Belal Fadl ( ar, بلال فضل) (born 1974) is an Egyptian
screenplay writer,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and a
column writer
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...
. He was born and raised in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
. Fadl has roots from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...
.
Fadl graduated from
Cairo University
Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
1st class with honors, school of mass communications.
He began his career as a journalist at
Rose al-Yūsuf
''Rose al-Yūsuf'' ( ar, روز اليوسف; also written ''Rose al-Yousef'') is an Arabic weekly political magazine published in Egypt.
History and profile
''Rose al-Yūsuf'' was first published on 26 October 1925. The magazine was named af ...
then, a co-founder and secretary of
Al-Dustour, then joined
Al-Masry Al-Youm
''Al-Masry Al-Youm'' ( ar, المصري اليوم ', , meaning ''The Egyptian Today'') is an Egyptian privately owned daily newspaper that was first published in June 2004. It is published in Arabic as is its website, ''almasryalyoum.com''. ...
to write his column Istbaha being one of the most important columnists in Egypt.
In 2013, Fadl and created El-Masara. at Al-Shorouk. newspaper in 2011, it is a weekly supplement that sarcastically described the current events in Egypt.
In 2001 his first script was made into a movie
Thieves in KG2 directed by
Sandra Nashaat. He wrote 18 movies, most of them topped the movie revenues.
Journalism
*In 1994, Fadl worked as a trainee journalist in
Rose al-Yūsuf
''Rose al-Yūsuf'' ( ar, روز اليوسف; also written ''Rose al-Yousef'') is an Arabic weekly political magazine published in Egypt.
History and profile
''Rose al-Yūsuf'' was first published on 26 October 1925. The magazine was named af ...
which was then a platform for the opposition
liberal and leftist.
*In 1995-1998, Fadl became co-founder, secretary editor and columnist in the prominent opposition newspaper
Al-Dustour (closed by a presidential decree in early 1998)
*After the closure of
Al-Dustour newspaper, he wrote for different newspapers and magazines including
Al-Hilal
Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to:
*Hilal ( ar, هلال, ''hilāl''), a crescent
** the crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar
* Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia
Arts ...
,
Al-Ittihad and London-based
Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...
.
*In 2000, he co-founded newspaper issued by the Egyptian Ministry of culture. In Al-Qahera, he worked as managing editor for several months, before he quitted to be devoted for screen writing.
*In 2005, he resumed his journalistic writings in
Al-Dustour newspaper, after its reopen. He began editing a weekly page titled
Qalamin accompanied by the cartoonist Amr Sleem.
Qalamin introduced direct political sarcastic critique against the former Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
trying to push the boundaries and cross the usual redlines. This led him to court and prosecutors 17 times. Most notably when the Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelli ...
demanded the imprisonment of him and Al-Dustour editor-in chief
Ibrahim Eissa because an article Fadl wrote about him titled "Alagol Al-Akhdar" meaning the Green man.
* In 2006, he began writing a weekly column in
Al-Masry Al-Youm
''Al-Masry Al-Youm'' ( ar, المصري اليوم ', , meaning ''The Egyptian Today'') is an Egyptian privately owned daily newspaper that was first published in June 2004. It is published in Arabic as is its website, ''almasryalyoum.com''. ...
newspaper.
Later in 2007, he began to write a daily column in Al-Masry Al-Youm titled
Istebaha for 8 months, then he stopped to devote himself for writing his first TV series ''
Hima''
* In 2008, he resumed writing
Istebaha which was considered to be the most daring in criticizing
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
regime, and contributed to raise the distribution of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper to be the most prevalent newspaper in Egypt.
* In 2011, moved to
El Tahrir, which was launched after the
Egyptian revolution of 2011
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
and the removal of Hosni Mubarak.
* Later in 2011, during the reign of the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; ar, المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة, ', also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a statutory body of between 20 and 25 senior Egyptian military officers and is headed by F ...
, he resumed his political satire with the cartoonist Amr Sleem issuing a two-page titled
El Ma'ssara in the Eyptian newspaper
Al-Shorouk
''Al-Shorouk'', ''Shorouk News'' or ''Al-Shuruq'' ( ar, الشروق "The Sunrise") is a prominent Arabic newspaper published in Egypt and several other Arabic nations. It is a daily independent liberal-oriented newspaper, covering mainly poli ...
