Elwi, Mourad to participate in discussion session in Sharjah Book Fair

CAIRO - 5 November 2019: As part of the 38th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair,Laila Elwi and Ahmed Murad will take part in a discussion session on Nov. 5 titled "Books and the Film Industry" at 7:30 p.m.

The session, which will be moderated by Syrian media personality Zeina al-Yazji, will discuss the long and historical relationship between creative literature and film and television screens, as well as the impact of these literary experiences on visual products and their role in enhancing their aesthetics. The session will raise many questions that reflect the importance of employing the literary heritage in appropriate artistic works and the need to further strengthen the presence of such works. This is in addition to questions on dealing with technical issues such as successful methods of display. The discussion will also shed light on reasons behind the recent absence of literary works and how to combat this issue.

Egyptian actress Layla Elwi was able to take her first steps in the world of cinema by performing a role that later formed her artistic career, where she embodied the character "Samiha" in the film "Les Misérables", based on the novel written by French writer Victor Hugo. Elwi took part in the film "Kharaj walam Ya’od" by screenwriter Assem Tawfiq, which was inspired by English writer Ernest Bates's “Darling Buds of May,” published in 1958. The veteran actress also played the distinguished role of Huda Hanem in the series “Hadeeth el-Sabah wal Masa’a” inspired by Naguib Mahfouz’s novel of the same name.

Egyptian novelist Ahmed Murad is considered one of the most prominent voices in the Arab world, where he was short listed for the Best Arabic Novels in the Booker Awards. He was able to achieve great success in the world of cinema through his novels "Blue Elephant 1 & 2" and "Torab Al-Mas". The novels achieved the highest sales and were transformed into booming movies.