marketing, and there is a big difference between the two.”
She also told Asharq Al-Awsat: “With all our respect for the artist Mahmoud Hamida, who we are not present in many theater performances, I wonder what his influence is on experimental theater?” He has not affected the theater and has not presented a theater performance for 20 years, so how can he be honored in a special festival like the experimental one?”
She said: “He only did two plays at the start of his career, then he went to a cinema and published a magazine for him. The first is to honor him cinematically, and to have the opportunity to honor theater stars who have left an impact on the theater movement. The great artist Mohie Ismail, who founded the theater (The Hundred Chairs) with the director Abdel Rahman Arnous, and who presented independent performances at his expense, has an important theatrical influence, and also Dr. Mohamed Abdel Hadi, who participated in it. together with Hamida in the project (Actor’s Studio), and he is a professor of theater and has a wide range of activities.” .
Cairo Festival of Experimental Theater President, Sameh Mahran (Festival Director)
Samia Habib stopped what was said about honoring film artists for the marketing of the festival, asking: “What kind of marketing are they talking about in a festival that has passed their thirtieth year and who has status, funded by the state, and whose shows are free?” This is a right that is intended to be false, since there is no need for marketing in Egypt or between countries, as the world’s teams look forward to participating.”
The head of the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre, Dr. Sameh Mahran, responded at the press conference to questions about the criteria for selecting the sponsors by saying, “Cinema stars perform marketing for the festival. ”Then he came back and confirmed that his high-level committee chose Hamida unanimously, in recognition of his long artistic career in cinema.
He pointed out that the artist presented plays such as “Marasad” and “The Network”, noting that he founded the “Actair’s Studio” in 1996, and that he was able to – qualified art to keep up with the development seen in acting.
Regarding the theater critic Atef El-Nimr, he said, “Some people do not know the history of the artist Mahmoud Hamida very well,” adding to Asharq Al-Awsat that he had “presented several shows for the university theater in his early days as an actor, and he is also a great supporter of young actors and the theater movement, and I have often seen him reluctant to go to… Performances for or – young and independent professionals, supporting, encouraging and debating them.”
He continued: “It is enough for him that he presented the play (Marasad) on a professional level as an international experimental show that achieved widespread public success, and he loves the stage, whether when he stands and delivers Fouad Haddad’s poetry, or when. he represents and supports young playwrights,” explaining his lack of theater work by saying “Maybe he didn’t find suitable offers for him, maybe because he was involved in a house -picture, which attracted stars, including Mahmoud Yassin.
The Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater announced the nomination of several famous playwrights, namely Mahmoud Hamida, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Moati, Dr. Sobhi Al-Sayed, Al-Barsha Theater Group (Egypt), Walid Aouni (Lebanon), Youssef Al-Hamdan (Bahrain), and Milha Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Mohammed Saeed Al-Dhanhani (UAE), Dr. Maimoun Al-Khalidi (Iraq), Savvas Patalides (Greece), and Mart Meeus (Estonia).
