Nugali Reviews Details of 1st Egyptian-Saudi Animated Film

Mohamed Emad

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Osama bin Ahmed Nugali, has received producer Dr. Al-Abbas bin Abbas Hamid Al-Din.

Dr. Al-Abbas presented a brief overview of the production of the first Saudi-Egyptian animated film entitled "The Knight and the Princess", which will be released at the opening of the El Gouna Film Festival on 23rd of September, which falls on the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Nugali affirmed the depth of Saudi-Egyptian relations and keenness to support and serve them in all fields.

Noteworthy, Nugali has attended play ‘Al Motafael’ (The Optimistic) staged on the Egyptian National Theater, at the invitation of the theater’s Director-General, Ahmed Shaker Abdel Latif.

He expressed his great admiration with theater and its historical structure.

Nugali hailed the play and the outstanding performances of its cast and expressed his desire to invite them to hold the play in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi audience.

Moreover, Abdel Latif asked the official to come on the stage with his family and take memorial photos with the cast.

The play co-starring Sameh Hussein, Sahar el Sayegh, Samy Maghawry, Ashraf Abdel Ghafour, and a group of young actors from the National Theater Group.

It is adapted from Voltaire’s novel “Candide”, and is edited and directed by Islam Imam.

It revolves around young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss.

The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide’s slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world.

The writer concludes with Candide, if not rejecting Leibnizian optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, “we must cultivate our garden”, in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, “all is for the best” in the “best of all possible worlds”.

The play, Candide, is characterized by its tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot.