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Artwashing at the Pyramids

Culture_

Behind Art D’Égypte’s exhibitions at the Pyramids lies a web of state patronage, Delaware tax breaks and artwashing—until an artist boycott forced a rare retreat.

Ahmed Naji_

Artwashing at the Pyramids

The halos and horrors of silver screen motherhood

Culture_

Between the angelic mother and the mother at fault, Ramadan drama leaves little room for women as they are: burdened, desiring, contradictory, human.

Aliaa Talaat_

The halos and horrors of silver screen motherhood

“One More Show”: Seven madmen save the world

Culture_

In southern Gaza, “One More Show” follows seven circus artists who refuse despair, conjuring life from rubble and asking the oldest question: Why create?

Nahed Nasr_

“One More Show”: Seven madmen save the world

Will Nefertiti ever come home?

Culture_

‘I want to go home!’ Nefertiti’s bust in Berlin reignites Egypt’s restitution push—alongside the Rosetta Stone and Dendera Zodiac—as legal and political hurdles loom.

Tanja Kunesch_

Will Nefertiti ever come home?

“Palestinian on the Road”: A road trip after Jesus

Culture_

At Cairo’s film festival, Ismail Habbash’s “Palestinian on the Road” retraces Christ’s path to reveal today’s Palestinians as crucified daily by occupation.

Saad El-Qersh_

“Palestinian on the Road”: A road trip after Jesus

Egypt as the world’s grandmother: Alexandre Dumas’ forgotten voyage

Culture_

Alexandre Dumas’ forgotten book on Egypt blends humor, history, and colonial encounters in a vivid 19th-century journey through the land he called “the world’s grandmother.”

Abdelrahman Osama_

Egypt as the world’s grandmother: Alexandre Dumas’ forgotten voyage

Dancers, mothers, and those escaping the Zuzu complex

Culture_

Three generations of Egypt’s iconic dancers—Taheyya, Fifi, and Dina—redefine womanhood, motherhood, and art, transforming stigma into strength across time.

Fayrouz Karawya_

Dancers, mothers, and those escaping the Zuzu complex

Khaled El-Enany’s UNESCO win and contested legacy

Culture_

Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany wins UNESCO vote, and is poised to lead the organization amid hopes for reform and debates over the legacy of his time in government.

Abdel Halim Hefaina_

Khaled El-Enany’s UNESCO win and contested legacy

Escaping the minefield surrounding the Druze on a ‘Kite’

Culture_

A bold Lebanese film explores identity, love, and sectarian rifts through the story of a Druze girl on the border—trapped by history, politics, and landmines.

Essam Zakaria_

Escaping the minefield surrounding the Druze on a ‘Kite’

Ziad Rahbani’s final act: A funeral in his own voice

Culture_

Ziad Rahbani’s funeral became a public chorus of defiance, merging art, grief, and politics as Lebanon gathered to bid farewell to its most unclassifiable icon.

Elie Ferzlie_

Ziad Rahbani’s final act: A funeral in his own voice

Cacophony in Cairo: Besieged by sound, learning to negotiate

Culture_

From microbus horns to midnight cries, Cairo’s unrelenting noise reveals a deeper disorder, where chaos reigns and silence is something to bargain for.

Ezzat Elkamhawi_

Cacophony in Cairo: Besieged by sound, learning to negotiate

Therapy dramas as drama therapy

Culture_

Egyptian drama shifts from stereotypical therapists to nuanced portrayals, normalizing mental health and redefining therapy as a shared, human path to healing.

Ghadeer Mahajna_

Therapy dramas as drama therapy

Jacques Hassoun: Jew of the Nile

Culture_

An intimate journey through memory, exile, and identity, tracing the fractured yet enduring soul of Egypt’s Jewish minority through the life of Jacques Hassoun.

Alaa Khaled_

Jacques Hassoun: Jew of the Nile

Falling in love with AI!

Culture_

Robots discover they are not human, while humans fall in love with them. A spate of films over the last few years pose disturbing questions for man, woman, and machine alike.

Essam Zakaria_

Falling in love with AI!

Giants or genius? The secret behind the pyramids

Culture_

No giants, no magic—just ingenuity, ramps, and relentless labor. Experts cut through the myths to reveal how ancient Egyptians really built the pyramids.

Abdel Halim Hefaina_

Giants or genius? The secret behind the pyramids

Inter-generational defeat

Culture_

After each defeat, the young generation blames the previous one, only to become the blamed after the next defeat arrives.

Alaa Khaled_

Inter-generational defeat

To Sonallah Ibrahim with love

Culture_

Sonallah Ibrahim, a reclusive Egyptian genius whose politically charged novels defied literary norms and state control. A personal tribute to his enduring vision.

Ezzat Elkamhawi_

To Sonallah Ibrahim with love

From hashtags to hardcovers

Culture_

As influencers crowd bookstore shelves, some see it as a hollowing out of literary culture while others call it a new gateway. If the road back to books runs through fame, so be it

Toqa Abdel-Mageed_

From hashtags to hardcovers

Kafka’s growing presence

Culture_

To me, this is both astonishing and deeply gratifying. A hundred years after his death, Kafka feels more "contemporary" than ever.

Essam Zakaria_

Kafka’s growing presence

80 Grand: No place for supermen in a women's world

Culture_

In 80 Grand, life unfolds without heroes or noise—only women’s work, sacrifice, and quiet strength, finally taking their rightful place at the center of the story.

Ayah Tantawy_

80 Grand: No place for supermen in a women's world

Leila Khaled: Plane hijacker and the essence of Palestinian rage

Culture_

Palestine is allowed to exist only as a dream from the past. This film reveals the clash between lived resistance and a Western narrative that questions its very legitimacy.

Basel Ramsis_

Leila Khaled: Plane hijacker and the essence of Palestinian rage

Ashraf Omar: A glimpse into the life of an 'ordinary guy'

Culture_

I wondered how I'd profile an ordinary guy whom I had followed his political cartoons, I thought his life wouldn't offer much for his fellow journalists to paint a portrait for him

Azza Moghazy_

Ashraf Omar: A glimpse into the life of an 'ordinary guy'