Mohamed Diab – CC via Wikipedia
CAIRO – 1 July 2017: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose the famous Egyptian script writer and director Mohamed Diab to be a member of its governing body on Wednesday.
"Thank God, I was chosen to be a permanent member in the Oscars committee, so I will be able to vote and choose Oscar winning movies starting from 2018," Diab tweeted on June 29.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 744 new members this year, exceeding the 683 invitations issued in 2016. “We are proud to invite our newest class to the Academy. The entire motion picture community is what we make of it. It is up to all of us to ensure that new faces and voices are seen and heard, and to take a shot on the next generation the way someone took a shot on each of us,’’ the Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs wrote.
This year's invitees includes Gal Gadout, Riz Ahmed, John Cho, Priyanka Chopra, Rupert Grint, Donald Glover, Dwayne Johnson, Betty White, Rami Malek, Wanda Sykes, Ruth Negga, Tom Ford, Ezra Edelman and Naomie Harris, among others.
A review of Mohamed Diab filmmaking career
Diab is a director and script writer who is keen on emphasizing critical political and social issues in the Egyptian society. He presented his first film "El Gezeira" (The Island) in 2007. It revolved around the life of a drug dealer, and the lord of an island in Upper Egypt. The inhabitants of the Island cultivate drugs. The movie was based on a true life story of an Upper Egyptian drug dealer named Ezzat Hanafy. In 2014 hereleased the second part of the movie.
One month before the January 25 revolution, Diab released his movie "Cairo 678". This time it was names after a bus that witnessed sexual harassmentto several women. This important movie was considered one of the most award winning films in Egypt. Cairo 678 was described by the New York Times as an unmistakably harbinger of the revolution.
The famous Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho tweeted about the film calling it brilliant, saying it should be mandatory for men, regardless of their religion or culture, to watch. Diab was one of the prominent participants in the January revolution. Diab decided to make a film about the revolution, "Eshtebak" took 5 years to make, and it was released in 2016.
Diab’s film discussed many issues that began with the revolution in January 2011. Eshtebak or Clash(its English name) won a number of awards and drew attention to Diab as a distinguished filmmaker that presents new cinema from a different perspective.
Clash participated in the Cannes Film Festival last year in the Un Certain Regard section and was highly praised not only from the panel members but from all the festival guests who saw the movie. The Hollywood mega star Tom Hanks praised the movie, and sent a praising letter to Diab, describing the film as magnificent.
This year Diab participated as a panel member for the Un Certain Regard section in the 70th Cannes Film Festival on May 17 to May 28. The Cannes Film Festival organizers chose Diab after the booming success of his film Clash.
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