Ismailia Film Festival Revives Naguib Mahfouz's Memory

Currently, the Egyptian city, Ismailia is hosting the 21st edition of an important event "Ismailia Film Festival", directed by the film critic Essam Zakaria.

[caption id="attachment_45517" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Ismailia Film Festival Logo Designed by Hadeer El Segay [/caption]

One of the festival's most important events was celebrating the launching of a book titled "Naguib Mahfouz Stamped with an Eagle Seal".

The book was written by Tarek Al Taher, News of Literature's Editor in Chief, affiliated to Akhbar Al Youm Foundation.

[caption id="attachment_45531" align="aligncenter" width="400"] News of Literature's Editor in Chief (affiliated to Akhbar Al Youm Foundation) and Writer Tarek Al Taher[/caption]

Previously, Madkour Thabet published, about the remarkable Egyptian writer Mahfouz, an encyclopedia "Naguib Mahfouz and the Cinema 1947-2000. However, the encyclopedia included few documents about Mahfouz.

Thus, a desire to see a whole file about Mahfouz kept on chasing Al Taher for several years. So, once Al Taher reached many documents about the gigantic Egyptian writer, he started his mission.

"In this regard, I would like to thank Inas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture, and Khaled Abdel Galil, Director of the Egyptian Film Center. Both aided me to acquire such significant papers," said Al Taher.

[caption id="attachment_45514" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Director of the Egyptian Film Center Khaled Abdel Galil[/caption]

Al Taher found himself suddenly stuck with about 300 functional papers related to Mahfouz's work path. "I felt I hastened to take the decision." "What would I create with these official papers!" He asked himself.

Nevertheless, Mahfouz's papers were not ordinary ones,  he gave life to these official documents. This fact inspired Al Taher to draw on a unique biography about the legendary writer.

"If we read the request written by Mahfouz to ask for a vacation for his voyage to Yugoslavia, we will find that he used terminology for the first time. It is clear that Mahfouz was putting his soul into the forms."

The Egyptian official seal depicts an eagle that matches with the Egyptian flag's slogan. Viewed in this way, Al Taher told SEE, "As the book is based on Mahfouz's official work papers, I chose the book's title."

[caption id="attachment_45521" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Egyptian Flag with the Eagle's Slogan[/caption]