: 25 July, 2005
Film Guide: Iraq, Terrorism, and Their Regional Contexts [compiled by Foreign Policy In Focus, highlights films dealing with various aspects of the current crisis around war with Iraq, terrorism, the U.S. response, and the politics and history of Afghanistan, Asia, and the Middle East]
Egyptian Posters, Egyptian Films
Documentary Director: InCounter Productions Year: 2004 Time: 90 minutes Language: Arabic with English subtitles -- Official Selection of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, February 2005 Official Selection at IDFA Amsterdam 2004 WINNER - Best Documentary BAF 2004
In July of 2003, exiled writer and poet Sinan Antoon returned to his native Baghdad with a team of independent filmmakers, artists and poets to document the effects that decades of oppression, war, sanctions and occupation have had on his city. The result is a fascinating mosaic of opinions, perspectives, desires and memories that offers a picture far more complex than the limited one presented by mainstream US media. ABOUT BAGHDAD pays tribute to the brave people of Baghdad as they struggle to come to terms with the tragic fate of their beloved city.
The Aftermath: A Visit to Postwar Iraq
Just a day after the cease-fire, news correspondents in this program journeyed into Baghdad to offer firsthand perspectives on the political, social, and religious fault lines exposed with the fall of Saddam Hussein. Balanced in its assessment, the program features interviews with Iraqi clerics, businessmen, scholars, and street protesters, as well as U.S. Army soldiers and their commanders, providing valuable insights into the complexities and problems that will play themselves out in the months and years to come. (46 minutes, color)
[Also Known As: ALEXANDRIA...WHY? (1979) = Alexandrie pourquoi?]
Producer, director and writer, Youssef Chahine; director of photography, Mohsen Nasr ; editor, Rashida Abd el Salam ; music, Dr. Gamal Salama. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1982 by Misr Film International. Number of discs: 3 (DVD).
Iskanderiya... lih?
Production, Youssef Chahine for Misr International Films ; direction, Youssef Chahine ; screenplay, Youssef Chahine and Mohsen Nasr ; cinematography, Mohsen Nasr ; editing, Rashida Abdel Salam ; music, Fouad El Zaheiry. Ezzat El Alaili ; Naglaa Fathi ; Mohsen Mohiedine ; Farid Shawqi ; Gerry Sundquist ; Mohsena Tawfik ; Originally produced as a motion picture in 1978. DVD 1 videodisc (ca. 133 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. New York, NY : WinStar TV & Video, c2000.
Set against the panoramic backdrop of war-torn Egypt, director Youssef Chahine tells a highly personal tale of love and determination. Amid the poverty, death and suffering caused by World War II, 18 year-old Yehia, retreats into a private world of fantasy and longing. Obsessed with Hollywood, he dreams of one day studying filmmaking in America, but after falling in love and "discovering the lies of European occupation," Yehia profoundly reevaluates his identity and allegiances.
(Olin PN1997 .I85 2000)
Hadduta Misriya [Memory]
[Also Known As: La memoire = AN EGYPTIAN STORY (1982)]
Oussama Nadir, Mohson Mohieddine, Nour El Charif. Producer, director and writer, Youssef Chahine; director of photography, Mohsen Nasr ; editor, Rashida Abd el Salam ; music, Dr. Gamal Salama. In Arabic, with subtitles in English; credits in French and Arabic. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1982 by Miòsr Film International. DVD: New York, NY : WinStar TV & Video, c2000. 1 videodisc (ca. 127 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Famed Egyptian director Yehia [Youssef Chahine] falls ill with a heart condition that requires surgery. During the operation, a child embodying his conscience accuses him of betraying his ideals. A metamorphic trial ensues in which various witnesses offer their testimony about "the defendant." These proceedings force the filmmaker to come to terms with hidden emotions involving his life, his work and his country. Yehia's conscience loses the trial and a redundant organ is expelled from his body. But will this loss be fatal?
(Olin PN1997 .D433 2000)
Iskandiriya, Kaman wa Kaman = Alexandrie encore et toujours
[Also Known As: Alexandria Again and Forever (1990)]
Misr International Films ; Paris Classics Productions ; La Sept ; director-screenwriter, Youssef Chahine ; producers, Marianne Khoury, Humbert Balsan. Alexandria again and forever. Credited cast overview: Youssef Chahine (Yehia) ; rest of cast listed alphabetically : Zaki Abdel Wahab (Guindi) ; Menha Batraoui (Gigi) ; Taheya Cariocca (Tahia) ; Hussein Fahmy (Stelio) ; Amr Abdel Guelil (Amr) ; Amina Rizk ; Yousra (Nadia). In Arabic, with subtitles in English; credits in French and Arabic.Originally produced as a motion picture in 1989 by Misr Film International. DVD: New York, NY : WinStar TV & Video, c2000. 1 videodisc (ca. 105 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
This complicated and surreal autobiographical film, explores the personal life and fantasies that have shaped the motion pictures of Youssef Chahine. Taking a stand for democracy, Yehia (Chahine's on-screen alter ego) joins a hunger protest which has rallied infatuation for Amir, the young actor whose career he launched with the film Alexandria...Why? But this obsession is soon overshadowed by his interest in Nadia, the beautiful inginue whom he decides to cast in his next feature.
(Olin PN1997 .I852 2000)
The Apple
Directed by Samira Makhmalbaf ; Written by Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Samira Makhmalbaf ; With Ghorban Ali Naderi, Azizeh Mohamadi, Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Zahra Saghrisaz.
