Film
2013 Caravan Festival of the Arts
Amr Waked
On 11 May at 7 PM renowned Egyptian actor Amr
Waked (Contagion, Syriana and Salmon
Fishing in the Yemen) gave a talk and Q & A,
followed by the screening of his recent feature film on
the revolution, titled Winter of Discontent.
Amr Waked represents someone who is globally
recognized as proactively using the Arts to build
bridges between the East and West. Apropos to the
purpose of CARAVAN, Amr has said: “News writes history
from the perspective of politicians. Film writes history
from the perspective of the people.”
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Amr Waked speaking |
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Amr Waked
sharing with the packed audience |
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An attentive crowded audience
listening to Amr Waked |
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Amr Waked taking questions |
Amr Waked is an Egyptian actor, known for his
roles portraying Middle Eastern and Mediterranean
characters. He is best known to international audiences
and in Hollywood as the terrorist leader in the 2005
film Syriana (2005). He also played the role of Rafik in
Steven Soderbergh's movie Contagion and Yemeni
Sheikh Muhammad in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
Amr was born on April 12, 1973. He is a graduate of the
American University in Cairo, and has performed in
theatre from 1992 through 2002. He has worked in many
films. Many know of him for his role in 2005 when he
worked alongside George Clooney in the film Syriana,
for which in 2006 he won a 'Special Award for Arabs in
The International Cinema' at the Cairo International
Film Festival. After numerous other films, he more
recently joined Hollywood stars Matt Damon, Jude Law,
Kate Winslet, and Gwyneth Paltrow in the 2011 film,
Contagion.
And he co-starred in the British film Salmon Fishing
in the Yemen with Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, and
Kristin Scott Thomas. In 2013, he won "best actor" at
Dubai Film Festival for the Egyptian film Winter of
Discontent.
Waked joined the 2011 Egypt anti-government protests. He
has said [on the influence on filmmaking of the 2011
'Arab spring']: “It will be a new page in the industry
of filmmaking and art in general. I think all
revolutions, even if they don't achieve all of their
goals, achieve freedom of expression. We're like a
little chick. We just broke the egg. We didn't come out
yet but it's a matter of time.”
Following his talk, his most recent film, Winter of
Discontent, was shown. The film is set against the
momentous backdrop of the whirlwind protests of Cairo’s
Tahrir Square that began on January 25th, 2011. This
film, by one of the most important independent film
directors in the Middle East, Ibrahim El Batout, takes
us on a compellingly raw, starkly moving journey into
the lives of activist Amr (Amr Waked), journalist Farah
(Farah Youssef) and state security officer Adel (Salah
Alhanafy). Winter of Discontent poetically
explores the anguish of a victim of state terror in
2009, presaging and intertwining with the pivotal events
in 2011 that changed the face of Egypt. As the stories
of the characters unfold, we are propelled headlong into
the heady, often surreal atmosphere of terror and
uncertainty that characterized the last days of
Mubarak’s rule.
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