While Saudi King Abdullah addresses the UN today on matters of religious tolerance, Egyptian filmmaker Adel Adeeb is taking the message to the silver screen. Italian news agency AKI (which is one of the sponsors of the Mediterranean Film Festival at which this film is being shown) reports on ‘Hassan Wa Morqos’, the story of the friendship between a Coptic priest and a Muslim preacher. Do read the whole piece.

MedFilm Festival: Egyptian comedy looks at religious differences

Rome, 12 Nov.(AKI) – In his latest film Egyptian filmmaker Adel Adeeb takes a comic approach to religious conflict between Muslims and Christians. ‘Hassan Wa Morqos’, which is screening at the 14th annual Mediterranean Film Festival in Rome, looks at the friendship between a Coptic Christian priest and a Muslim preacher.

“It is not just about Islam only,” Adeeb told Adnkronos International (AKI). “Artists are concerned about human beings. We put it from the point of view of a human being, from the point of view of an artist not from a point of view of a rabbi, or a priest or a sheikh or a government.”

Adeeb, who grew up in a family of filmmakers, is one of Egypt’s leading producers. ‘Hassan W Morqos’ (or Hassan and Morkos) is one of 12 films in the MedFilm Festival’s official competition.

Adeeb is known for producing a series of blockbusters that have had widespread success in Egypt and across the Arab world.

‘Morgan Ahmed Morgan’ blended drama and comedy in a family saga while ‘The Yacoubian Building’ was a controversial film about social taboos including government corruption, police violence and homosexuality.

In his latest film he takes a lighter look at sectarian differences and is pleased at the positive reaction it has received from audiences.

“For me I wanted to analyse it so I went to many cinemas,” he told AKI. “When a Christian joke is said about a Muslim, half the screening room started to laugh and then they stopped laughing. They were afraid.

“The same when there is a Muslim joke about a Christian. Half of them started laughing and then they stopped. After 20 or 25 minutes both of them laughed like crazy. Because this is real, this is life.”
…