In the near-iconic opening shot of Samira Makhmalbaf's remarkable first feature, The Apple, a hand is reaching into the frame to water a dried-out plant. The futility of this simple act becomes evident as we see the life-bringing water miss the pot. The hand performing this unavailing task belongs to Zahra, an 11 year-old girl who plays herself in this true-to-life film. The bars hindering Zahra from reaching the thirsty flower are the same ones that separate her from the outside world. For as long they can remember, she and her twin sister Massoumeh have been imprisoned in the family home by a righteous and protecting father. In tying the fate of the flower to the condition of the twins, Samira Makhmalbaf manages to create a powerful and poetic metaphor for the condition of girls and women in an anachronistic Iranian society where archaic traditions can cause antagonism and modern-day tragedy. In a central part of the film, the father is asked to justify his daughters' captivity to a social worker. Defending his deed, the 65 year-old unemployed patriarch refers to a tattered copy of "Advice to Fathers." "My daughters are like flowers," he says, "expose them to sun, and they will wither away." Interpreting the "sun" to mean "boys", the religious father, whose only ally is his blind wife, decides to isolate his beloved daughters in the name of dignity. After learning about this real-life tragedy from Iranian television, the 17 year-old director Samira Makhmalbaf became interested in the fate and future of the twins. Being the daughter of famous Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira's upbringing was both privileged and liberal, and in most respects very different from the experience her two subjects shared. Despite their different backgrounds, Samira shows us an understanding of the sisters' situation that is both compelling and real. Approaching the twins, she even persuaded them to play themselves in this re-enactment of their release from captivity. As the result, the acting by the two girls is nothing short of magical. Their purity and innocence is conveyed in unaffected and genuinely charming performances so rarely seen on film. The film starts with hand-held video footage, cleverly adding a jolt of immediacy to the happenings. We follow the girls as they leave the house for the first time. They are escorted by civil servants from the Welfare Department who finally responded after a petition to free the twins was signed by the neighbors. But we see the girls return to their prison after their father promises the authorities to never repeat his misdeed -- a promise he promptly breaks. A social worker is summoned and this time she releases the twins and puts the parents where the children used to be -- behind bars. With the roles now reversed, Zahra and Massoumeh, both slightly autistic and with hampered gaits, are free to explore the outside world. Following temptation itself -- an apple tantalizingly dangled before them by a playful boy -- the pubescent girls venture outside. Their sense of discovery in the everyday streets of Teheran is colored with a delightful awe for simple pleasures. The taste of ice cream, the encounter with a goat, the interactions with vendors and potential friends give rise to both comic and deeply moving situations. Shot in 11 days, The Apple is everything a Hollywood film is not, and that's a major compliment. This understated and poetic, yet refreshingly simple, exercise in filmmaking raises urgent and difficult questions, but refrains from giving us stereotypical and moralistic answers. Rather than making judgment calls, Samira Makhmalbaf challenges us to reflect on the contradictions emerging from the clash between traditional values and the ones propagated by a modern and civilized society. It is clear that the making of The Apple was a profound experience for both Zahra and Massoumeh -- a summary initiation into both the real and the reel world. As viewers, we are allowed to share in their joy of freedom and exploration, and in their enthusiastic appreciation of the small things in life. It is a rare gift to see something so authentic in such an artistic context. I recently read that Samira's younger sister has shot two short films. She is ten years old and will probably soon join the ranks of her sister and father. If Samira's filmmaking is an indication of her sister's talents, then the Iranian Film Revolution -- or is it Evolution? -- is set to continue. (By Bence Olveczky)
This review was published on Friday, April 30, 1999. The Tech (MIT). Volume 119, Number 23.
(Olin PN1997 .A38 1999)
Arab and Jew: Wounded spirits in a promised land
a production of Gardner Films, Inc. with WETA, Washington, D.C. ; executive producer/principal writer, David K. Shipler ; producer/director, Robert Gardner ; co-producer/writer, Patrick Prentice. Cinematographers, Tony Cutrano, Yoram Millo, Itamar Hadar ; editor, Martha Conbog ; music, David Spear. Originally broadcast on PBS stations in 1989. Washington, D.C.] : PBS Home Video ; [s.l.] : Distributed by Quartet International, 1989. (Jewish heritage video collection ; IS 193) 1 videocassette (117 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by David K. Shipler. The two-hour special examines the tension between Arabs and Jews living within the lands under jurisdiction of the Israeli state, including the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The origins of racial hatred are difficult to identify. They are born of long-unresolved issues, intolerance, repression, differing beliefs or social status, skin color, facial features or even body size. Whatever the cause of bigotry, the physical evidence of its destructive power is only too apparent in many parts of the world. Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land takes an intimate look at Israeli and Palestinian society and the complicated relationships in the former Arab territories now under the jurisdiction of the state of Israel. The program examines the origins of the division between these peoples beginning with Israel's 1948 war for independence. Viewers learn about the history of the strange misunderstandings and envy that exist when the real nature of people is masked by divisive propagands. The long-unresolved issues of intolerance, repression and differing beliefs or social status have brought about a continuing state of war for both Arab and Jew in the former Arab territories now under the jurisdiction of the state of Israel. Nearly every family in this region has lost loved ones and treasured possessions. Locked in a prolonged struggle, few of the participants in the political strife can see beyond the narrow confines of their own personal suffering. Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land examines the Arab intifada or "uprising." Conflict between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank is set in the context of the lives of children who live in the refugee camps. Beyond the alienation, there are shared values and interaction in the intricate Arab-Jewish relationship. Innovative programs have built friendships between Arab and Jewish men, women and children, but many still acknowledge that easy solutions cannot work and there are few prospects for an eventual settlement and a lasting peace.
(Uris Video 2164)
Al-Ard (The Land)
With: Najwa Ibrahim, °Izzat al-°Alayli, Mahmud al-Miliji ; sinariyu wa-hiwar, Hasan Fuad ; mudir al-intaj, Mustafa Abd al-Aziz ; ikhraj, Yusuf Shahin. Mudir al-taswir, Abd al-Halim Nasr ; al-talif al-musiqi wa-qiyadat al-urkistra, Ali Ismail ; azf, Urkistra al-Qahirah al-Simfuni. al-Qahirah : al-Muassasah al-Misriyah al-Ammah lil-Sinima, 1970. Arabic with English subtitles. 130 mins.
Based on the novel by Abd al-Rahman al-Sharqawi. Set in an Egyptian village in 1933, this is an epic film about feudalism and peasant resistance, in which Chahine was able to elicit the best performances from his cast and crew. It showed at the Cannes film festival in 1969. In a small village peasants encounter problems in getting enough water to irrigate their fields. On top of this hardship, the local landowner decides to appropriate part to their land to build a road to his new estate. The final scene of the film with the older peasant, Abu Sweilim, grabbing the earth with his fingers as he is lynched, his blood making tracks in the earth and on the white cotton buds is one of the most powerful scenes in Egyptian cinema. The film was thought to be talking about the 1967 defeat and the occupation of Egyptian territory in its reference to the importance of the land for Egyptians and the sacrifices made by peasants to maintain their land.
(Uris Video 553)
Art of cinema in Iran
A comprehensive collection of movie clips, commentaries, history of all the movies shown in the Fajr festival and much more. Over 113 movies are discussed in this exciting CD. [double CD Rom (2 in the pack)]
Olin
Ashikat Al-Cinema = Women Who Loved Cinema, Part 1-2.
Pt. 1. Director: Marianne Khoury Year: 2002 Time: 58 minutes Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Featuring rare film footage and interviews with scholars and directors such as Youssef Chahine, WOMEN WHO LOVED CINEMA, PART ONE chronicles the achievements of women filmmakers whose adventurous spirits changed the face of the Egyptian film industry in the 1920s and 30s. At a time when their country was steeped in conservative tradition, these strong-willed women broke cultural taboos and dismissed conventional wisdom to pursue their passion for filmmaking. WOMEN WHO LOVED CINEMA, PART ONE begins by unearthing the works of Aziza Amir, an actor/producer who starred in LEILA (1927), considered the very first Egyptian feature film. Director Marianne Khoury next focuses on the lives and careers of headstrong actress Fatma Roushdi, who was married to director Aziz Eid, and Bahidja Hafez, who produced, directed, acted, edited and composed music for her films. This film is volume two of the WOMEN PIONEERS COLLECTION.
