Intelligentsia lament demise of renowned Kuwaiti film director

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KHARTOUM, Oct 16: Kuwaiti actors and intellectuals on Saturday mourned the passing away of Kuwaiti film director Khaled Al- Siddiq who introduced Sudanese cinema to the world via the movie: “The Wedding of Zein” in 1976, adapted from the novel by Tayeb Salih. Sudanese actor Ali Mahdi, who had the starring role in “The Wedding of Zein” reminisced the late director’s cinema feats, praising him as a “friendly, even-tempered and patient person who had a wide general culture and greatly contributed to cinema”.

Speaking to KUNA, Al-Mahdi said Al-Siddiq had left behind an impressive cinema mark in the history of TV directing, chiefly “Bas Ya Bahr or “The Cruel Sea”, which was one of the best 100 Arabic movies. Not only did Siddiq deal with his cast in a highly civilized mode, but he also respected his audience so much, which showed that he was a genuinely unique man, he said. The Sudanese actor also highly commended him as having greatly contributed to unifying the Arab conscience and promoting cultural communication thanks to his amazing cinema works. Sudanese cinema producer Talal Afifi, also speaking to KUNA, said he was so sad to hear about the passing away of the Kuwaiti cinema icon, voicing heartfelt and sincere condolences over his demise.

He believed that the movie “The Wedding of Zein” had highlighted the possibility of film industry success in Sudan, whether in view of theme, location or human capabilities. On his part, Ahmad Al-Sadeq, a Sudanese writer and academician, highly acclaimed the “very bald” initiative of the late Kuwaiti cinema icon to produce and direct the Sudanese film “The Wedding of Zein” in mid-1970s. “This was very clear as he picked a deep script like the novel “The Wedding of Zein” by Sudanese novelist Al-Tayib Al- Saleh, and then turn it into a visual work,” he boasted. He praised the movie as a “watershed” in the development of Sudanese film industry and an gateway for Sudanese actors to the world. The prominent Kuwaiti film and TV director passed away on Thursday at the age of 76, after a rich career in the domain of film and television directing. Al-Siddiq is a pioneer of the Kuwaiti film scene who directed iconic movies such as the 1972 Oscarnominated film “Bas Ya Bahr” or “The Cruel Sea” in English, which was released in 1972 and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 45th Academy Awards. Al-Siddiq’s major cinema works also include other key films such as “The Last Journey” and “Faces of the Night”. The late director received many international awards and honors, especially for his movie “The Cruel Sea”. His movie “The Wedding of Zein” won seven International awards. (KUNA)

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