Egypt: Renowned screenwriter Wahid Hamed passes away at 76

Cairo: Veteran Egyptian screenwriter Wahid Hamed, best known for taboo breakers, died today in Cairo, his son film director Marwan said. He was 76.

###

A funeral prayer will be performed at noon for Hamed before his burial, his son added.

###

Last week, Hamed who had suffered from heart and lung problems, was admitted to a hospital in Cairo.

###

He was last seen in public last month when he received a lifetime achievement at the Cairo International Film Festival.

###

He has made a big name as screenwriter since the 1970s, producing the screenplays of dozens of dramas that largely explored often-shunned themes.

###

One of his most famous films was the 1995 political drama “The Nocturnal Birds” that criticised the political party of then president Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood.

###

Political comedy

###

His other credentials include the political comedy “Terrorism and Kebab” starring Egypt’s top comedian Adel Emam; “The Innocent” tackling police abuses ; the TV anti-radicalism series “The Family”; and “Time of Roses” a TV drama on Muslim-Christian relations.

###

Hamid’s last work was the second part of “The Group” a TV drama shown in 2017 exposing the violent history of the now-banned Brotherhood.

###

Egyptian Culture Minister Inas Abdul Dayem mourned Hamed’s departure. “He succeeded in creating immortal works that expressed society’s dreams and ambitions of a generation,” she added in a statement.