Pt. 2. Director: Marianne Khoury Year: 2002 Time: 58 minutes Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Featuring rare film footage and interviews with director Youssef Chahine, legendary film star Amina Rizk and others, WOMEN WHO LOVED CINEMA, PART TWO chronicles the achievements of women filmmakers who helped shape the face of the Egyptian film industry from the 1930s to the 1960s. At a time when their country was steeped in conservative tradition, these strong-willed women broke cultural taboos and dismissed conventional wisdom to pursue their passion for filmmaking. WOMEN WHO LOVED CINEMA, PART TWO explores the work of Amina Mohamed, the independent director and star of TITA WONG (1937), an unusual film that chronicles the plight of a Chinese family living in Egypt. The documentary continues by examining the contributions of actress Marie Queenie as well as Assia Dagher, a Lebanese actress who gained Egyptian citizenship in 1933. Dagher then went on to produce over fifty Egyptian films, becoming one of the country's most influential producers. This film is part of the WOMEN PIONEERS COLLECTION.
(Olin, AV)
Al-ASIFA = LA TEMPETE [AL ASSIFA / DESERT STORM]
Running Time: 1:42. Screenplay (in Arabic) by Khaled Youssef; Production Design by Hamed Hemdane; Photography (Color) by Mohsen Nasr; Edited by Rabab Abdel Latif;Music by Kamal El-Tawil
Yusra, Hanan Turk, Hani Salamah, Hisham Salim, Muhammad Najati.
(olin,storage PN1997 .A85 2001a)
Two brothers end up on opposite sides of the Gulf War.
Festivals (Prizes): Cairo 2000: In Competition (Special Jury Prize, Best Arabic Film), S.F. Intl. 01, Cairo 01, L.A. African 02
World Premiere/Country/Distributor/ Screens: Jan 26 2001 Egypt Misr Intl.
Critics: *** / 5 - TheMovieTimes: Pretty good.
Autour de la Maison Rose
Réalisateurs : Joana HADJITHOMAS & Khalil JOREIGE. Scénaristes : Joana HADJITHOMAS & Khalil JOREIGE. Durée : 1h32; Format : 35mm - couleur - 1,85 - Dolby SR; Année : 1999; Versions : française Arabe sous-titrée en Français. Image : Pierre DAVID. Son : Ludovic HENAULT. Décor : Frédéric BENARD. Montage : Tina BAZ- LE GAL. Musique : Robert M. LEPAGE Interprètes : Mireille SAFA, Joseph BOU NASSAR, Hanane ABBOUD, Maurice MAALOUF, Zeina SAAB DE MELERO, Asma ANDRAOS ... Production MILLE ET UNE PRODUCTIONS. Producteurs : Anne-Cécile BERTHOMEAU & Edouard MAURIAT. Co-producteur : Les Ateliers du Cinéma Québécois - Jean Dansereau . Avec la participation de : Canal Plus ; Ministère Français de la Culture; Ministère des Affaires étrangères ; Agence de la Francophonie - ACCT ; Canal Horizons ;Infi Gamma Holding - Liban ; SODEC Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles - ;Québec ; Programme de crédit d'impôt (Québec) ; Programme de crédit d'impôt fédéral (Ottawa) ; Djinn House Productions ; Ministère Libanais de la Culture et de l'Enseignement supérieur un scénario développé avec l'aide de SOURCES une initiative du programme européen MEDIA
Synopsis
Au Liban, dans le quartier fictif et populaire de Matba'a trône un vieux palais, "la maison rose". C'est là où se sont réfugiés au début de la guerre, deux familles les Nawfal et les Adaimi. Aujourd'hui, la guerre semble lointaine. Le pays est en plein effort économique et les immeubles criblés d'obus cèdent progressivement la place à de vastes projets immobiliers. C'est la reconstruction, à laquelle les habitants du quartier, devenus familiers du dynamitage des vieux immeubles, assistent en spectateurs. L'arrivée de Mattar, le nouveau propriétaire de la maison rose, bouleverse leur vie. Il leur annonce son intention de transformer ce palais en centre commercial tout en sauvegardant sa façade. Les deux familles devront quitter les lieux dans les dix jours, conformément à la loi. Secoués par cette nouvelle, les habitants du quartier ne savent que penser et, petit à petit, ils se divisent : d'un côté, les commerçants, partisans du développement économique que favorisera le centre commercial, de l'autre, les deux familles et leurs alliés qui cherchent leur place ou même simplement à exister dans le système économique actuel qui ne les prend pas en considération. Progressivement, le quartier ressemble à un nouveau champ de bataille. A chaque camp, ses stratégies : résistance des habitants de la maison et oppositions des commerçants. Ces prises de positions évoluent sous le regard indiscret d'un reporter Daniel de plus en plus présent dans le conflit. Au sein de ces tensions et des situations absurdes et drôles qu'elles engendrent, les protagonistes de l'histoire vivent chacun leur drame individuel. La maison rose agit comme un miroir déformant d'une certaine réalité, celle des deux familles, celle du quartier et celle d'un pays où chacun perd ou retrouve la mémoire face aux ruines d'une étrange après guerre.
Bab al-Hadid (Cairo Station)
Released as an Egyptian motion picture in 1958. August Light Productions ; directed by Youssef Chahine. 1 videocassette (74 min.) ; Cast: Hind Rostom, Farid Shawqi, Youssef Chahine, Naima Wasfy, Said Khalil. Screenplay, Abdel Hay Adib ; photography, Alvise Orfanelli ; music, Fouad El Zahri.
Plot
Bab al-Hadid is a melodrama about porters, newspaper hawkers and soft drink sellers in a Cairo railway station. The cripple Kinawi, who has got a job as newspaper seller, becomes obsessed with the beautiful drink seller Hanuma. She alternately rejects poor Kinawi and leads him on. When he proposes to her, she says she is going to be married to the porter Abu Sri'. Crazed with love, or rather sexual desire, and jealousy Kinawi decides to kill Hanuma. He tries to lure her to a warehouse in order to stab her to death. Unwittingly Hanuma sends off another girl who is attacked by Kinawi and is apparently killed. Kinawi does not notice his mistake. His victim is not dead, however, and is discovered shortly afterwards. Kinawi is suspected of the crime, but is somewhere at large amongst the railway tracks, and so is Hanuma. Confronted with Hanuma apparently restored to life, Kinawi goes berserk and chases her with his knife. He gets at her, but at the same time a crowd, amongst whom are the police, have caught up with them. Kinawi puts his knife to Hanuma's neck and a stalemate ensues. The owner of the newsstand in the station, Kinawi's employer, diverts Kinawi's attention by talking sweetly of his impending marriage. Abu Sri' sneaks up and grabs the knife. Orderlies put Kinawi in a straight-jacket and drag him away. Abu Sri' and Hanuma are reunited.
(olin,str1 PN1997 .B329 1990)
Bab el-Oued City
Jacques Bidou, Jean Pierre Gallepe, Merzak Allouache, presentent ; un film de Merzak Allouache ; une production Les Matins Films, Flash Back Audiovisual, La Sept Cinema, ZDF, Thelma Film AG. Photography, Jean Jacques Mrejen ; Editing, Marie Colonna ; music, Rachid Bahri. With: Nadia Kaci, Mohamed Ourdache, Hassan Abdou, Mabrouk Ait Amara, Messaoud Hattou, Mourad Khen, Djamila, Simone Vignore, Michel Such. In Arabic and French with English subtitles.-- Seattle, Wash. : Arab Film Distribution, c1994. 1 videocassette (93 min.)
