Wael Elouny, star bridge between Egypt and Hollywood
Wael Elouny, 42 years old, is an Egyptian star, born in the cultural capital Alexandria, home of the legendary Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Wael Elouny is making his debut in Europe and the USA with the film “Ancient taste of Death …on mother pearl floor” by Antonello Altamura, a film with new philosophical aspects. Wael has a spontaneous character, a very lively spirit, a volcano of creativity. Wael, in addition to cinema, has experience in theater and television and is the winner of many film awards.
Walking with Wael through the streets of Cairo, everyone recognizes him and stops to ask for his autograph, because people like Wael and he does not want to have the mask of the star. Wael works with big film productions, but is attracted by indie productions, overflowing with creativity and certainly a faithful mirror of current customs. For all this I introduced him to the Italian director Antonello Altamura, 50 years old, for “Ancient taste of Death” an indie movie of the Hollywood Art Film Production, based between Hollywood and San Francisco, so the production is Californian in cooperation with an Italian production.
It is a film that links the dramas of the Hollywood golden age with the enigmas and dramas of ancient Egypt at the time of Cleopatra VII. It is a film where the world of the invisible and the metaphysical acts on reality, which, elusive, never, really allows itself to be fully identified. The scene I shot with Wael is totally immersed in this context. The character of Wardal, who has two souls, goes to the oracle of Siwa to meet Bayed (Wael Elouny), since he is opposed by Ottavio-Ottaviano (Antonello Altamura in his debut as an actor). Bayed advises Wardal against eliminating Ottavio. Wardal rebels against Bayed’s advice, which he takes as an insult to his power, which he sublimates by saying: “I am history”, while Bayed interrupts Wardal’s abstraction-delirium, who points a gun at Bayed, but Bayer’s charisma prevents his assassination and Wardal, consumed by the drama, falls at Bayer’s feet.
Wael and I wanted to shoot the scene in Arabic, under the supervision of the great political journalist of “Akhbar El Youm” Ph.D. Ahmed Elsersawy. On that day in December 2024 Wael was busy with two films and I with a television recording. We both wanted to shoot that scene which in the film will be called: “I am history”. We repeated it several times and each time we enriched it with a new idea, in five hours of work, pressed by our other work commitments. There was a perfect harmony between me and Wael, a great professionalism. Then, from Cairo, we made a video call to Antonello Altamura in Turin. Wael and I were very satisfied with our work and Altamura likes a lot that scene.
Here is a true story of our world of cinema, here is an important step of cooperation between Californian and Egyptian cinema and the Arab world. There is a project to create a solid bridge between Hollywood cinema and Egyptian, Saudi and Arab Emirates cinema through a colossal film festival. Fingers crossed.
John Portelli, Maltese-Canadian author and retired professor, is planning to edit a collection of poetry inspired by the awful situation in Gaza. All proceeds from the sale of the book will be generously donated to poet friend Ahmed Miqdad who, together with his family, have been suffering great pain both physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Portelli has already helped Ahmed by co-authoring a book with him “The Shadow: Poems for the Children of Gaza” (Horizons Malta, 2024). From the sale of this book he donated 1400 euros to Ahmed via the office of the Palestinian Embassy in Malta. He welcomes poems for consideration for this collection which he aims to be of very good quality. To publish the book we also need to collect some funds.
Thus far he has found donors who have contributed 350 euros toward the publication of this anthology. We will need another 350 euros. Any donations are welcome.
I will happily remain silent, lips sutured, sealing ancient,
festered wounds (though hapless impulses tug at stitches),
my tongue a giddy atrophy, old car in its garage. I’ll not
wag or lash it anytime soon.
I know this silence, a wide horizon, an ocean, a silence
nearly as deep as magma sputtering beneath
the Laurentian Abyss. Awed by sublime, I only teeter
at its precipice, a wanderer in a Romantic’s painting.
I search my shelves for adequate locutions, attic, cellar,
spare room, to fit rather than buy a new articulation.
But my attempts remain clumsy, lumbering obstacles
so long as obsession hinders my intent (My mind
a fence row, nettles, burs and briar strangled in barbed wire.
There. There now.)
Does silence abide the absurd or pass unencumbered,
whistling through my ribs, wind through an abandoned
house? As the Buddha, a monk, I shall loosen my grip
on petty clamor, what’s futile, samatha, tranquility,
my singular desire.
This silence is (and I shall listen without interruption)
a breeze whispering through pines just outside
my window; the lulling murmur of phoebes hopping
and pecking across the yard;
the trillium pushing noisily though mayapples and loam;
with the morning sun, apple blossoms opening one by one.
I shall regard each arrival, each pink bud,
each white explosion.
This silence is (Though much too sentimental, I’ll try again.)
that warm afternoon, lolling in bed, when there’s nothing else,
when I apprehend, galvanic skin to skin, lip to breast,
I love my lover, when words are ludicrous.
David Sapp, writer and artist, lives along the southern shore of Lake Erie in North America. A Pushcart nominee, he was awarded Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants for poetry and the visual arts. His poetry and prose appear widely in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. His publications include articles in the Journal of Creative Behavior, chapbooks Close to Home and Two Buddha, a novel Flying Over Erie, and a book of poems and drawingstitled Drawing Nirvana.
J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is a 3 time Best of the Net nominee and a recent Pushcart Prize nominee. He’s been recently published at The Beatnik Cowboy, The Dope Fiend Daily, Disturb the Universe Magazine, Horror Sleaze Trash and Yellow Mama. He is currently working on a yet to be titled book of new poems. You can find him most of the time on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)
As Chin says, “Published by Nun Prophet Press and curated by Jerome Berglund, Heterodox Haiku Journal editor, this book combines poetry with visual art to offer a unique reading experience. Whether you’re a fan of poetry, art, or both, this book promises to be a delightful addition to your collection.
You can find it here for $4.00. Please grab a copy and help support indie publishers! Your support means the world to me and to the indie publishing community.”
