With less than 126 days remaining until the beginning of the month of Ramadan, which is considered the most important season in Egyptian drama, none of the works nominated to be shown during it have entered the filming slots yet, despite the presence of announcements about multiple projects that the audience is supposed to watch, according to producers and directors.
The last Ramadan drama season witnessed the delay in showing episodes of a number of dramas for a day or more due to not having finished filming them, with filming continuing until just hours before the episodes were scheduled to be broadcast, which was repeated with the Mai Omar and Yasmine Abdel Aziz series.
Actress Nelly Karim previously criticized the beginning of filming Ramadan works with only 5 written episodes, while completing the rest of the episodes under time pressure, which makes the viewer feel that the work is being prolonged in order to reach 30 episodes.
It is expected that a group of dramas whose events take place in 30 episodes will be shown, including “Ashmawi” by Mohamed Ramadan and Bassem Samra, in addition to “Sultan El Deeb”, which stars Ahmed Al-Awadi with Yara Al-Sokari, while Hamada Hilal continues his presence in the drama through the series “Al-Maddah 7”, and Mai Omar will return to the 30-episode series through “Halima Gibran”, which co-stars with Sayed Ragab, and Amr Saad is also expected to be present. With Karim Fahmy in the fourth part of the series “The Choice”, in addition to presenting a number of works whose events take place in 15 episodes, by a number of artists, including Iyad Nassar, Ahmed Mekky, Ahmed Dawoud, Youssef El Sharif, and Asmaa Jalal.
Artistic producer Muhammad Suleiman told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The delay in filming the works will undoubtedly affect the quality of the works, especially the 30-episode series. Because its makers will be required to work continuously without rest, which will make their concentration less with the pressure of filming and its continuation for long hours, in addition to the delay in starting filming that will cause an increase in the production cost due to the lack of time and the negative impact on the time allocated for editing the episodes.”
Suleiman added, “Filming sites are under great pressure due to filming all the works at the same time, in addition to the presence of a problem with the actors associated with appearing in more than one work as a result of the difficulty of coordinating with them due to conflicting filming schedules. He pointed out that the problem is not only related to not finishing writing the episodes of the works, but the production companies do not decide to start filming until after finalizing the agreements related to the process of selling the work, whether to a platform or a television channel.”
Art critic Mohamed Abdel Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Any creative work needs a specific amount of time in order to come out appropriately, and reducing the time available to series makers will necessarily be reflected in the level of artistic work,” noting that “a series consisting of 30 episodes needs, according to what is known in the drama industry, about 90 days of continuous filming, and taking into account vacations and various circumstances related to filming, the period is supposed to reach more than 120 days, taking into account the emergency circumstances that arise.” There may be multiple or multiple outdoor filming locations.”
Abdul Rahman explained that the time pressure does not stop at filming, but rather extends to the various stages of making the series, starting from writing, through implementation, to montage and final viewing by the director, before handing over the episodes to the show channels. He expects that the next season will witness works that suffer from some errors and technical gaps as a result of the lack of time and the failure of each stage to have sufficient space to complete it.
The series “Up But,” presented by Mohamed Farraj last Ramadan, witnessed an error in the appearance of a movie theater in the background receiving its patrons in a scene that was supposed to be filming at dawn, while an error appeared in the decorations of the series “The Six Mona Lisas,” presented by Mai Omar, related to changing the decorations in the scene itself. The camera also appeared in a scene from the series “Qatar Sughnout” presented by Mohamed Ragab.
Critic Khaled Mahmoud said that delaying the filming of Ramadan productions has become a familiar habit in Egyptian drama, pointing out that the matter is not only related to production agreements or artist nominations, but rather extends in many cases to the nature of how the stars themselves deal with their projects, as some of them remain until the last moments in the process of making adjustments or deciding on choices related to the director and the work team, which delays the start of preparations and filming.
Mahmoud added to Asharq Al-Awsat that early preparation gives the series’ makers more space to think about the details, choose appropriate filming locations, and prepare for the various stages of implementation, instead of resorting to alternative solutions under time pressure.
The Horniman Museum in south-east London is preparing to open a new hall dedicated to nature in February 2027, in a move that represents the final stage of the “Nature + Love” transformation and development project, which is worth 12.5 million pounds, and is supported by the British “National Lottery Heritage Fund”.
