The announcement of the postponement of honoring the musician Mounir Murad for the next year, sparked a great controversy and controversy in Egypt, at a time when the management of the Alexandria Film Festival for the Mediterranean countries justified the postponement due to the difference in the year of the late artist's birth.

Some sources mentioned that he was born in the year 1920, while others said that he was born in the year 1922, and a third specified the year of his birth in 1924, and a fourth in 1928.

The festival administration did not find any papers deciding the date of Murad's birth;

Whether in the Syndicate of Musical Professions or others, so it was decided to wait for his grandson to come from outside Egypt to complete the official papers and confirm the artist’s date of birth.

As soon as the postponement was announced, speculation and rumors began about the reasons for the postponement, and some talked about the late artist's religion may be a reason.

Centenary..or honor?

Critic Nahid Salah, treasurer of the Egyptian Society of Egyptian Film Writers and Critics - the association responsible for organizing the Alexandria Film Festival - denied what was published about the cancellation of the celebration of Mounir Murad, noting that the event was postponed until the date of birth is confirmed.

"It is rare for an artist to admit the correct date of his birth," she added.

Salah added that the writer Ashraf Gharib, who is preparing the book on Munir Murad, is the one who indicated the uncertainty of the date of birth of the late musician.

The critic of Al Jazeera Net explained that Mounir Murad was not among the honored artists, since the Alexandria Festival honors living stars.

As for the departed, they are celebrated differently and under other names, including the 100th anniversary of their birth in the so-called "centenary", so the festival had no choice but to wait to make sure the dates were correct.

Nahed Salah indicated that the Alexandria Festival "knows well the value of Mounir Murad as part of the artistic, Arab and international memory, and has a great impact on Egyptian cinema through his melodies and sketches, and therefore the risk of celebrating Murad's centenary untimely is an insult to his heritage and art, as well as an insult to him." for the festival.

controversy and anger

A number of social media pioneers expressed their anger at the decision to postpone, noting that they were not convinced of the ambiguity about his date of birth.

Lamia Mokhtar wrote on her Facebook page, "Unfortunately, what I was afraid of happened two or three weeks ago because I knew what was going on behind the scenes of the Alexandria Film Festival, and the celebration of the centenary of the wonderful and genius Mounir Murad was postponed for a reason that is not convincing enough in my opinion, which is the uncertainty of his birth year. And one day I will tell some of what happened, God willing.”

While Amr Hosni wrote on his page, "A genius of this rare kind deserves a hundred Oscars for the best dramatic song, and we are overwhelmed with a meager prize in a medium-value festival in its centenary on the pretext that we do not know the exact date of his birth!! This is the uglier excuse than guilt." Is there a sin greater than ignoring his due honor, which has been deserved for so many years?”

Murad's cinematic sketches

Mounir Murad is the brother of the artist Laila Murad. He was born into an ancient artistic family that adheres to Judaism, before he announced his conversion to Islam after his sister, Laila Murad, who also announced her conversion to Islam.

Murad studied at the French College, but preferred to enter the artistic field early to complete his studies, and began in his life to work as an assistant director, but turned to composing, and among his most famous tunes are "Laughter, Play, Find and Love", "A Strange Need" by Abdel Halim Hafez, and "The Engagement Ring". to Shadia.

The late artist gained wide fame for presenting show films, during which he presented many sketches, during which he imitated celebrities with great skill.

Among his most famous films are "Anna wa Habibi", "A Rendezvous with the Devil" and "Your Day Happy".