Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Egyptian Actor Attacked for Film With Israeli as Saddam Hussein

by Daniel Williams from Bloomberg

A made-for-TV Saddam Hussein film, being produced by the BBC and HBO, features an Israeli in the role of Saddam Hussein. Consequently, Egyptian actor Amr Waked (who plays Hussein Kamel) will be investigated, claimed actors union head Ashraf Zaki. "The union opposes normalization with Israel." Waked said, "I understand their political statement, but this is not an Israeli movie. I don't think this is about being anti-Jewish. It's politics." He said he opposes Israel's policies toward the Palestinians ... The actors union also sidelined a proposed showing of the Israeli movie, The Band's Visit, at next month's Cairo International Film Festival. Palestinians are in the cast, but the union threatened to boycott the festival. "It's out of the question that an Israeli film plays here," said Soheir Abdel Kader, the event's vice president.

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