Bab el-Oued is the working class district of Algiers. Boualem, a young worker, holds the graveyard shift in the district bakery. One morning, shortly after the bloody riots of October, 1988, he commits an unthinking act which jeopardizes the entire district. Unable to stand the noise from one of the many rooftop loudspeakers broadcasting the propaganda of a local fundamentalist group, he rips the speaker out and throws it away. The extremists, led by Said, regard this act as deliberately provocative and aim to make an example of the culprit by punishing him. Violence escalates when Yamina, Said's younger sister, is caught with Boualem who is also her secret lover. Merzak Allouache's exposure of the inherent dangers in the recent rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria has attracted considerable attention, winning both a Fipresci (International Film Critics) prize and a Prix Gervais when it was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival last year.
Badkonak Sefid (White Balloon)
From an original idea by Parviz Shabazi. Originally produced as a motion picture. In Farsi with English subtitles. script, Abbas Kiarostami ; executive producer, Ferdos Film Company ; direction, Jafar Panahi. Photography, Farzad Jowdat ; editor, Jafar Panahi. October Films ; CMI ; F. Sadr Orfani, A. Bourkowska, Aèida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Mohammad Bakhtiari, Mohammad Shahani.
Co-winner of the critic's Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, this Iranian breakthrough feature tells the story of a young girl in Teheran who keeps losing her money on her way to buy a goldfish for New Year's. Snake charmers, a lonely and talkative soldier and other assorted adults get in the way of her goal. Includes previews of the films Ermo, Homecoming, Girls town, The funeral, and Celestial clockwork.
Battle for the Holy Land
FRONTLINE
On most PBS stations April 4, 2002. Michael Kirk, senior producer; David Fanning, executive producer; Dominic Allan and Stuart Tanner, producers for the BBC; Tom Roberts, executive producer for October Films; Israel Golvicht, executive producer for Golvicht Productions; Fiona Murch, editor for the BBC. Frontline is produced by WGBH, Boston.
As Israelis and Palestinians prepare for possible all-out war, FRONTLINE investigates how the combatants pursue the deadly conflict on the ground. How did a war that was once fought with stones evolve into a battle involving suicide bombings and targeted killings? Through exclusive access to Israeli commando units and Palestinian militants, FRONTLINE reveals the tactics and strategies behind the fighting and reports on the latest cycle of violence to unfold in the Holy Land.
Face to Face With a Hate That Bloodies the Mideast
By RON WERTHEIMER -- The New York Times Company, April 4, 2002
Watching "Battle for the Holy Land" may not give you a better understanding of the horror there. It surely won't give you hope. But the program, tonight's installment of the "Frontline" series on PBS, does put a human face on the intractable conflict, even if that face is seen in shadow or mostly wrapped in a scarf. Most of this documentary was shot by British film crews in December, when the confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians had not reached the current desperate state. Still, between grim scenes of confusion and death, fighters on both sides speak calmly in interviews about their determination to carry on. Neither side will consider any outcome except its own version of victory. The program takes you inside Al Aqsa Brigades, which carries out suicide bombings for Yasir Arafat's Fatah movement and calls them martyr missions. A handsome brigade leader, first glimpsed getting a haircut, vows, "The Israeli street will never know peace until the children of Palestine also enjoy peace." Inside what is described as a secret refugee camp, a Palestinian "engineer" displays the tools and supplies with which he assembles the explosive belts worn by suicide bombers. Lecturing to the camera like a junior high school chemistry teacher, he says: "To start with, let's see the raw materials. This is gunpowder." One guerrilla who is ready to wear such a belt says, "All those who live on a land that is not theirs are aggressors and tyrants, even the women and elderly." For their part, the Israelis are no less intense. The Palestinians "that we are after are ticking bombs," says one commander. "We don't stop until we get them." Modern warfare, even this gut-level conflict, has its public-relations aspects. And all the interview subjects here are clearly posturing for the viewer. If today's headlines are not enough, these bitter speeches show why the killing is likely to continue.
Battle of Algiers
Stella Productions ; story and screenplay, Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo ; produced by Antonio Musu ; directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. French and Arabic dialogue with English subtitles. WITH: Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef. Credits: Director of photography, Marcello Gatti ; art director, Sergio Canevari ; edited by Mario Serandrei and Mario Morra ; music, Ennio Morricone and Gillo Pontecorvo.
1 videocassette (125 min.) New York, N.Y. : Axon Video Corp., 1988. Originally released by Igor Films in France in 1966 as a motion picture.
Dramatization of the conflict between Algerian nationalists and French colonialists that culminated in Algeria's independence in 1962.
Guerrillas in the Mist : Why the war in Iraq is nothing like The Battle of Algiers. By Christopher Hitchens Posted Friday, Jan. 2, 2004
Be Yade Iran (Memory of Iran 1 & 2)
Alireza Meibodi and Freidoun Tofighi narrate these two tapes. In Farsi only.
Visits to all major cities in Iran. Walking through the streets of Tehran and the big Bazaars of Isfahan and Tehran. Talking to local people and visiting large number of tourists' sites in Southern, Central and Northern Iran. Art centers, museums, restaurants, public bath houses and much much more.
(Olin DS254 .B54 2000)
Behind the Veil: Afghan Women under Fundamentalism
For women living in Afghanistan under repressive Taliban rule, beatings, rape, and enslavement are commonplace occurrences. This gripping program describes the massive human rights abuses that have been escalating since the withdrawal of Soviet forces, as seen through the eyes of women who have survived years of rampant gender and religious intoleranceso far. Resistance activities carried out by women's groups inside the country are also documented, as they fight for freedom and democracy. Some content may be objectionable. (25 minutes, color)
(olin HQ1735.6 .B44x 2001)
Beirut to Bosnia : Muslims and the West
The Series Includes: The Martyr's Smile, The Road to Palestine , To the Ends of the Earth
A Chameleon/Barraclough Carey production for Channel Four and the DiscoveryChannel ; written by Robert Fisk. -- Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities& Sciences, c2000. 1 videocassette (52 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Films for the Humanities : FFH 9058. Producer, Dennis Walsh ; director, Michael Dutfield ; music, Ernie Wood. Filmed in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Egypt and Bosnia.
