The well-known Moroccan actor Muhammad Muftah has accused the famous Egyptian actress Elham Shaheen of looking down on Moroccans, viewing them as less intelligent.
Muftah, who was among the judges for the Wahran Cinema Festival in Algeria, denied Egyptian accusation stating that the judges wanted to present a Moroccan film as a winner instead of an Egyptian one. Shaheen has also threatened the Moroccan actor Muhammad, should he enter Egypt.
The Algerian newspaper “Al Fajer” (The Dawn) reported a heated dispute between Shaheen and Syrian actor Duraid Laham, also a judge at the festival, because each actor wanted a film from their home country to win the ‘golden award.’ Shaheen wanted the film “Al Jazirah” (The Island) to win and Laham wanted “Kharij Al Taghtyah” (Outside the Coverage Area) to win. The latter took home the award.
The ‘golden award’ is worth $US 50,000. The judging committee of the festival is comprised of various Arab actors, the president of the judging committee Duraid Laham, and representatives Elham Shaheen, Claudia Marshlian, Bahyeh Rashdi, Muhammad Muftah, Orfan Rashid and the director and the manager of Dubai cinema festival Masoud Amer Allah Ali.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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