An Egyptian film critic. He was born in the Egyptian province of Almanoufia. He was the director of the National Egyptian Film Festival since 1998 and director of the Ismailia Film Festival for Short Films and Records since 2002. He was the chairman of the central Censorship Department in Egypt between 1996 and 1999. He had published several books on cinema among which are “Cinema and Politics” and “The Charm of Cinema.”