File - Ihsan Abdel Quddous.
CAIRO - 21 September 2019: On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late great writer Ihsan Abdel Quddous, El Gouna Film Festival is organizing a special exhibition to commemorate the legendary writer, novelist, journalist and editor, who wrote a large number of novels including The Maker of Love, The Well of Deprivation, and Nothing Matters. '
Forty-seven of his novels have been adapted into film which is a record among Arab
writers.
Abdel Quddous wrote more than 600 novels and stories; five of which were
adapted into stage plays, nine into radio series, and ten into television series.
Sixty-five of his novels were translated into English, French, German, Ukrainian and Chinese.
GFF discovered a treasure trove of Abdel Quddous' personal belongings, such as exquisite furniture, magnificent paintings, the author's prestigious certificates of appreciation, handwritten documents from his collection of fiction and journalistic works, rare photographs, and many more.
These treasures will be displayed in exhibition, which will take place from September 21 to 27, 2019, at the TU Berlin El Gouna Campus.
Abdel Quddous was an Egyptian writer, novelist, and journalist and editor in Egypt's Al-Akhbar (The news) and Al-Ahram newspapers. He is known to have written many novels that have been adapted in films.
Abdel Quddous was born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian father, Mohamed Abdel Quddous, and Egyptian-Turkish actress Rose al-Youssef. His favorite hobby as a child was reading. At the age of 11, he started writing short stories and classical poems.
His father, Mohamed Abdel Quddous, an Egyptian theatre and film actor, motivated him to pursue a career in law.
Abdel Quddous graduated from law school in 1942 and worked as a lawyer. He was, at the beginning of his career, a trainee for the law firm of Edward Qussairi, a famous Egyptian lawyer. He was also an editor in Rose al Youssef, a weekly magazine that his mother Fatima al Youssef (aka Rose al-Youssef) had founded.
In 1944, he started writing film scripts, short stories, and novels. He later left his law career to focus on his literary career. A few years later, he became a distinguished journalist in Al-Akhbar newspaper, where he worked for eight years.
He then worked in Al-Ahram newspaper and became its editor-in-chief. He often criticized important personalities, which got him imprisoned three times throughout his journalism career. During his life, Abdel Quddous enriched the Egyptian literature and cinema with everlasting works.
Abdel Quddous regarded women as symbols of sacrifice in the Egyptian society which was why women were the central theme of his literary works. His works influentially contributed to bring change in the conventional concepts in Egypt.
On the contrary to his literary works, he was a very conservative person. He was known to have a resisting personality and had been a strict husband and father in his house. He wrote more than 60 novels and collections of short stories.
Of his novels, five were dramatized, nine were used as radio series scripts, ten had television miniseries adaptations, and 49 had film adaptations.
His works have been translated to several foreign languages including English, French, German, Ukrainian, and Chinese. Abdel Quddous also co-founded the Egyptian Story Club.
It is worth mentionong that the organizers of El Gouna Film Festival's third edition revealed granting Mohamed Henedy the Creative Achievement Award for his significant contribution to cinema.The festival’s third edition is scheduled to run from September 19 -27.
The festival's management decided granting Palestinian director Mai Masry the same award. Masry is one of the most prominent Palestinian directors. She is known for her documentaries, which focused on women and children.
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