Why have so many Muslims come to hate the West? In this controversial three-part series Robert Fisk, award-winning Middle East and Balkans correspondent for the London Independent, reports on Muslim unrest as ideology, religion, history, and geography come into conflict. The road to Palestine, examines the displacement of Palestinians by Zionist immigrants and Jewish refugees. Spotlights the militant Islamic group Hamas, the effects of Israeli rule in occupied Gaza, the attitudes of Zionist settlers and Palestinian holdouts on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The Martyr's Smile: This riveting program documents the guerrilla war of Lebanon's Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad movements to free southern Lebanon of Israeli occupation forces and Western interference, beginning with the destruction of the American Marine barracks during the early 1980s. Interviews with Sheikh Hassan Nasralla, Hezbollah suicide soldiers, and civilian casualties of Israeli air attacks—combined with photos of massacre victims and bombing fatalities—underscore both the plight of those caught in the crossfire and the urgent need for a lasting peace in Lebanon. Contains strong imagery. Not available in French-speaking Canada. A Discovery Channel Production. (52 minutes, color)
The Road to Palestine: This compelling program examines the displacement of Palestinians by Zionist immigrants and Jewish refugees. Spotlights on the militant Islamic group Hamas, the effects of Israeli rule in occupied Gaza, and the attitudes of Zionist settlers and Palestinian holdouts on the outskirts of Jerusalem reveal the hostility and the humanity, powerfully depicting the plight of refugees on both sides of the historical, religious, and ideological divide. Not available in French-speaking Canada. A Discovery Channel Production. (52 minutes, color)
To the Ends of the Earth: This gripping program investigates the desperate situations of Muslims in Egypt and Bosnia, who, though worlds apart, are plagued by a common feeling of betrayal by the West. For members of Egypt's Gama'a al-Islamiya, religious fervor and violence—vehicles to create an Islamic state—are viewed as the only antidotes to poverty and unemployment, while Bosnians fight for the simple right to exist in a Europe that they feel does not want them. Interviews with leaders, fighters, and victims from both regions show the many faces of Cairo and Sarajevo. Contains strong imagery. Not available in French-speaking Canada. A Discovery Channel Production. (52 minutes, color)
(olin DS35.73 B45 2000)
Between Two Notes - Le blues de l'Orient
Duration: 90 min 45 s Production Year: 2007 Producer: Amit Breuer Colette Loumède François Duplat Serge Lalou
What do Cairo, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo have in common? Beyond the conflicts that continue to rock the Middle East, these cities share a common heritage: that of classical Arab music. Filmmaker Florence Strauss sets out from Paris in search of the roots of this timeless art, while uncovering a partially unknown and hidden aspect of her own heritage. Out of the void and absence rises the moving voice of catharsis. It is a double quest that is filled with a variety of encounters - a road movie that pays tribute to the musicians and poets who, through their art, embody and perpetuate a part of Middle Eastern history. An ode in praise of cultural fusion and the acceptance of otherness, the film celebrates the sensuousness and generosity of a land once associated with the Garden of Eden. Between Two Notes is, above all, music from the heart. With a thousand and one nuances, it conveys the history of our humanity in all its complexity.
Bent familia
Winner OCIC Award- Honorable Mention -Venice Film Festival 1997
Cine Tele Films ... [et al.] ; Director of photography, Armand Marco ; editor, Kahena Attia ; music, Naseer Shama Ali. script, dialogue and direction, Nouri Bouzid. WITH: Amel Hedhili, Nadia Kaci, Leila Nassin, Raouf Ben Amor, Kamel Touati, Hassiba Roshdi. 1 videocassette (105 min.)
After a long absence, Aida and Amina, two former friends now in their thirties, are reunited. It's an occasion for them to question their lives and relationships. Amina appears to be happily married while Aida has choosen divorce and still has the nerve to take in male callers. The presence of Fatiha, an Algerian refugee in Tunisia, moves the three women to overcome their respective societal limitations. While Fatiha is on the threshold of a new life in Europe, Amina searches for the strength to stand up to her overbearing husband, Majid. Aida's strength and energy help the other women surpass their limits in a complex and very moving relationship among the three.
(olin,av Video 2993)
Between Two Notes - Le blues de l'Orient
Duration: 90 min 45 s Production Year: 2007 Producer: Amit Breuer Colette Loumède François Duplat Serge Lalou
What do Cairo, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo have in common? Beyond the conflicts that continue to rock the Middle East, these cities share a common heritage: that of classical Arab music. Filmmaker Florence Strauss sets out from Paris in search of the roots of this timeless art, while uncovering a partially unknown and hidden aspect of her own heritage. Out of the void and absence rises the moving voice of catharsis. It is a double quest that is filled with a variety of encounters - a road movie that pays tribute to the musicians and poets who, through their art, embody and perpetuate a part of Middle Eastern history. An ode in praise of cultural fusion and the acceptance of otherness, the film celebrates the sensuousness and generosity of a land once associated with the Garden of Eden. Between Two Notes is, above all, music from the heart. With a thousand and one nuances, it conveys the history of our humanity in all its complexity.
Blackboards = Takhte siah
A film by Samira Makhmalbaf ; producers, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Marco Muller ; director, Samira Makhmalbaf. Script, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf ; music, Mohammad Reza Darvishi ; director of photography, Ebrahim Ghafori ; editor, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. WITH: Behnaz Djafari, Bahman Ghobadi, Said Mohamadi.
(olin,str1 PN1997 .T24625x 2000)
A group of teachers who, after a bombing in the Iranian Kurdistan, wander from one city to the next in search of students they can teach.
Synopsis: Iranian Kurdistan, near the border with Iraq. A group of itinerant teachers wander in search of pupils. After using their blackboards, which they carry on their backs, to take cover from an army helicopter, the group split up. One teacher, Saïd (Saeed Mohamadi), encounters an old man who asks him to read a letter from his son. Another, Reeboir, (Bahman Ghobadi) meets a party of boys carrying contraband stolen goods to be smuggled across the border; he tries to persuade them to accept him as a teacher. Saïd joins up with some nomads from Iraq trying to find their way back home. He offers his blackboard as a pallet to carry an ill old man and uses it as dowry to marry the old man's daughter Halaleh, (Behnaz Jafari) a mother with a young son. When one of the young smugglers injures himself, Reeboir chops up his blackboard for a splint. The boys use a herd of goats as camouflage to cross the border, but guards open fire. The nomads take cover from the gunfire, and despite their distrust, Saïd leads them to the border. Halaleh decides to cross over with them; she and Saïd divorce, and she keeps the blackboard.
