Naseer Shamma is an Iraqi musician and oud player.
Faten Ahmed Hamama was an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer. She made her screen debut in 1939, when she was only seven years old. Her earliest roles were minor, but her activity and gradual success helped to establish her as a distinguished Egyptian actress. Later revered as an icon in Egyptian and Middle Eastern cinema, Hamama substantially helped in improving the cinema industry in Egypt and emphasizing the importance of women in cinema and Egyptian society.
Khairy Beshara is an Egyptian film director active in the Egyptian film industry since the 1970s. He is considered one of the Egyptian directors who re-defined Realism in Egyptian cinema in the 1980s. In a recent book published by Bibliotheca Alexandrina in 2007 about the most important 100 films in the history of Egyptian cinema, three of his movies were listed: The Collar and the Bracelet, Bitter Day, Sweet Day, and Ice Cream in Gleem.
Jannat Mahid, known by her stage name Jannat ; is a Moroccan-Egyptian singer. She was born in Morocco and presently living and performing in Egypt. Jannat sings in Egyptian Arabic. She is one of the most prominent young female singers in the Arab world. Jannat participated for the first time in a singing competition in Morocco entitled "Stars of Tomorrow" when she reached the age of eight. She stood on stage accompanied by a musical band and won the first prize. After that, she participation in local singing competitions. Upon reaching the age of fifteen, she participated in the Dubai Nights Festival and won the award for best singing voice in the Arab world in 2000. After that, she received an invitation from Mrs. Ratiba El-Hefny, ddirector of the Cairo Opera House, to participate in a concert in the Grand Theater, and that was the first time that she stood in front of the Egyptian public.
The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year since its inception, except for 2011 and 2013, when it was cancelled due to budget limitations and political instability.
Khaled Muhammad Samy Abol Naga, credited as Khaled Abol Naga and by the mononym Kal Naga, is an Egyptian actor, director and producer. He is recognized primarily for his work in Egypt and the Middle East, but has increasingly ventured into American and British film and television roles. He started acting and directing plays and musicals in Egypt while studying theatre at The American University in Cairo. Beginning his professional acting career in 2000, Naga starred in several movies through the next decade with roles encompassing several genres, from musicals None but that! (2007), action Agamista (2007), Eyes Of A Thief (2014), thrillers Kashf Hesab (2007), art-house Heliopolis (2009), Villa 69 (2013), Decor (2014), and slapstick comedy Habibi Naêman (2008). Additionally, he has participated in several European film festivals, where he received a range of awards as an actor and producer. Since 2016, he has acted in several English-speaking roles, such as Tyrant on FX, History Channel's Vikings, and the BBC's TV mini-series The Last Post, and announced to appear in the upcoming Netflix Show Messiah 2019. In a film festival in 2016 that celebrated Arab film submissions to the Oscars, he was noted as being the most submitted actor in Arabic films submissions to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is often tagged in western media as "Egypt's Brad Pitt", and he has also been described as "the next Omar Sharif" especially after his American debut movie Civic Duty in 2007. Chosen as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 2007, Naga played a pivotal role in child rights awareness, as well as the very first HIV awareness campaigns in Egypt and the Arab world, and participated in several international causes, including advocating for democracy in his home country Egypt. He is one of the most recognizable celebrity faces of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, taking part in mass demonstrations in Cairo that led to the removal of President Mubarak. He faced defamation campaigns against him by the state-owned media during the Mubarak era before the January 25th, 2011 revolution in Egypt, and several times again from the 2013 "coup d'etat" General Sisi government in Egypt in retaliation for his advocacy about the deterioration of human rights situation in Egypt.
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo which is known to be the Hollywood of the MENA region. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also another festival held in Alexandria. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian films. Egyptian films are typically spoken in the Arabic language, especially the Egyptian Arabic dialect.