According to the British BBC, the new hall is called the “Nature Hall,” and it is a comprehensive redesign of the space that was previously known as the “Natural History Hall.” It aims to celebrate the enormous diversity of life on planet Earth, as well as exploring man's place within nature and his influence on it.
Michael Salter-Church, Chairman of the Museum’s Board of Directors, said that the opening of these new spaces “marks the end of an exceptional year during which the Horniman Museum celebrated its 125th anniversary.”
The “Nature Hall” will include more than 2,300 pieces from the museum’s collection, including the famous stuffed walrus, which is one of the most prominent pieces with which the museum’s name is associated.
The gallery will also include commissioned works from artists and multi-sensory experiences, designed to make visitors, especially children and families, more engaged with themes of nature and the environment.
Among the most prominent elements of the hall is a light display on the ceiling that showcases life forms on planet Earth, in addition to an exhibition that addresses the problem of plastic pollution prepared by a school in the Deptford area in London.
It will also include an interactive nature discovery area, focusing on wildlife found in the local environment, and allowing visitors to learn about them through hands-on activities.
The hall is not limited to displaying models of wildlife, but rather seeks to ask broader questions about man’s relationship with the natural world.
The exhibition explores the extent of humans' connection to and dependence on nature, alongside stories of extinction and climate change, and ideas about the role humans can play in shaping the future of the planet.
The “Nature Hall” is part of a series of development works that the Horniman Museum is witnessing within the framework of the “Nature + Love” project.
In parallel with the renovation work, the museum launched a crowdfunding campaign worth £30,000 to help support the project, which has so far raised more than £14,000.
An international conference hosted by the city of Riyadh highlighted the role of the Arabic language in cultural identity, its connection to heritage, collective memory, and cultural discourse, and its place in civilizational interaction, translation, and intercultural dialogue. It also reviewed its presence in the fields of cognitive and artistic creativity, and discussed the dimensions of digital culture and the impact of platforms and artificial intelligence in shaping identity and producing Arabic content, in addition to presenting institutional experiences and cultural policies, and anticipating the future of Arabic in culture, creative fields, and the knowledge economy.
On Sunday, the fifth annual international conference of the King Salman International Academy for the Arabic Language began, which is being held this year under the title “Arabic Language and Culture: Interactions and Dimensions.”
The conference will continue over two consecutive days, with the participation of an elite group of researchers, experts and specialists in the fields of language and culture from inside and outside Saudi Arabia, with the aim of studying and discussing the close overlap between Arabic and culture, and monitoring the manifestations of this overlap in identity, creativity and global interaction, in addition to keeping pace with digital transformations and linguistic and cultural policies.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Washmi, Secretary-General of the King Salman International Academy for the Arabic Language, stressed the organic and close connection between language and culture, explaining that “societies formulate in language their vision of the world, name things, and express their values, knowledge, and experiences with it. In return, culture leaves its deep impact on language, as its vocabulary expands, its connotations change, and its methods are renewed with the development and transformations of society.”
He added, in a speech he delivered during the opening ceremony, that studying the language preserves collective memory, forms awareness, and formulates civilized discourse.
Al-Washmi emphasized that the Arabic language has an extensive historical experience. Over the ages, it has carried a wide range of knowledge, literature, and arts, interacted flexibly with various cultures, and participated effectively in the movement of translation and cultural and cultural exchange.
He pointed out that language empowerment is not achieved through a single path, but rather requires an integrated vision based on a conscious policy, reliable knowledge, effective education, modern technical tools, and a cultural space that makes the language a living part of the daily life of society.
The Secretary-General highlighted the comprehensive system through which the complex works, which combines planning, linguistic policy, computing, education and culture, stressing that the impact of the complex’s work has extended to more than 60 countries around the world.
The most prominent of these achievements included publishing more than 300 scientific and knowledge publications, developing more than 40 digital dictionaries and a number of specialized blogs, building a platform that includes more than 50 interactive language games through the “Arabic Intelligence Center,” and developing technical tools to support automated language processing.
In organizing the conference, the Academy aims to highlight the role of Arabic in cultural identity and its connection to heritage and collective memory. Participants will present their scientific papers and discuss them within 6 main themes: language and cultural identity, language and cultural interaction, language and cognitive and artistic creativity, language and digital culture, language and cultural policies, and language and cultural future prospects.
