Written by Ali al-Kashudi

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 11:32 PM

Sources indicate that late great Ashraf Abdel Kafur’s wife learned of her husband’s death after the family hid it from her.

Artist Ashraf Abdel Ghafoor, who died in clashes last Sunday, was a prolific artist who presented nearly 300 works of art in his career and owned about 100 religious and historical works, including his roles in the “Muhammad, Messenger of God” series. and “Imam Malik” and his likeness. For the role of “Sayyid bin Jubair” in the series “Greatest in History”, the Abbasid Caliph “Musa al-Hadi” in the series “Harun al-Rashid”, and the role of Sultan al-Ulama al-Is bin Abdul Salam in the series “Imams of Guidance”, operetta performances ( (Audio Book) Audio performance by Ashraf Abdel Ghafoor for several books in the series, in addition to his participation in episodes of Muhammadiyah Nights) and the program “Names of God”.

Ashraf Abdel Ghafoor was one of the first stars to gain his stardom through the television screen, he starred in the series “Cairo and the People” during the inception of television, one of the most important television series. For five years Abdel Ghafoor is considered one of the stars of the National Theater and one of its loyal sons, where he presented, since he joined it in 1963 until now, this theater has produced about 35 plays, most of them important works. The history of the national theater such as “Suleiman al-Halabi”, “The night of Guevara’s death”, “Acres of my homeland” and “Fire and olives”.

As for cinema, Ashraf Abdel Kafur, although he graduated from the first batch of a high-class cinema institute, had no luck with him, he began his career, like any budding actor, in small roles that grew into a second star. roles, after which relations between him and her fell apart and he wanted to return to his first home, which was television. During this journey, his relationship with the National Theater was never severed.

He participated in many television works, among them, “My Reckoning with the Days,” “Zahrat al-Jabal,” “The Halal Mountain,” “The Prayer of the Past,” “Cairo and the People. ,” “A knight without a horse,” “The accused is my father Hazrat,” and “He was brought up in Eso and others.

He delivered a group of famous films that are still etched in the minds of the audience, including “The Devil”, “Men in the Trap”, “The Voice of Love”, “Back Streets”, “Nothing Matters” and many more. Cinematic works.

The Red Sea International Film Festival was notable for the participation of art and cinema stars from different parts of the world led by Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Catherine Deneuve, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Turkish star Burak Ocivid, Nabila Obaid, Yuzra, Laila. LV, Hoda Hussain and Abdullah. Al-Satan, Abdul Mohsen Al-Nimr, Sadiq Behbehani, Karis Bashar, Carmen Pasfaz, Nadine Najeem, Magui Bou Khosn, Jamal Sinan, et al.

The cash and in-kind winners of the Red Sea Market Awards were announced earlier yesterday, fostering new talent among filmmakers in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world and Africa, who read and reviewed competing works. , and 3 judging panels came to their conclusions, namely Projects Market Project, Works in Progress and Series Factory. , to select 9 winning projects, whose owners can benefit from prizes awarded by the Red Sea Fund. Prizes were distributed by the partners of the festival.

The works-in-progress project jury selected two projects, in which Hugo Salvador’s “Simba” project won the $10,000 Red Sea Market post-production jury award, and Amir Fakhruddin’s Yunan project won the post-production award. Worth $30,000. The Projects Market jury selected 3 winners from 12 competing projects, and the following projects won prizes: Daniel Arbitt’s Unity of Love Triumphs project, which won the Jury’s Special Commendation Award, $25,000. It also won. Red Sea Development Market Prize, valued at $35. One thousand dollars for the project “Forty-one” by Same Ala, along with a production award of 100 thousand dollars, won by the project “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. ” Rani Masalha.

The Project Market Jury selected 4 winning films from 12 competing projects from Red Sea Lodge with a $50,000 production award for each project. Amal Yusuf’s project “In the Company of Belles” won the awards. Vinzo Nshoko’s project “A Wonderful Story” Naisha Nimubaya directed “Black Snake” and Fatima Riahi’s “My Father Killed Bourguiba” project.