Review
When the precocious Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf - then only 18 - made her debut feature The Apple in 1997, sceptics suspected condescendingly that to some degree it was the work of her father, long-established director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who did indeed write and edit that film. He has collaborated on Blackboards too, but this film is so different from The Apple and so striking that it can only encourage us to see Samira Makhmalbaf as a very distinctive sensibility, working to develop her own film language with conspicuous success. Blackboards in one respect echoes the work of Makhmalbaf père, specifically 'The Door', his contribution to the 1999 portmanteau film Tales of Kish. In that sketch, a man walked across a desert carrying a door on his back, a prop which lent itself to multiple metaphoric uses. In Blackboards, Samira Makhmalbaf raises the ante; not only are several blackboard-bearers seen at the beginning, but the object undergoes even more metamorphoses than the door in her father's film. In the opening shot, as the group of teachers who wander the area in search of pupils appear silhouetted in the stark reddish mountain landscape, they appear like a flock of grounded birds, wings outstretched. Elsewhere in the film, a blackboard variously does service as cover from aircraft, a stretcher, a door and material for splints. In one of the most striking visual images, one board is seen in close-up being plastered for camouflage with the mountain region's muddy clay, and for a moment it seems as if half the screen is being smeared, made to vanish into the red of the landscape, the film's predominant colour. Whether the blackboards have a more stable meaning as blackboards per se is never entirely clear. The film's central image is of knowledge left abandoned, obliged to try and sell itself in a world that has no place for it. Although the story has the quality of a fairy-tale quest - two teachers rove Iran's border region with Iraq looking for pupils to teach - the overall mood is closer to Kafka. Written knowledge and language are reduced to scraps, for sale but hardly very useful in this barren, dangerous landscape: the teachers arrive with fragments of other lessons still visible on their boards, which are deformed as their journeys progress. One, Reeboir, begins to teach the smuggler boys the rudiments of language, but they remain mired in phonetic scraps, making absurd "rrrrr!" sounds as they march along. The film portrays a world in which reading and writing may be less use than an oral tradition: a wounded boy assuages his suffering by repeating a story about killing a rabbit. Not that oral communication is very effective, either: both teachers struggle to get any coherent conversation out of the people they encounter. In the end, however, the written word is restored to its communicative power: the phrase "I love you", which the other teacher Saïd has attempted to teach his bride, is, unknown to her, returned to him, as she walks away with the blackboard on her back. In the pseudo-documentary The Apple, language and institutionalised culture played a redemptive role in the lives of two neglected sisters. Blackboards takes a more tragic view of culture, devalued in a brutal world where everything revolves round survival and the body. Here an old man's being is defined entirely by his inability to piss, and considerable physical effort is required of the cast, who scale mountains and move along dirt roads on hands and knees. Blackboards is very much a humanist film, but it is less clear whether it is also a political one. The teachers appear to be dispossessed Kurds, and the poverty-stricken border country they travel is spiked with landmines. The prevailing dangers from surveillance helicopters and armed guards are presumably to be taken as Iraqi, but there are no clear signals to suggest they are not also Iranian. The Apple could be considered a benevolent finger wagged at a society that may not always take care of its own; Blackboards, conversely, quite bleakly presents a lawless space in which people risk everything fending for themselves. Despite considerable comedy, Blackboards seems a profoundly pessimistic film. Both wandering teachers are able to benefit the people they meet, guiding the boys and the nomads to the border. But no one is quite saved at the end: the boys, if they escape the guards' gunfire, will presumably go on plying their perilous trade, and we do not even know if Reeboir survives the attack. As for Saïd, he loses everything - blackboard, bride and the community he has struggled to join. As the tribe walks away in the fog, we hear what sounds like an explosion resounding under the final song - a devastating minor-key payoff to this extraordinary odyssey. Jonathan RomneyThis review appeared in the January 2001 issue of S&S.
Book of Kings 'Shahnameh' / ZaZ a
Adapted to 'pop/world music' in a uniquely personal style. 1. Book of Kings 2. Mother's Prayers 3. Silver Son 4. Jashn 5. Zal and Rudabeh 6. Rostam 7. You for Me 8. The Time for Us is Gone 9. Bijan 10. Destiny.
Accompanying ZaZa will be her world-music accoustic band: Ustad Mohammad Nejad (santur, tar, ney, flute & daf) Steven Kindler (violin, guitar & dumbak) Jose Neto (guitar) Marquinho Brasil (percussion & vocals)
Olin
Boycott = Baycot
Screenwriter & Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf Director of Photography: Faraj Haydari Ebrahim Ghazizadeh Editor: Roubik Mansouri Make-Up: Abdollah Eskandari Set Designer: Massoud Ghandi Mohammad – Bagher Ashtiyani Dubbing: Manouchehr Esmaeeli Special Effects: Ali Rastger Morteza Rastgar Hassan Saberi Cast: Majid Majidi; Mohammad Kasebi Zohreh Sarmadi ; Ardalan Shoja-Kaveh Saeed Kashan-Fallah Esmaeel Soltaniyan ; Bahman Rouzbehani Ali-Akbar Yeganeh ; Reza Cheraghi ; Irandokht Dowlatshahi Ali Hesami Naser Forough Ali Tavakkoli ; Massoud Nabavi ; Ali Shirazi ; Esmat Makhmalbaf ; Ebrahim Abadi . 1986, color, 95 mins.
(olin PN1997 .B39 2001)
Synopsis:
Valeh is an irregular troop communist. His wife seeks a life and she is against the dangerous activities of her husband. When Vale takes his wife to the hospital for childbirth, he gets arrested in a Team-house and after being tortured and interrogated in the courthouse he is sentenced to execution and is sent to the public jail. In the public jail his friends ask him to die like a hero and make effort for the continuance of the combat but he loses his combat motives despite his friends' advises because when he dies he will no longer be, so he tries to stay alive or atleast find a better motive for dying.
The Bridge: How the Medicine of the ancient Greeks Came Back to Europe Through the World of Islam. (Title on cassette label and container: ‚a Bridge, how Islam saved Western medicine)
WDW Film & Video Production, Ltd. ; director, Ingrid Traversa ; producer, Hermann Jamek. Commentary, David Collison. Photography, Heribert Senegacnik ; film editor, Claudio Ghidini ; research, Esther Schmid. Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c1998. ( 1 videocassette (50 min.) VHS). Originally produced as a motion picture in 1996.
Explores the process by which scientific and holistic medical knowledge was preserved from the time of Hippocrates and built upon in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages.
(Olin,str1 R141 .B75x 1998)
ADR Productions ; [produced by] Alain Rozanes ; un film de Karim Dridi ; scenario et dialogues, Karim Dridi. -- [Paris] : La Sept Video, c1997. 1 videocassette (93 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in.
One of France's most exciting new directors delivers an affecting story with Bye Bye. Ismaël, a handsome 25 year old haunted by guilt over a family tragedy leaves Paris and arrives in the French port city of Marseilles with his 14 year old brother, Mouloud. Their uncle's family, who lives in a seedy, raucous section of town, welcomes them. As Ismaël finds honest work on the docks, Mouloud is taken under the wing of his teenaged cousin, Rhida, whose dabblings as a drug dealer introduce young Mouloud to a terrifying world of violence. Riding the tensions between the personal and the political Bye Bye examines the conflict arising between a generation of North Africans still attached to their homeland and that of their French-born children carving a home in a place that does not want them.
(Olin PN1997 .B94 1997)
Cairo as seen by Chahine = Cairo [as told by Youssef Chahine] = Le Caire--
Originally produced for French television in 1991. Une coproduction MISR International [et] MIROIRS avec la participation du Centre National de la Cinematographie. 1 videocassette (24 min.)
This concise masterpiece began as a commission by French TV for the news series Envoyé Spécial. Using his unique sense of artistic digression, Chahine transforms this portrait of a city into a self-portrait of a filmmaker.
