Amro Samir Atef (b. 1971)
Alias:
عمرو سمير عاطف
Birthplace:
Egypt
Born:
November 27, 1971
‘Amr was born in the city of Dummyat. He concluded his higher studies at the English language division of the faculty of education and thereafter headed to Cairo where he received a diploma in Theater Arts from Cairo University. ‘Amr began his career in screenwriting, the first of his works to draw attention was the animated production “al-Sindibad al-Bahry” (“Sindibad the Sailor”). The work was directed by Mona Abou al-Nasr and received more than 27 local and international awards. Thereafter ‘Amr continued working on children’s productions, one of the most important of which was the series “Bakkar” which involved nine parts. The screenwriter also contributed to the writing of the well known series “’Alam Simsim” (“Simsim’s World”). Thereafter ‘Amr transitioned to writing sitcoms and put together the first professional writing workshop in the Arab World. Under his supervision the workshop turned out the series “Ragel wa Sit Sittat” (“A Man and Six Women”) which involved five parts, “Tamer wa Shawqqiyah” – four parts, “al-E’yadah” (“The Clinic”) – two parts and “’Aailat al-Ustaz Amin” (“The Family of Professor Amin”). Those productions are considered among the region’s most important sitcoms, they have contributed to changing television comedy in the Arab World. Thereafter ‘Amr moved to writing for cinema and his first such work was the film “Awlad al-‘Am” (“Cousins”) which was directed by Sherif ‘Arafa and features the performances of Kareem ‘Abd Al ‘Azeez, Sherif Mounir and Mona Zakky.