Additional Red Sea Market Partner Awards: Arab Cinema Center, Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), Cinewaves Films, Idra, Mad Solutions, MBC/Shahid Academy, Oticons, Shift Studios and Tetrafilm.

A panel of judges from the Continuum Laboratory within Red Sea Laboratories selected the two winning projects and awarded them a cash prize of $10,000. The award was won by two projects, “The Guide’s Eye” and “Our”, written by Saleh Al-Hamad. Sun is Sweeter” project by Hana Saleh Al-Fasi.

The festival has a variety of events and programs including seminars, lectures and workshops aimed at improving interaction and communication between filmmakers and audiences. It has more than 64 different films including 36 long and short films from Saudi Arabia. , and 11 films in the “Arabic Masterpieces” category. », plus 17 films ranging from fiction, documentaries and animation from across Asia, Africa and the Arab world. The festival is a great platform for new creators to showcase their work and learn about the latest innovations in the film industry.

Michael Mann’s Oscar-nominated biopic Ferrari (2023), starring Adam Driver and Penelope, wraps up the Middle East and North Africa premiere the day after tomorrow, the 9th of this month. Cruise. The curtain will rise with a special screening for the festival and its programs. For Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” (2023), produced by Studio Ghibli.

Honoring Abdullah Al Sadan, the pioneer of Saudi drama

The Red Sea Film Festival honored Saudi artist and writer Abdullah Al Sadan as a pioneer in Saudi theater.

After receiving his honor, Al-Satan said, “I dedicate this prize to all those who have contributed to Saudi drama with us, living and dead, who have contributed while we dig into the rock, and who have engaged in creative endeavors. Happy Red Sea Festival to every creative artist who is not generous.” Cinema.

Al-Satan is credited with founding theater in Saudi Arabia, with the participation of his colleague Nasser Al-Qassabi, whose names have been linked for years through their famous art project “Tash Ma Tash”. The reason for honoring Al-Satan is very important as he works to deliver 18 a year with a total of 18 episodes, one of the most important television projects in the Gulf and Arab countries.

Al-Satan will participate in the ceremony by showing his film “Noura”, the world premiere of the film produced by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, Naja Al-Hajjar and Sherif Al-Majali and starring Abdullah Al-Satan, Yaqub. Al-Farhan, Maria Bahrawi, and Aisha Key.

The organizers of the Red Sea International Film Festival assert that the festival strives to ensure the continuity and support of film productions and that the festival has achieved great success in just 3 years.

Today, during the Red Sea Market Awards Ceremony, they highlighted the increasing and significant growth in the film industry in the Kingdom.

Jumana Al-Rashed, chairman of the board of trustees of the Red Sea Film Festival, explained that many Arab and African artists worked for a whole year to develop their films, ideas and screenplays. Ensures continued success.

He said: There is a need to promote the sector, especially since it has achieved remarkable success in 3 years, which is proof that the film industry in Arab countries, Africa and Asia continues to grow and the festival offers more opportunities to highlight the youth. .

Al-Rashed added that there was no film industry in the kingdom and even plays were directed to the cinema.

Speed ​​of posts

The director of the Red Sea Market, Zein Zidane, said that the festival has 5 Saudi projects, 5 projects from Africa and more than 14 projects from Arab countries, and the project has many contributors and assistants and sponsors. Successes and filmmaking have grown at different levels and this year shows its pride in the number of participants. There were 9 participating films and more than 19 Saudi films.

One of the winners at the Red Sea Market Awards, producer Gaida Abu Assa explained that the experience was his greatest reward and that the financial support and prizes confirmed that he was on the right track.

Experience is unfair

The Red Sea Market event concluded its programs this evening, which continued from the second of December by honoring the winners, while the festival will present its many activities until the 9th of December, where you can discover talents, projects and the best products accepted by the market. Film scenes in the Kingdom and the Arab world attract distributors, sales agents and producers looking to build supportive professional relationships in the region.