16th National Theatre Festival Named after Adel Emam

The 16th edition of the Egyptian National Theatre Festival, headed by actor Mohamed Riad, will be named after prominent Egyptian actor, “El Zaeem” Adel Imam, in recognition of the various and distinguished theatrical works he presented during his long-standing career. 

The festival, which runs from July 27 to August 12, is an important artistic event that features the Egyptian theater throughout the year.

The festival is open to performances produced by the state, private and corporate theatre, NGOs, amateur groups, university theaters, acting syndicates, companies, and various production bodies.

The festival aims to encourage creative theater actors to compete as well as develop performances to participate in creating works worthy of ancient Egyptian theater.

The acclaimed actor is one of the most iconic figures in Arab cinema. He was born in 1940 in Mansoura but moved to Sayyed Zeinab at an early age with his family where he grew up. He co-starred in over 100 movies, TV series, and plays.

Emam earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Cairo University, during which he became passionately involved in theatre productions.

He joined a television troupe in 1962 while still a student, and began starring in TV plays like “Ana wa Howa wa Heya” (He, She and I) and “Al Nassabin” (The Swindlers) which was performed at the Al-Hakim Theater.

In the following years, Emam acted in several famous plays such as “Al Bijamma Al Hamra” (The Red Pajamas),” Fardet Shamal” (Left Shoe), and “Gharammiyat A’feefy” (A’feefy’s Love Affairs).

He co-starred in the hit play “Madrassat Al Mashaghbeen” (Mischief at School), which was staged from 1971 to 1975, which were followed by the play “Shahid Mashafsh Hagga” (The Witness Didn’t See Anything), and play “Al Wadd Sayyid Al Shaghal” which were staged from 1985 to 1993.

In 1968, Emam starred in Ahmed Mazer's film "Losos Lakin Zorafa", a performance that boosted his fame.

On the TV series side, he starred in "Ahlam el Fata el Tayer" (1978) and "Dumou Fi Oyoun Waqiha"(1980), before stepping away from the small screen for 32 years.

He returned in 2012 and presented 8 hit TV production that screened during the holy month of Ramadan for 8 consecutive years, starting with 2012's "Firqat Nagy Atallah" to 2019's "Valentino".