Screening: May Ziade, The Life of an Arab Feminist Writer

Marie Elias Ziade, or May, was a key Lebanese-Palestinian figure in the Arab literary scene in the early 20th century who firmly established herself as a vibrant female voice in what was clearly a man’s world at the time. She was a journalist but also wrote fiction with strong female characters, poetry, political and cultural books and magazine articles, often on the condition of Arab women

She arrived in Egypt with her family around 1907 and held popular weekly salons for the predominantly male Egyptian literary elite and intellectuals. A romantic and idealist from an early age, Ziade exuded depth, femininity and charm – and so naturally won many admirers, both professional and amorous

However, she did not entertain any of these suitors because she was only in love with one man, the Lebanese poet and one of the Arab literary greats, Gibran Khalil Gibran. Extraordinarily, the two never met – but their relationship enriched Arabic epistolary literature with the most beautiful correspondence

Directed by Mohsen Abd El-Ghani

This film is part of the Beirut Art Film Festival.