hey tiffany! posted a photo:
With Mohammad Assaf and a full orchestra on the steps of the Bacchus Temple
Abdel Halim is considered to be one of the greatest Egyptian actors and singers of all time. This evening of the Baalbek International Festival, we were treated to a live performance of his music performed by Arab Idol winner Mohammad Assaf while clips from his movies were projected onto the Temple of Bacchus.
My friend told me about Mohammad Assaf and the difficulties he faced to try to audition for Arab Idol because of his Palestinian nationality. An Arab film was made about his story and winning Arab Idol.
I was not previously familiar with any of Abdel Halim’s music or films, but I was really happy to attend this evening. It was very interesting to see these clips and was surprised that in general they went against the stereotypes about conservative Muslim/Arab culture that exists today; the women were wearing bikinis and there was a bit of physical affection in the clips shown.
The last song "Gana el Hawa" was shown was from the 1969 film ‘Abi foq al Shagara’ (My father is on the Tree). Part of the clip for the song was filmed in Baalbek and other sites around Lebanon, which is a little meta to have a clip of Baalbek broadcast onto Baalbek. The film was filmed before the Lebanese Civil War, so while you can recognize the sights in the clip, it still seems kind of like a different place. It makes you wonder once again what Lebanon would have been like if it didn’t have the Civil War.
I left Lebanon two weeks later, so I felt like it was a fitting end to my time in the country. Shoukran for more than two and a half years.
link for "Gala el Hawa": www.youtube.com/watch?v=bypUngzpf6w