.
Filmography
Belal Fadl's work:
* in 2001, one of his scripts made into his first movie, ''
Thieves in KG2'' directed by
Sandra Nashaat, starring
Karim Abdel-Aziz and
Hanan Tork
Hanan Tork ( ar, حنان ترك; born 7 March 1975 is a retired Egyptian actress and ballerina. She was born as Hanan Hasan Abdelkrim Tork ( ar, حنان حسن عبد الكريم ترك), and is credited as Hanan Tork. She is a sister to t ...
the movie was a huge hit and mastered the Egyptian Box office at that time.
* he continued his cinematic success as he wrote 18 movies most of them topped the Egyptian box office.
*''
the Beach Loafer'' (2004) - (writer)
*''
Khalty Faransa'' (2004) - (writer)
*''The student Cop/
:ar:الباشا تلميذ (فيلم) '' (2004) - story - screenplay
*''
Sayed the Romantic'' (2005) - (writer)
*''Aabu Ali'' (2005) - (writer)
*''
Wesh Egram''
:ar:وش إجرام - (2005) (writer)
*''
Wahed Men Alnas'' (2006) - story and screen play
* The first Saudi feature- length film ''
Keif al-Hal?'' (2006) - story and screen play with Lebanese critic Mohammed Rouda.
*''
Haha we tofaha'' (2006) - (writer)
*'' Awdet El Nadla'' (2006) (writer)
*'' Fe Mahatet masr'' (2006) (writer)
*'' Kharej ala el kanoun'' (2007) (story - screen play)
*'' Swimming Boltia / Boltya EL Ayma'' (2008) (story and screen play). For wاich he was Awarded the National Egyptian Film Festival prize for the best screen play.
*'' Hima'' (TV series) (2008) (writer)
*''
Ahl Cairo''/ (people of Cairo) (2010) - (writer)
*''El Ragol El Ghamed Beslamto''
:ar:الرجل الغامض بسلامته (فيلم) (2010) (writer)
*''
18 Days
"18 Days" is the second single by American rock band Saving Abel from their self-titled debut album. It was released after the band's hit single " Addicted". "18 Days" reached #10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and number si ...
'' (2011) The film comprises 10 shorts revolving around different facets of the 18 days of the 25 January 2011 revolution which led to overthrowing former President
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
. The events take place in Tahrir square and outside it and is narrated from different points of view; either, against, enthusiasts, opportunists, or even indifferent. Fadl Wrote two short movies of the ten: (God’s Creation) directed by
Kamla Abou Zikri
Kamla Abou Zekry (born January 8, 1974) is an Egyptian television and film director who directed well-known movies and TV series such as ''Bent Esmaha Zaat'', ''Segn El Nisaa'', and ''Wahed Sefr''. She has taken part in many international and na ...
and (When the Flood Hits You) directed by Mohammed Ali. the film's first premiere was in special screening in
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
*''El Horoub'' TV series (2012) (writer)
*'' Sister Teresa'' TV series (2012) (writer)
*'' Ahl Eskendereya / people of Alexanderia'' (2014) (writer): the series which was produced by the official Egyptian TV was banned from screening on the state channels and the private ones also due to pressures from the state's security apparatus.In addition to the political stances of several actors in the series, including Fadl himself as well as actors
Amr Waked and
Basma Hassan, all vocal members of the political opposition, it is also likely that the series, directed by veteran director
Khairy Beshara
Khairy Beshara ( ar, خيري بشارة ; born June 30, 1947 in Tanta, Egypt) is an Egyptian film director active in the Egyptian film industry since the 1970s. He is considered one of the Egyptian directors who re-defined Realism in Egy ...
, is being banned because of its portrayal of a corrupt police officer.
References
External links
*
Belal Fadl profileon
film.comBelal Fadl's blogBelal Fadl biographyon fancast.com
Belal Fadl profileon movies.nytimes.com
Belal Fadl'sarticles on Al Masry Al Yawm
Belal Fadl columns at Al-Shorouk journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadl, Belal
Egyptian screenwriters
Egyptian writers
Egyptian journalists
1974 births
Living people