Farouq Abdul - Aziz

 

With his most recent back-to-back 2 documentary productions; “From Pharaoh to the Big Bang: Myth and Science in Middle Eastern Cultures, “From Microcosm to Macrocosm”  slated for release Spring 2010, and with his continuous in-depth probe of Middle Easten cultures in his in-development “Westbound, Eastbound: Islamic Culture & the West” (a 26 min.x13 episode international network documentary), Farouq Abdul-Aziz is now closing a four decade circle of multifaceted work.

 

Debuting his career in his native country; Egypt, in 1966 as an academic  arts & film critic on radio and in the press, Farouq’s cultural track had ushered him,a decade later,  into another medium to become an eminent Arab TV personality with his prime time Kuwait TV weekly film show “Cine-Club” (1979-1992), followed by another; “Screen Gems” (2001 - 2002). One of Farouq’s major cultural achievemetns is founding and managing (1977-1992) the Kuwait Cine-Club, a non-profit government sponsored Society, orginizing, among other activities, about 60 multi-national film festivals for the first time in the Gulf region. He also advised Kuwait’s Ministers of Information (1980-1990) on the cinematic section of the cultural protocols signed with foreing bodies. His film criticism profile covers four decades of serious writing. Farouq’s articles and essays, in both Arabic and English, have been published in major Arab dailies and periodicals. 

As a juror at many local and international film festivals Farouq's fest-list includes Germany's Oberhausen Short Film Festival (1980), Cannes Film Festival's International Federation of Film Critics Panel (FIPRESCI) (1984 – 1985 - 1987) and Egypt's Ismailia International Short and Documentary Film Festival (1995).

Farouq’s documentary record has featured Abdul-Aziz in many a role as an interviewer, writer, producer, and director. The slate includes his involvement as writer and interviewer in the Britain’s New Park  production  of the 60 min. documentary “Vanessa Talks to Farouk Abdulaziz”. A portrait of the life and times of actress Vanessa Redgrave (1980), followed by of the 60 min. documentary “The Making  Of  The Lion Of The Desert” in Arabic and English commissioned by USA's Falcon International (1981). “Merhaba” a 40 minute documentary designed for the Arabic speaking market, was commissioned by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture in 1988.

Farouq had served as a Producer/Co - Writer and Director of the international (English) version of the Japanese production “The Silk Road - Part 2”. An 18 hour documentary series commissioned by NHK of Japan for worldwide release (1987) – aired on Britain's ITV, Canada's CBC and History Channel, Australia's ABC among others. During a stint with LA based International Cartoon & Animation Center (1997 – 2000) as ICAC's Creative Consultant, Farouq wrote  three feature length animated films.

Farouq is currently running his M a n a r a Communications Inc., a  US-based production entity, from Kuwait. Part of his time in the last 9 years  was dedicated to advising Kuwaiti government bodies on media affaires.

 

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