The Arts Edit
Hareth Al Bustani
Communications Strategist | Cultural Consultant | NLP Coach | Author | Public Speaker
Welcome to the latest edition of The Arts Edit, the weekly newsletter from The National's Abu Dhabi newsroom rounding up this week's most noteworthy arts and culture stories.
IN FOCUS
Next week, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid Al Adha, and here in the UAE many will enjoy a six-day public holiday. Ahead of the occasion,?Saeed Saeed has written a guide to some of the top Egyptian films coming out during the period, which tends to be one of the country’s most exciting spells for cinemagoers.
The season starts with the light family drama?Beit El Ruby,?a film about a jaded city dweller who flees Cairo for his home village to begin a new life, and his brother’s efforts to bring him back to the family. It stars?Karim Abdel Aziz and Tara Emad alongside an ensemble cast.
Elsewhere, Ahmad Fahmy stars as a gang leader in love with his strait-laced lawyer, played by Hannah El-Zahed, in the romantic comedy?Mr Ex?– while in?Tag, Tamer Hosny plays a music teacher struggling to hide his superpowers from his love interest, played by Dina Elsherbiny.
Rounding off the mix, action star Amir Karara teams up with Yasmine Sabri in the action comedy?Elbo3bo3, which follows the exploits of a rehabilitated criminal, while?Voy! Voy! Voy!?brings the true story of a blind security guard who joined the Egyptian national football team to the big screen.
Hareth Al Bustani
Arts & Culture Editor
DUBAI ESPORTS AND GAMES FESTIVAL
The Dubai Esports and Games Festival kicked off yesterday?with a two-day summit, featuring exhibitors from various technological sectors, showcasing the latest innovations in gaming at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City.
Tomorrow, Dubai's annual gaming expo will open to the public, offering visitors the chance to preview the latest titles and watch online gamers compete over three days.
The festival’s director, Muna Al Falasi, told?The National?she hopes the event becomes a focal point for the convergence of gaming, esports and technology, in a region with an increasingly crowded gaming sector.
领英推荐
“We are focusing more on regional tournaments, and very much into bringing in intellectual property for Dubai,” she added.
SUPERHERO FATIGUE
After a series of disappointments with?Shazam! Fury of the Gods?and?Black Adam, plus a disaster with the cancelled?Batgirl,?Warner Bros is betting big on?The Flash.
However, despite modestly better reviews than its predecessors, the new DC film has once again failed to make a critical or commercial splash – right on the cusp of the transition from the DC Extended Universe to director James Gunn’s coming DCU.
Chris Newbould takes a look at whether Marvel and DC seem to be suffering from the phenomenon known as “superhero fatigue” – and wonders which coming titles might just wake them up.
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