Samir Farid, 74, who is known to have pioneered film critiquing in the Arab world, passed away on Tuesday.
Samir Farid, 74, who is known to have pioneered film critiquing in the Arab world, passed away on Tuesday. Farid is known to be the first Arab writer to establish film critiquing as a serious form of writing, emerging at a time when film writing was restricted to celebrity news.
Born in Cairo in 1943, Farid was a multi-award winning film historian and writer and one of the most prominent film personalities of the Arab world, having served as a jury member in many international festivals, including the Oberhausen Film Festival, the Torino Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival.
In 2013, Farid was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his longstanding passion and support for Arab cinema. More recently, at Berlinale last month, he received the Berlinale Camera award.
Born in Cairo in 1943, Samir studied film at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts at the Academy of Arts in Cairo. He later started his journey in journalism, working for state run Egyptian publication Al-Gomhoreya in 1965, and continuing to work there for 38 years before moving on to Al-Masry Al-Youm in 2004.