Chasing the Sleeper Cell (PBS Frontline)
Directed by David Rummel; Mr. Rummel and Lowell Bergman, writers and producers; Lowell Bergman, correspondent; Matthew Purdy and Lowell Bergman, reporters; David Fanning, executive producer for Frontline. For New York Times Television: William Abrams, president; Michael Oreskes, executive in charge; Lawrie Mifflin, director of television programming; Ann Derry, vice president for program production. A Frontline co-production with The New York Times.
What is the real story behind the group that U.S. intelligence called " the most dangerous terrorist cell in America?" FRONTLINE and The New York Times join forces to investigate the battle against terrorism here at home in " Chasing the Sleeper Cell."
Review By IVO DAALDER, The New York Times, Thursday October 16, 2003
Children Of Heaven
With: Amir Naji, Mir Farrokh Hashemian; Director: Majid Majidi ; Runtime: 90 minutes ; MPAA Rating: Not Rated ; Genres: Drama, Foreign ; Language: Persian with English subtitles.
Poor children try to hide loss of shoes from parents in thought-provoking drama from Iran. Rich characterizations, potent criticism of Iranian society offers plenty to fans of character-driven drama, politics-and-society buffs.
© 1999 James Berardinelli / How often do we see something like Children of Heaven: an engaging movie about simple people living simple (yet fulfilling) lives? There are no explosions, no guns, no fight scenes, no car chases, and no eye-popping special effects. None of these things has a place in writer/director Majid Majidi's story about how a poor Iranian family copes with the financial difficulties of their day-to-day existence, and, despite the apparent obstacles, remains a happy and loving group. Sound boring? Perhaps on paper, but, on the screen, it makes for an enjoyable 90 minutes because the characters are vivid and sympathetic, and because Majidi's keen view of the human condition is universal, not parochial.
Children of Heaven opens in the poor quarter of an Iranian city. There we meet Ali (Mir Farrokh Hashemian), a 9-year old boy going home with his sister's worn, pink shoes, which he has just taken to a cobbler for repairs. On the way, he stops at a fruit and vegetable stand to buy some potatoes. He puts the shoes down, and, while he's sorting through a bin, a rag picker mistakenly takes the shoes, thinking they're part of the stand owner's refuse. When Ali arrives home empty-handed, his 7-year old sister, Zahra (Bahare Seddigi), is in tears. What will she wear to school? Ali has a solution. She goes to school in the morning; he attends in the afternoon. They can share a pair of sneakers. Once her day is done, she can rush home and give the sneakers to him. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for the swap, and Ali arrives late to his first class. Meanwhile, on a day off, he accompanies his father (Amir Naji) to the city's wealthy section in search of work as a gardener - work that will pay enough to give the family a little extra money. And, at school, Ali discovers a possible solution to the shoe dilemma. Third place in a foot race is a pair of new sneakers (first and second prize are more lucrative, but Ali has no interest in them). All Ali has to do is beat out several hundred children and lose to only two, and his sister will be happy.
There are a number of reasons to like Children of Heaven, not the least of which is its inherent sweetness. Unlike many American movie kids, Ali and Zahara truly care for one another. Ali is deeply upset about losing the shoes, and the two siblings work together to find a solution without placing an additional financial burden upon their beleaguered parents. Seeing the film in North America also offers the fascination of looking through a window at a different culture and recognizing that it's not fundamentally different from our own. The dream, as voiced by Ali's father, is certainly the same: "We're gonna have a better life. We're gonna buy everything." And the climactic foot race contains more genuine suspense than 90% of all movie sporting events because we don't know what's going to happen.
The film's single weakness is the central conceit, which seems contrived. There's a sense of falseness in the way Ali loses his sister's shoes - a few too many coincidences occur for the viewer to miss the screenwriter's hand at work. Ironically, the awkwardness with which Majidi starts out his tale stands out only because the majority of the movie is so carefully constructed. In a big, flashy, Hollywood-style production, this kind of mistake wouldn't be noticed, but, in such a low-key picture, it calls attention to itself. Miramax's marketing department is likening Children of Heaven to Cinema Paradiso. It's a flawed comparison, since the films have little in common. Those expecting something with the dynamic cinematic and emotional tapestry of the '80s Italian import will be disappointed. Children of Heaven is a good film, but its goals are different. Better comparisons would be to The Bicycle Thief (a better movie, but with similar themes) and The White Balloon. Expectations are important with a film like this - those anticipating something radically different (louder or more melodramatic, for example) may be displeased by Children of Heaven's uncomplicated pleasures. Children of Heaven shares several traits with other Iranian movies I have seen (notably those by Abbas Kiarostami): a gentle, relaxed style, an almost-poetic fascination with basic images (such as fish swimming in a pool), and the use of numerous, seemingly-unimportant anecdotes to build a larger emotional picture. Children of Heaven isn't about Zahra's lost shoes, Dad's difficulty finding work, or Ali's placement in the race. It's about how those things define one family, and why the characters make worthwhile companions for 90 minutes of our time. There's certainly nothing epic about Majidi's narrative, but sometimes, as in Children of Heaven, an inconsequential and intimate story can provide a satisfying emotional payoff. © 1999 James Berardinelli
(Olin PN1997 .C454 1999)
Palestine, 1996, 35mm, 85 min., color, Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.
a Dhat Productions film ; written, produced & directed by Elia Suleiman. -- New York, N.Y. : Fox LorberHome Video, [1999] 1 videocassette (88 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. [Fox Lorber Home Video : FLV1509].
Starring: Nazira Suleiman, Faud Suleiman, Jamal Daher, Elia Suleiman, Ula Tabari
Provides a personal meditation on what it means to be Palestinian. Examines the effect of the political impasse in the Middle East on the identity of the Palestinian people.
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This experimental meditation on the psychological effect of political instability on the Palestinian people is the fascinating first feature film of Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman. His movie presents a series of tableaux, seemingly unconnected images and incidents that give the impression that they are searching for a unifying narrative thread. Despite their idiopathic expressiveness, no conventional storyline emerges. But together they create a compelling portrait of marginalization and inaction. Some images: The proprietor of the Holyland souvenir shop uses water from the tap to fill little bottles of holy water. An aunt gossips on and on about family matters. Three men fishing on a motor boat praise Allah and trash-talk everyone they know back on land. A Palestinian actress futilely searches for an apartment to rent in Israeli West Jerusalem. Playing himself, Suleiman tries to address an audience about the content of his upcoming film but is stymied by the technological failure of the PA system. Suleiman's parents fall asleep to the TV station sign-off and the eerie television glow of the Israeli flag waving on the screen while the national anthem fills the darkened room. Men sit quietly outside the souvenir shop, watching intently as nothing occurs. In long shot, men leap from a car and nearly come to blows. In scene after scene, such as these described, the beginnings of stories almost occur. Yet the elements never seem to find their narrative next step. Instead, they accumulate and become the hues of the filmmaker's palette, hues that Suleiman uses to create a subjective summary of the unsettled quality of life in his homeland. The use of non-professional actors helps Suleiman sustain the documentary-like flavor of his tableaux; using himself and other family members as actors underscores the movie's personal relevance and motivation. In addition to playing at such prestige festivals as Sundance and the Museum of Modern Art's New Director/New Films series, Chronicle of aDisappearance received a prize for best first feature film at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. It's easy to see why.-- [Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle, 11-21-1997]
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In a recent article for Cahiers du Cinema, Frederic Strauss, described Palestininan filmmakers as filmmaker-ambassadors. Implicit in this description is the added burden, for these artists, of representing an entire people as opposed to simply their own views or ideas on a given subject matter. One of the remarkable qualities of Elia Suleiman's first film, Chronicle of a Disappearance is that it eleagantly balances both these tendancies. The film uses an elliptical and occasionally opaque structure to relate the tale of a Palestinian filmmaker named Elia Suleiman who has returned to Palestine. The expected ambivalence, confusion, amusement, despair and elation that comes with this journey are all conveyed in the film. This is seen through a number of episodes that are presented, almost as a simple travelogue, except that a carefully controlled style and a number of associative devices are used to elevate this material in masterful ways.
