Farouq Abdul-Aziz (born July 24, 1946, at El-Mahalla El-Kubra, in the heartland of Egypt's Nile Delta) is a TV presenter, interviewer, writer, producer and director. He belongs to the second generation of Egyptian film critics, with a style deeply rooted in 20th-century literary criticism.
Biography Farouk Abdul-Aziz's career began in 1966 as a film and art critic on Egyptian radio. Before obtaining his Bachelor's of Arts in English literature from the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, he was involved in writing comic strips for Disney's Middle East Arabic language franchise, the Mickey Mouse Weekly, where he published his noted one-year-long series The Gates of Cairo (1967–1968).
Fresh from college in 1968, Farouk worked at Cairo's monthly Al Majallah ('The Magazine') to publish his Arabic translation of Paul Klee's lecture on Modern Art in book form. From 1968 to 1977, Farouk worked freelance, covering arts activities for the Cairo evening newspaper, the daily Al Messa ('The Evening'). It was during this period that his second translation of Klee's work, Pedagogical Sketchbook was serialized. In 1969, Al Majallah also published Farouk's translation of three articles authored by Henry Moore, a rare contribution by the English landmark sculptor. In 1974, Farouk hosted English sculptor and painter Hubert Dalwood on an Egyptian Radio show, as well as for live appearances at Cairo and Alexandria's Faculty of Fine Arts.
Early career (1968 – 1976) Farouq focused on the school of Objective Criticism, the rules of which were laid down by poet and critic T. S. Eliot in the 1920s. From 1968 until 1974, Farouq, a committed art critic, traversed various art disciplines and published his criticism in the Egyptian written press, radio, and television. In 1974, Farouq shifted his focus to film criticism.
Late 1970s and move to Kuwait In 1976, Farouq made a permanent move to Kuwait. During this time, he worked continuously and was featured in nearly every newspaper in the country, including Al-Seyassah, Al-Watan, Al-Qabas, Arab Times, and Kuwait Times. From 1978 to 1980, Farouq spent the better part of two years co-writing and producing the British documentary Vanessa Talks with Farouk Abdulaziz on the life and times of actress and outspoken activist Vanessa Redgrave.
1980s In the 1980s, Farouk created a documentary produced in both English and Arabic about the making of Lion of The Desert, the Hollywood blockbuster starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan resistance leader Omar al-Mukhtar. Farouq also produced the Arabic version of "The Great National Parks of Europe," a 10-hour series produced by Telepol Suisse.
Between 1986 and 1987, Farouq expanded his activities to include co-writing and co-producing the International English-speaking version of the 18-hour Japanese documentary series The Silk Road - Part Two. The series, produced by NHK Television, was later broadcast on almost all major international television networks.
Following the 1988 telecast of the Turkish language version of The Silk Road, the Turkish Ministry of Culture invited Farouq to produce a documentary about Turkey. The film, titled "Merhaba" (Welcome), was told from an Arab perspective and primarily intended for an Arab audience. "Merhaba" aired on various Arab television networks throughout 1988 and 1989.
1990s In the aftermath of the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion in February 1991, Farouq produced documentaries chronicling life in Kuwait for several international television networks, including NBC in the US and the BBC in the UK. He also produced the Kuwait segment for the critically acclaimed film Baraka (1992).
In the three years that followed, Farouq served as a development producer on a documentary series project for international broadcasters, including CBC in Canada. He also branched out and acted as a media consultant on a number of projects, including the creation of international production companies and specialized television channels.
From 1997 through 2000, Farouq focused his energy on writing and developing three children's films for the International Cartoon and Animation Center (ICAC) based in Los Angeles, California. He also served as an artistic consultant for the center during this time.
Farouq continued to conduct film screenings, lectures, and workshops, while also producing documentaries for offices affiliated with the Kuwaiti Amiri Diwan, namely, The Martyr's Bureau, the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development, and The Social Development Office. These efforts focused on addressing the human toll of the Iraqi invasion.
2000s From 2004 until 2018, Farouq acted as a media consultant to several government agencies in the State of Kuwait. In 2008, he began studying the relationship between science and religion, focusing particularly on the scientific and historical references in the Qur’an. This study resulted in the production of approximately 500 short-form films and a few one-hour documentaries all of which were broadcast on Farouq's YouTube channel over a span of 15 years.
The channel is currently active and features an uninterrupted stream of short films, lectures, and archival material. Over the span of 10 years, the channel has garnered over 180,000 subscribers and 20 million views. Farouq's diverse activities across various platforms have attracted considerable pan-Arab attention.
2010s From 2010 until 2012, Farouq spearheaded, produced, and directed a feature-length documentary on Paul Findley, the former US congressman, and his relationship with the Palestinian issue. The film, Honorable Paul: He Who Dared to Speak Out, is currently in post-production.
Farouq published five books between 2016 and 2018. These books, released in both English and Arabic, further scrutinized the relationship between science and the Qur’an. The titles include: Maurice and The Qur’an, Knitted by the Stars, and Who, 14 Centuries ago, Could’ve Known That?
For two years, starting in 2017, Farouq produced six documentaries chronicling his experience during the seven months of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, as well as the liberation that followed.
