PUA’s Faculty of Mass Communication hosted members of the crew of the Al Ekhtyar – Part 1 (The series, in a seminar entitled “National Drama and Building Awareness.” This seminar comes within the framework of the practical side of the directing and editing course. It was sponsored by Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, PUA’s President, and Prof. Dr. Huwaida Mostafa, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication. It was supervised, however; by Dr. Sarah Al-Dawy, and organized by Dr. Noha Al-Asdoudi, with the presence of a group of faculty members, teaching assistants, and students.
Prof. Dr. Howaida Mostafa delivered a welcoming speech during the seminar, which was opened by the student Nardin Saber, 4th year, Radio and Television Department. The dialogue was moderated by film critic Ramy Metwally. The series highlighted the heroism of the army’s martyrs who faced terrorist attacks, especially the Perth attack.
Moreover, Dr. Baher Dowidar, author of the series, during his speech, told his story of writing the series, which started in cooperation with the competent authorities and the armed forces to obtain more information. After writing several episodes, he felt the presence of martyr “Al Mansy” with him in his conscience as he writes, as he was an exceptional person and looked up to by everyone.
While artist, Tamer Magdy, who played the character of Private Ali Ali, said that he feels proud of playing martyr Ali, who was of the soldiers known for their competence, sacrifice, strong faith, and intense love of his comrades. Therefore, his role in the series was seen as a great responsibility.
Furthermore, Artist Ahmed Al-Rafei, who played the role of Omar Rifai Sorour, the mufti of terrorist groups, participated in a video recording in the seminar. He said: “I study and analyze the personality, learn about its social and psychological dimensions. Then, I collect the dimensions and learn about the composition of the personality, and look at other determinants in the script, and then the features of the personality become clear.”
In addition, Mr. Hussein Asar, Series’ director of photography, participated in the seminar via Zoom, explaining the difficulties he encountered during filming. He also underscored the significance of knowing everything related to cameras, lenses, and operation mechanism. Then, mixing all the elements within the frame on a precise scale to come up with the best image.
The seminar witnessed great interaction from the students, and was concluded by Prof. Dr. Howaida thanking the guests, and gifting them PUA’s shield and certificates and appreciation.