“Why are there no cinemas in Sohag?” … Sometimes, when I get bored, I think of this, especially during holidays. I’ve always wanted a cinema in our city, how I wished to have memories inside a film theatre with my friends or family, I dream of spending those few hours in front of the big screen stealing small details from a different world to help me go through everyday life pressure and shocking reality, to be isolated in this dim lighted theatre and escape into a magical realm.
How does a major governorate like Sohag not have a film theatre? Such a city with a rich history of arts, this is the birthplace of the famous actor George Sedhom, one of the first actors who embarked on a journey of arts in Egypt by the beginnings of TV broadcasting in the early sixties, and one of the Theatre Lights Trio.
George, son of Girga town, wasn’t the only artist from Sohag, there are others as same as important, such as Emad Hamdy, the jeune premier, he played as a leading role in many of the most important films in the Egyptian Cinema, like Khan El-Khalili, Chitchat on the Nile, The Bus Driver, Among the Ruins, in addition to more than 400 of the richest and most profound Egyptian works.
Also, Hamdy Ahmed, an actor who first joined the Television Theatre Troupe in 1961, winning Best New Actor award in 1966 for his role in Cairo 30 film, he also was the director of the Comedy Theatre in 1985.
People of Sohag’s success was not limited to acting, as one of the most important directors whose name is linked with the issues of the ordinary Egyptian citizens and calling for their rights, director Atef Al-Tayeb was born in Shuraniya island, Maragha town.
Despite this artistic heritage of Sohag, still the people there are deprived from enjoying the experience of cinema as there are no film theatres there, whereas in the fifties, Sohag had six film theatres, three of them where in the city of Sohag, another in Girga town, and two in Tahta town. All of these theatres were demolished and residential towers were built instead, except for Opera Cinema following the Ministry of Culture, which was closed in 2010, and now it is a dwelling place for ghosts and spiders.
How long will Sohag stay without cinemas? Will all next generations be deprived also of this different feeling of wonder and amazement each time they go to a theatre and watch a film depicting new characters and ideas on the large screen? It seems the answer will be yes, they will miss out these journeys of imagination and the chance to escape reality, spending two or three hours in a world isolating them from the outside boring real one.
Some might say that films are just a form of entertainment killing time, whereas in reality, films educate and enrich the mind and heart. Films teach us to sympathise, to get angry, to have the will to change, they are not just means to spend a good time, for societies are intellectually built on what they expose their youth to.
I’ve always entertained the idea of having a cinema in Sohag, for definitely, there is no one who does not want a place that combines fun, awareness, and culture along with friends and family gathering in one place to watch a film and isolate themselves from the outside world.