In 2019, Farouq completed the final draft of a script based on Alan Villiers’s book Sons of Sinbad (1940). The international docudrama project is intended to document the final chapters of Kuwaiti sailing navigation.
2020s
From 2020 to 2021, Farouq wrote, directed, and produced a series for Arab television networks titled Al-Burhan (Evidence). The show investigates a selection of scientific, historical, and rhetorical references in the Qur’an, framing its exploration within the study of the relationship between science and religion.
In July 2023, Farouq began writing a new documentary series entitled Life Before Life. The series, scheduled for production and release in five languages in 2024, depicts the close affinity of contemporary Embryology with Qur’anic verses that accurately describe the stages of human reproduction.
Farouq Abdul-Aziz has been a ubiquitous presence in the landscape of Arab media, frequently appearing in print media and as a guest on various television and radio programs, where he recalls stories from his 55-year career span.
Children’s writer, then and now Farouq Abdul-Aziz's 55-year career has been characterized by a rare kind of diversity. Before graduating from Cairo University in 1968, where he studied English language and literature, Farouq wrote comics for Mickey, an Arabic language version of Disney's popular comic strip. His series The Gates of Cairo continued for a whole year. The experience of writing comics paid off 30 years later when the US-based International Cartoon and Animation Center (ICAC) commissioned him to write three feature-length children's films. He also produced the Arabic language version of The Knights of Virtue for the center. The first of his three features, titled The Return of The Golden Queen, was released in 2000 in both English and Arabic.
Formative arts critic In 1967, Farouq translated Paul Klee’s seminal book, On Modern Art. Farouq’s version was published in 1968, the year he graduated from university. The translation was published in Al-Magalla (The Magazine), one of the most important and culturally relevant Arab magazines of all time. Farouq’s translation was immediately embraced in the art world and subsequently landed him a steady assignment as an art critic for Al-Massa’ (The Evening), a Cairo-based newspaper. The job lasted from 1968 through 1977.
Al-Massa’, the only evening newspaper at that time, published Farouq's translation of another Paul Klee book titled: Pedagogical Sketchbooks on its formative arts page. In 1969, Al-Magalla published another of Farouq's translations, this time it was of three articles by the prominent English sculptor Henry Moore. In 1974, another prominent sculptor, Hubert Dalwood was a guest on Farouq's radio program Horizons of Art, which aired on Channel 2 of Cairo Radio. In 1987, Farouq returned to the formative arts with his translation of Salvador Dalí's Dalí on Modern Art: The Cuckolds of Antiquated Modern Art; these translations were published serially in Al-Qabas (The Torch), a Kuwaiti newspaper. In 2005, Farouq published a comprehensive study on the Egyptian painter Mahmoud Abdul Aa’ti in Al-Funoon (The Arts), a Kuwaiti monthly magazine. In 2009, Al-Funoon published another of Farouq’s studies, this time on The Prospects of Islamic Art Today.
Radio beginnings Farouq’s relationship with the Program 2 began at Cairo Radio the year before graduation, during which he translated into Arabic a number of short stories by William Saroyan, Katherine Mansfield and Henry James. In 1974 he was appointed presenter at Program 2. He wrote a dramatic program about the American novelist F Scott Fitzgerald. In it, he played the role of the writer himself, and then later published the teleplay in the Syrian magazine Al-Mawqif Al-Adabi (The Literary Report) in February of 1976.
Film criticism, the choice of a lifetime Farouq’s relationship with film criticism, which then became his main passion, began in 1974 when he started publishing critical articles on some of the world’s national cinemas including Soviet, Hungarian, Cuban, Egyptian, Arab and the American independent. During that period, he participated in editing Brazilian Cinema, a book on the then new Brazilian Cinema Nuovo movement. The book was published by the Egyptian Film Critics Association EFCA, and was selected to accompany a major festival organized by the association for Brazilian Cinema in Cairo in 1975.
Farouq’s critical articles were published on a semi-weekly basis starting in 1974 in the Bulletin of the Cairo Cinema Club and in the daily newspaper Al-Massa’ (The Evening), and on a semi-monthly basis in the literature and arts supplement of the Egyptian monthly magazine Al-Taleea’ (The Vanguard). A number of Farouq's articles from this period (1974–1977) were published in several Arab newspapers and magazines, including the Iraqi magazines Afaq Arabiya (Arab Horizons) and Al-Aqlam (Pens), the Iraqi daily newspaper Al-Jumhuriya (The Republic), and the Kuwaiti magazine Al-Taleea’ (The Vanguard).
By 1977 Farouq had become a film critic for two Kuwaiti daily publications; Al-Siyasah (Politics) in Arabic and Arab Times in English. The following year, he joined the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Watan (The Homeland) and continued publishing there until 1983. He also joined the Kuwait Times in 1978 and wrote articles there until 1990.
Between 1983 and 1987 Farouq joined the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas (The Torch) as a film critic. His contributions to the Kuwaiti pan Arab periodicals Al-Arabi (The Arab) and Al-Funoon (The Arts) monthly magazines continued from 1978 until 2017. Farouq still follows the film criticism path as of the first issue of September 2022 of the quarterly Cinema Al-Youm (Cinema Today) published by the Kuwait Cine-Club.
Television beginnings