Lenin El-Ramly ( ar, لينين الرملي; August 18, 1945 – February 7, 2020) was an independent Egyptian writer and director of films and for television and theater. His work is in the field of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

and the ''

Theatre of the Absurd The Theatre of the Absurd (french: théâtre de l'absurde ) is a post–World War II designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s. It is also a term for the style of ...

''. He was recognized in Egypt and abroad for his daring to put question marks at hypocrite and intolerant manners in parts of the Egyptian society and other countries in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. His presentations were characterized as existentialist and sociopolitical questions within popular funny settings.

Life and career

El-Ramly was born in August 1945 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to a politically engaged family.Words without Borders
biography
/ref>Emea
''Prins Claus Prijs 2005 voor Zapiro, cartoonist uit Zuid-Afrika''
His mother is Souad Zuhair. He published his first

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

in 1956 in the magazine ''Sabah El-Kheir''. Yet during his study, in 1967, he started writing social comedies and series for television. At the beginning of the 21st Century, his work from this era is still broadcast. In 1970 he obtained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Theater Critics and Theater Literature at the High Institute for Theater Art.Golden Thread
'Lenin El Ramly - ''Nightmare
In 1971 El-Ramly and film director

Salah Abu Seif Salah Abu Seif ( ar, صلاح أبو سيف, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors, and is considered to be the godfather of Neorealist cinema in Egyptian cinema. Many of the 41 films he direct ...

began a close co-operation. In this time he wrote ''The Ostrich and the Peacock'', which in 2002, for the first time since 30 years, could be shown to the public. The

censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

say that this film starts a sexual dialogue that invokes sexual desires. According to El-Ramly they had misunderstood his script. El-Ramly founded his own theater company in 1980, called ''Studio 80''. His aim has been to put another kind of plays on stage than usually could be seen at commercial plays. His work ''Bel-Arabi El-Faseeh'' of 1991, that has been translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as ''In Plain Arabic'', labors at

Pan-Arabism Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...

. This play has been described as matchless satire, and was declared to be the ''Best Theater Play of the Year'' in Egypt. From

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

he received the Soad Sabbah Award for this play. From Western media he received praising critics as well, for instance in the ''

Herald Tribune ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' is the name of various newspapers. ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' Australia * The Herald (Adelaide), ''The Herald'' (Adelaide) and several similar names (1894–1924), a South Australian Labor weekly, then daily * ''Ba ...

'' and ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

''. His theater plays have been staged in the

, as well as in Western countries like

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Although ''In plain Arabic'' has been refused during the Carthage Theatre Festival in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In 1993, El-Ramly founded his second theater company, called ''Studio 2000''. In 1994, he rewrote his debut from 1967 that he had introduced then under the title '' Al-Erhabi'' (''The Terrorist''). With this scenario he got widely known in his own country and abroad. El-Ramly's work is widely recognized. For instance he won during the Vivay Film Festival for Comical Movies in 1987, and received the Kuwaiti en Soad Sabbah Award in 1991. In 2005 El-Ramly was honored with the

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The jury valued his "''constructive use of humour to provoke public analysis of social and cultural issues.''"

Theater plays

Until 2005, El-Ramly wrote forty theater plays in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

that have been shown on the stage. Three of them were translated into

: * 1994: ''In Plain Arabic'', A U C in Cairo Press, Egypt, translated by Esmat Allouba, * 1999: ''Point of view'', Foreign Cultural Information Dept., Egypt, translated by Yussif Hifnawi, * 1999: ''The Nightmare'', City University Of N.Y, USA, translated by Wagdi Zeid More plays have been translated in other languages, like ''The Prisoner'' from 2002 which was staged in

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Filmography

The following film scripts have been written by El-Ramly:Ramli, Lenin El-
list of films
/ref> * 1983: ''A Marriage Proposal'', Nagy Anglo * 1985: ''The Man Who Sneezed'', Omr Abd El Aziz * 1986: ''Ali Bey and the 40 Thieves'', Ahmed yassen * 1986: ''The Beginning'', Omr Abd El Aziz * 1987: ''The Intern Lawyer'', Salah Abou Seif * 1994: ''Mr. Dog'', Salah Abou Seif * 1994: '' The Terrorist'', Nader Galal * 1995: ''Bekeet and Adeela'', Nader Galal * 1997: ''Bekeet and Adeela'', Nader Galal *2000: ''Hello America'', Nader Galal *2002: ''The Ostrich and The Peacock'', Mohammed Abou Seif

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramly, Lenin El 1945 births 2020 deaths Egyptian dramatists and playwrights Egyptian film directors Egyptian screenwriters Egyptian television directors Egyptian theatre directors Existentialists Mass media people from Cairo Theatre of the Absurd