Ramy Abu Ayach is a Lebanese singer, composer, actor, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as the "Pop Star" in the Arab world for his impact and contribution to the contemporary Arab music scene and Pop Culture, Ayach is a winner of the most prestigious Pan-Arab awards, and is behind some of the most recognizable Arab hits of the modern era such as "Mabrouk", "Albi Mal", "Khalini Ma3ak", "El Nas El Ray2a", and "Majnoun". Also an actor, his most recent role was in the hit drama series "Amir El Leil". In addition to being an accomplished artist, Ayach is also the founder of the biggest NGO led by an artist: the "Ayach Al Tofoula Foundation", which is solely dedicated to the education and empowerment of children.
Omar Khairat is an Egyptian composer, pianist, conductor, and founder of the Egypt-based company "Omar Khairat Group".
Rageh Sami Daoud is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music. He is a member of that nation's third generation of such composers. He has composed for piano, voice, and orchestra, and has written a number of film scores.
Mohamed Hamed Hassan Khan was an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He was a pivotal member of the "1980s generation" in Egyptian cinema, along with directors such as Khairy Beshara, Daoud Abdel Sayed, Atef El-Tayeb, and Yousry Nasrallah. His main aesthetic credo, in line with directors from his generation, was a reinvigorated realism seeking direct documentation of everyday life in Cairo, beyond the walls of the studio.
Sherif Nour was raised and brought up in Cairo, Egypt. He was born in an artistic family and environment, his father was a theatrical writer, critic and a script writer. In the seventies, he founded the Egyptian musical group "Sunshine" and performed on Cairo stages. After High School he studied music, harmony and music composing at Helwan University, having graduated with a high degree.
Mohamed Said Mahfouz (Arabic: محمد سعيد محفوظ is an Egyptian writer and filmmaker who has worked for the BBC since 2006. He was the presenter and scriptwriter of the widely popular, daring show 'Maqass El-Raqeeb' on Abu Dhabi TV, focusing on liberties and human rights in the Arab world. He produced a number of independent documentaries and won several awards, of which the last was from Al Jazeera International Documentary festival in April 2009. He has been in the UK since March 2006 where he obtained his Master of Arts in Documentary from Royal Holloway University. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D at the same university in New Media and Filmmaking.
Amr Waked is an Egyptian film, television and stage actor. He is best known to international audiences and in Hollywood for his role in the 2005 film Syriana. Other prominent roles include a Yemeni Sheikh called Muhammad in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Pierre Del Rio in Luc Besson's Lucy and Ray Dussette in Geostorm.
Mahmoud Abdel Aziz was an Egyptian movie and television actor. He became famous for several famous roles in Egypt, before becoming famous in his native Egypt and the whole region for his Egyptian patriotic role in the Egyptian TV series Raafat el-Hagan. The Egyptian Actors Guild announced his death on the night of 4 November 2016.
Mohamed Yehia el-Fakharany ; born April 7, 1945 in Mansoura, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt is an Egyptian television and film actor.
Riad Mohamed El Sunbati, also written as Riad Sonbati or Riadh Sonbati was a 20th-century Egyptian composer and musician who was considered an icon of Egyptian Music. The number of his lyric works is 539 works in Egyptian Opera, operetta, cinematic and religious song, poem, Taqtouqa and Mawalia. The number of song poets who he composed for is more than 120 poets. He composed for many famous Arab singers like: Umm Kulthum, Fairouz, Asmahan, Warda Al-Jazairia, Najat Al Saghira, Mounira El Mahdeya, Fayza Ahmed, Saleh Abdel Hai, Souad Mohamed, Aziza Galal and others.
Ateyyat El Abnoudy, also known as Ateyyat Awad Mahmoud Khalil, was an Egyptian journalist, lawyer, actress, producer, and movie director. She was born in a small village along the Nile Delta in Egypt. El-Abnoudy was considered to be one of the pioneering Arab female movie directors as her films inspired the works of many Arab women in the industry. She has been called the "poor people's filmmaker" due to the subject matter that inspired her to make films, including civil rights issues and the condition of impoverished Arabs.
