Palestinian president grants Hamed the highest art accolade

CAIRO – 6 January 2019: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas granted renowned Egyptian writer Wahid Hamed on Saturday the Art and Culture accolade in recognition of his creative career.

"It is a great honor to be honored by Palestine," said Hamed after receiving the accolade, expressing his sincere wishes to see all the Palestinian factions united. Hamed said that he discussed with Abbas Arab issues and his soap opera "Al-Gama’a" (The Brotherhood) during lunch.

This accolade is the highest honor the Palestinian president grants any artist.
Wahid Hamed is considered one of Egypt’s most renowned writers with a career that spans over four decades. He was born on July 1, 1944, in Sharqia governorate. Hamed received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in the late 1960s, before pursuing a career in screenwriting.

His first strong and successful work was "Ahlam al-Fata al-Taer" (Dreams of the Flying Boy) released in 1978. This famous television series was the start of his long-time cooperation with the legendary Egyptian actor Adel Emam. Since then, both Hamed and Emam began an artistic partnership that produced many iconic, unforgettable films.

Among their most famous movies together is "Al-Erhab wel Kabab" (Terrorism and Kebab) in 1992, which is a black comedy discussing government corruption and the sufferings of the middle class in Egypt.

The duo also worked together on, "Al-Ghoul" (The Ogre) in 1983, and “Toyour al-Zalam” (The Birds of Darkness) in 1995, which tackled political corruption in Egypt and the appearance of the Muslim Brotherhood at the time.

Their most known collaboration took place in the famous controversial movie "Omaret Yacoubian" (The Yacoubian Building) in 2006, which was the first long feature movie for Hamed's son, Marwan Hamed, as a director.

Hamed also wrote the controversial movie "Al-Baree’" (The Innocent) in 1997; a movie that conveyed a controversial political message which made Hamed face a long censorship battle. "Al-Baree’" was screened 19 years post its production and only after the ending was changed.

In 2002, Hamed wrote the political comedy movie "Ma’ali al-Wazeer" (The Minister) again tackling government corruption.

Hamed received numerous awards from many film festivals. He was awarded for his movies "Al-Le’eb Ma’al Kobar" (Playing with Big People) in 1991, "Ehky ya Scheherazade" (Tell the Story, Scheherazade) in 2009, and "Ot W Far" (Cat and Mouse) in 2015.

His last television series "Al-Gama’a" (The Brotherhood) in 2010, and "Return of Al-Gama’a" in 2017, tackled the history and impact of the Muslim Brotherhood, since its emergence, on Egypt.

Hamed also established a production company titled Wahid Hamed Film Productions to produce his and others’ works. He has worked alongside many veteran Egyptian directors in over 40 films and numerous TV series including Yousry Nasrallah, Atef al-Tayeb and Sherif Arafa, among others.

America Abroad Media (AAM) honoured Hamed at its sixth Annual Awards Dinner on Nov. 7 in Washington, D.C. This annual Media Award recognizes individuals whose work demonstrates a strong commitment to purpose driven content, and who appreciate the unique power of media as a catalyst in informing, inspiring and positively impacting society.