Lord Puttnam at the Society's Annual Dinner
20th March 2007

Lord Puttnam of Queensway

Though cast in a less extravagant mould than, say, Alexander Korda, Michael Balcon or J Arthur Rank, David Puttnam is the nearest thing to a mogul that British cinema has had in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The son of an Army Film Unit cameraman, he began as a photographers'
agent (archetypal 1960s type, David Bailey, was a client), and in the 1970s he took on the producing and marketing of British films and had major successes with the musicals, That'll Be the Day (d. Claude Whatham, 1973) and Stardust (d. Michael Apted, 1974) and with Alan Parker's tough Midnight Express (1978).

He scored a huge hit with Chariots of Fire (d. Hugh Hudson, 1981) and his own company, Enigma Films, was a key contributor to some of the most critically acclaimed, if not always commercially successful films of the 1980s and 1990s.

His First Love series, for instance, included some attractive films, which gave a chance to young film-makers, but which were too parochial for international success.

In 1986 he took a position as head of Columbia Pictures - and resigned a year later, having failed to turn its fortunes around or stiffen the moral fibre of its movies, and he relocated to England.

As a film-maker, Puttnam has been astonishingly successful with a string of memorable films( Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Local Hero, The Killing Fields, The Mission, Days of Glory and Memphis Belle) to his credit. But the really striking thing about him is the burning social conscience which has made him an incessant lobbyist for government support of the British film industry and a passionate advocate for training and education.

He retired from film production in 1998 and now focuses on his work in education. In addition to having served as the Chair of the General Teaching Council (2000-2002), he has served on a variety of other public bodies. He was founding Chair of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, and for ten years chaired the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. In July 2002, he was appointed President of UNICEF UK.
Noel Rands

New Appointments to Executive Committee
2nd March 2007

"We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ashraf Marwan and Ms. Dina M. Soliman are joining the Executive Committee of the British Egyptian Society.

Dr. Marwan has been an enthusiastic supported of the Society since its inception and was on the Committee for many years until ill health forced him to step down. We are delighted to welcome him back.

Dina Soliman is part of the senior management team in her division at one of the world's biggest foodstuffs organisations and was also president of one of the UK "Toastmasters" clubs, an imitative promoting public speaking.
She offers a younger viewpoint and new ideas to the committee."

Noel Rands, Secretary, The British Egyptian Society

Mai Ghoussoub (1952-2007)
Our dear friend Mai Ghoussoub, artist, author, playwright and founding director of Saqi died suddenly on 17 February 2007 in London.
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50 Years since Suez, from conflict to collaboration.
This Forum last Autumn, which was organised jointly by The British Egyptian Society and the London Middle East Institute at Suez was extremely well received. The reception in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery at the British Museum, and to which all members of the Society had been invited, was memorable as the photographs in our Gallery above will show. The 42 speakers from the USA, UK and Egypt, covering History,  Politics, Economics, Conservation, Culture and Education over that evening and the next two days in the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, were illuminating. Many points were raised and these are being followed up. A small working party will be in Cairo in February to talk again to some of the speakers. Our thanks go to our sponsors who were:-

 Alllam Marine Ltd; BAE Systems; The British Council; BG Egypt; The British Museum; BP; Dr. Ahmed El-Mokadem; EgyptAir; HSBC Global Markets; HSBC Private Bank; Dr. Ashraf Marwan; Professor Magdy Ishak-Hanna; Means Associates; Orascom Telecom Holding; Transform Cosmetic Surgery Ltd.

 One immediate effect of the forum is an Art Exhibition. The British Ambassador to Egypt, Sir Derek Plumbly, is opening an exhibition of works created by one of our speakers, the painter Professor Farghali Abdel Hafiz, entitled "Farghali's view of London"  in the Zamalek Art Gallery at the beginning of February. These are based on his experiences of London whilst attending the Forum.

"Press Coverage of "50 year's since Suez" forum last Autumn.
It has been prepared by McKenna Associates who handled the PR"

The British Museum
The British Egyptian Society provides the British Museum with £5,000 a year sponsorship to enable two students from Egypt to study at the Museum. Last December we were pleased to meet Mr Khaled Mohamed Mahmoud Mohamed Sayed Ahmed, Chief Inspector, and Mr Hafez Abdel Fattah Hafez El Sayed, Director of Imhotep Museum in Saqqara.

Enham Alamein
The British Egyptian Society has made a donation of £4,000 to Enham Alamein Village to restore an historic scrapbook created during the Second World War by the Alamein Officers Club in Egypt. Those of you at last year's Annual Dinner at the Royal Automobile Club will remember the address by Mr. Roderick Chamberlain, Chairman of Enham Alamein.
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Sir Michael Weir
"On 27th April 2006, Michael Weir spoke at our Annual General Meeting, accepting a silver salver signed by past and present members of the Executive Committee, to commemorate his 16 years as Chairman, and yet within a few weeks he had left us. A month before he died (on 22nd June 2006) he had attended his son's (Alexander) wedding and took a full and active part. Indeed on the day he died he was talking to visitors at his home in the morning, in his usual lucid way, who had no idea that the end was so close.

The British Egyptian Society was, basically, the inspiration of Sir Michael and H.E. Mr. Mohamed Shaker, the then Egyptian Ambassador in London, and Sir Michael was its inspirational Chairman from its creation in 1990 until he stepped down at the beginning of 2006. Few have had a more eloquent turn of phrase or attracted more respect and affection from fellow members of the Executive Committee and of the society.

We miss him a great deal."
Click here: Obituary - The Daily Telegraph