Honorary President of the Festival

Bahaa Taher is not only a top Arab novelist and storyteller, but he is also one of the most prominent Arab intellectuals. His achievements in writing and his pioneering practice in the cultural field are major indications of the creative and cultural fields alike.

Taher, who was born in 1935 and graduated from Cairo University of Cairo in 1956, started to work at the beginning of his life as director of programming of the Second Radio Channel from the early sixties until the year 1973. The Channel, which significantly affected the dissemination of knowledge of the Egyptian culture and that of the whole world, also played an important role in establishing cultural foundation for the 1960s generation, putting them in the circle of contemporary world culture.

In 1973, a year after the appearance of his collection of short stories Engagement, and as an angry reaction to the vicious attack carried out by Sadat, Egypt's president at that time, Bahaa Taher left alongside many other Egyptian intellectuals in a temporary migration. He ultimately settled in Switzerland until 1981 where he worked as a translator in international organizations related to the United Nations. It was a period where he completely focused on his writings that contributed to Arabic literature. Among his published novels, "Love in the Time of Exile"," Doha Said", "My Aunt Safia and the Monastery"," Light Spot "and many others. His writings were translated into many languages ​​such as English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Polish and other languages.

In continuation of his cultural generosity, Taher recently donated a piece of land that he inherited from his father in Luxor for the establishment of a cultural palace in his homeland.  

Choosing Bahaa Taher, as honorary president of the first edition of Luxor Egyptian and European Film Festival, is a mere modest greeting for a great figure in culture and literature in our country.