Maher Sabry
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Maher Sabry (; born 11 April 1967) is an Egyptian theater director, playwright, film director, producer and screenwriter, poet, writer and cartoonist.


Biography

A
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
activist, he was the first director to portray gay and lesbian love in lyrical and sympathetic manner on Egyptian stage. He also directed the first all-gay award-winning Egyptian film '' All My Life'' (in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
طول عمري, transliteration Toul Oumry). He also published poetry in various Arabic language publications and ''Marionette'' is his first poetry collection, published by Garad Books in Cairo in 1998. In 2005, he was also a founding member of the Egyptian Underground Film Society (EUFS) (in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
الجمعية المصرية للأفلام المهمّشة) as an outlet for promoting Egyptian independent film making and supporting freedom of expression away from legal restrictions, censorship and traditional imposed values.


Gay activism

As a gay activist Maher Sabry pioneered with others gay forums for Egyptian LGBT on the internet, using the pseudonym "Horus". On May 10, 2001 when 52 gay men were arrested at the Queen Boat Discothèque incident known as Cairo 52, Sabry launched a campaign focusing on anti-gay abuses in the case and asked for support from the international human rights group and gay organizations. He also mobilized legal aid and human rights organizations to provide representation in court for the victims. In 2003, he appeared in a documentary by
John Scagliotti John Scagliotti is an American film director and producer, and radio broadcaster. He has received honors for his work on documentaries about LGBT issues including ''Before Stonewall'' and ''After Stonewall''. Biography During the 1970s, Scagliott ...
entitled '' Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World''. The documentary focusses on the Cairo 52 case and features Maher Sabry interview, in addition to various insights from activists from Brazil, Honduras, Namibia, Uganda, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Fiji and the Philippines.


Filmography

*2008: '' All My Life''


Awards

*In 2002, he received the Felipa de Souza Award from the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Outright International (Outright) is an LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. OutRight International documents human ...
(IGLHRC).


Sources


Omar Hassan on PinkNews site: Interview: Arabic filmmaker Maher SabryDavid Khalili in National Equality Resource Center: Exposing Oppression in Egypt


References


External links

*
IMDB ''All My Life'' page



IMDB ''Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World'' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabry, Maher 1967 births Egyptian film directors LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ theatre directors Egyptian gay writers Egyptian LGBTQ rights activists Living people Felipa de Souza Award