Dining: Michelin Chef at Rotisserie Belvedere
For a special night on the town to celebrate the holiday season, visit celebrated Chef Thierry Verrat from the one-star Michelin restaurant "La Ribaudiere" in Cognac, France will has created a new menu for the Rotisserie Belvedere at the Nile Hilton.
Until Dec. 23
Nile Hilton
1113 Corniche El-Nil, Cairo
For reservations: 578 0444 / 578 0666 ext 292
Film: A Lesson in Love (1954)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Sweedish with Engglish subtitles, this is a comedy about love. After 15 years of marriage, David and Marianne have grown apart. David has had an affair with a patient of his and Marianne has got herself involved with her former lover Carl-Adam, who's also David's best friend. When she travels to Copenhagen to meet Carl-Adam, David takes the same train as she does, making it look coincidental. Spending time together remembering their past and talking about their future, they come to understand each other again, which leads to a reconciliation.
Saturday, Dec. 23
Falaki Screening Room
American University in Cairo,
Bab El Louk, Downtown
5 pm
Ballet: The Nutcraker
The Cairo Opera Ballet Company, directed by Abdel Moneim Kamel, will be performing the Christmas classic: Tchaikovsky’s 1891 composition of Alexandre Dumas's adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman's tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” The ballet tells the story of a young German girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads.
Sunday, Dec. 24–26 and Dec. 28–30.
Main Hall
Cairo Opera
El Gezira, Cairo
Tel: 739 8144 / 739 8132
8pm
Opera: Amhal and the Night Visitors
Gian Carlo’s Menotti’s one-act English opera will be performed for the first time in Egypt, under the direction of Hesham El Tally. Don’t miss this heartwarming story of a boy, his mother, and the extraordinary night they were visited by the Three Kings on their star-guided journey to Bethlehem. It will also be the first time Egyptian artists present a marionette opera in its entirety.
Thursday, Dec. 28
Small Hall
Cairo Opera
El Gezira, Cairo
Tel: 739 8144 / 739 8132
8pm
Art: Re_turn
Ros Ford, Sally Hampson and John O’Carroll return to Egypt with new work. Each has previously spent several years living and working in Egypt. Their ongoing relationships with Egypt and Egyptians continue to inspire and inform their work. Ford, Hampson and O’Carroll exhibit internationally and this exhibition has developed from an impromptu exhibition together in studios at an archaeologist’s dig house in Dakhleh in 2005.
Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art
8 Champillion St., Downtown
www.mashrabiagallery.com
(02) 578 4494
Closed Fridays
11am-8pm
Book: The Innocent Man
Best-selling crime writer John Grisham tackles nonfiction for the first time with “The Innocent Man,” a true tale about murder and injustice in a small town. And it still reads like one of his own bestselling novels. “The Innocent Man” tells the story of Ron Williamson, how he was arrested and charged with a crime he did allegedly not commit, how his case was (mis)handled and how an innocent man was sent to death row. Amazon.com describes Grisham's first work of nonfiction as “shocking, disturbing, and enthralling.” If you’re looking for a good book to dig into this holiday, then this is it.
Available at the Diwan bookstore in Zamalek.
Movie: The Guardian
An action-adventure movie starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. After losing his crew in a fatal crash, legendary Rescue Swimmer, Ben Randall (Costner), is sent to teach at "A" School, an elite training program for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Wrestling with the loss of his crew members, he throws himself into teaching, turning the program upside down with his unorthodox training methods. While there, he encounters a young, cocky swim champ, Jake Fischer (Kuthcer), who is driven to be the best. During training, Randall helps mold Jake's character, combining his raw talent with the heart and dedication required of a Rescue Swimmer. Upon graduation, Jake follows Randall to Kodiak, Alaska, where they face the inherent dangers of the Bering Sea. In his initial solo rescue, Jake learns firsthand from Randall, the true meaning of heroism and sacrifice, echoing the Swimmer's motto: "So Others May Live".
Check cinema listings on page 8 for more information.