Suleiman achieves considerable economy of means by keeping his production modes relatively simple: non-professional actors, natural lighting, location shooting. However, his actual use of these tools is by no means simple. It would have perhaps been tempting to offer a more straight forward narrative, in the vein of recent 'social realism' such as (Sandrine Veysset's) Will There be Snow For Christmas, an accomplished film in it's own right. Instead, however, Suleiman uses an episodic structure marked by a number of careful repetitions and variations. A car repeatedly comes to a halt outside of a cafe and the drivers have an altercation or exchange of some kind; the 'Holy Land Souvenir Shop' is repeatedly framed in long-shot, with usually one key element of motion either being introduced or withdrawn from the frame etc.. While specific interpretations will vary, it is the overall technique: the juxtaposing of seemingly similiar yet disparate scenes as to tease out inquiries that is telling. These are moments in time...a people that has perhaps grown eerily accustomed to being marginalized by an annexing culture that denys them both their history and their future. In a recent interview Suleiman asserted that, "...a principle reason for [outsiders] wanting peace today, is to deny the existence of Palestinans before 1948; to not have to deal with this problem."
One of the most notable aspects of the film is Suleiman's restrained use of the camera. For the most part scenes are framed from a single static position. But this is not the arbitraray static camera that has come to plague so many, fiscally challenged and aesthetically bankrupt Americain Independant filmmakers. This is not the 'Look-ma-no-cuts' style of Jim Mackay (Girlstown) or Neil Labutte (In The Compny of Men). Suleiman employs Bressonian rigour in choosing the composition, angle and particularly the articulation between his shots. The result is a considerable density despite the spare means described earlier. This 'persistence' of the camera alludes to a feeling of the need to document. A need to describe and represent in the absence of an official history for Palestinians. The insistence of a certain computer journal to perpetually record the words "The next day", as if this in itself were enough, reinforces this notion.
The film is at its best when it betrays the comic sensibility of its director. The opening monologue of a woman sitting on a couch indulging in neighbourhood gossip, the meeting of two friends who shake hands, offer each other cigarettes and light them exactly mirroring each others gestures, the bufoonery of Israeli police as they raid a woman's house and fail to see her despite an obvious presence (more concerned with being policemen than with recognizing their foe.) all provide humorous counterpoints to the more serious undertones of the film. Suleiman has provided an exceptionally well realized work that we can only hope will spearhead continued efforts from Palestinian filmmakers in Palestine and around the world. --[Negative Cutter]
FESTIVALS & AWARDS
*1996 Venice Film Festival, Luigi De Laurentiis Prize Winner, Best First Feature
*1996 London Film Festival
*1997 Sundance Film Festival
*1997 New Directors New Films
*1997 San Francisco Film Festival
*1997 Seattle Film Festival
* 1997 San Francisco Arab Film Festival
*1997 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The Circle (Dayereh = Il cerchio)
Jafar Panahi Film Productions, Mikado Film, Lumiáere & Co. New York, NY : Fox Lorber Films : distributed by Winstar TV and Video, c2001. 1 videocassette (91 min.) Farsi with English subtitles; title frames in Italian and English; credits in Farsi and Italian.
Originally released as a motion picture in 2000 under title: Dayereh. Based on an original idea by Jafar Panahi. Cast: Nargess Mamizadeh, Maryam Parvin Almani, Mojgane Faramarzi, Elham Saboktakin, Monir Arab, Solmaz Panaki, Fereshteh Sadr Orafai, and Fatemeh Naghavi. Golden Lion, Best Film, 2000 Venice Film Festival.
(olin PN1997 .D394 2001)
This film offers insights into the lives of women in Iran. As the narrative dynamically shifts from woman to woman, their stories culminate with tremendous potency, transforming a shared sense of dispair and injustice into one of kinship and even hope.
Review
by Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters Film and TV Editor
The Circle is about political oppression. The film, banned by Iranian authorities, follows a series of women in Tehran as they try to elude persecution and harassment by policemen, government representatives, and other men who feel entitled to abuse them because they are women and so "deserve" abuse. It is structured as a "circle," in the sense that each woman's story leads you to another's, and then another's -- the oppression is so pervasive, so all inclusive, that no woman can escape. It's an elegant film, though distressing to watch, offering little hope for the women you meet along the way, all resilient, resourceful, and trapped. How ironic, then, that the man who made The Circle, award-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (his first film, 1995's The White Balloon won the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or), has recently had his own distressing encounter with official policy, on the part of that bastion of free speech and democracy, the U.S. government. Though he has traveled in the U.S. in the past, in order to present his films at film festivals in New York and elsewhere, he has always refused to be fingerprinted by the State Department, which routinely fingerprints citizens of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism. Until this January, Panahi has been granted a waiver from this policy, but the Bush Administration announced that such waivers would no longer be granted, for anyone. Fine. Panahi decided not to visit the U.S. But then he changed planes in New York en route from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires. And though he was assured he would have no trouble, indeed he did. He was detained for 12 hours, his feet shackled to a bench, without being granted a phone call, to seek either legal or translation assistance (the director does not speak English). In Iran, as Panahi's film demonstrates, women cannot smoke cigarettes in public. In the United States, Iranians -- just because they are Iranians -- cannot walk about in public without "proper" documentation. The effectiveness of The Circle lies in its attention to details -- it shows what it feels like to be watched, to be afraid, to be angry and to be disappointed, all the time. Not only does it reveal the large pains produced by oppression -- as in a scene when a poor, husbandless woman (Fatemeh Naghavi) leaves her little girl on the street outside a hotel, hoping that someone will take the child in and offer her a better life than she can. But it also shows little pangs, niggling and persistent, the wear-you-down daily horrors that will never go away, so you must get used to them. Nargess (played by Nargess Mamizadeh, and whose name means "Daffodil" in Farsi) is newly released from prison, and trying to get back to her village in western Iran, but she lacks the proper papers. Her friend Arezou (Maryam Parvin Almani, "Wish") prostitutes herself in order to get Nargess's bus fare, but refuses to travel with her, concerned that because she has heard so much about the "paradise" Nargess has described to her, that she will only be disappointed when she sees it -- and she cannot bear more disappointment. Another friend, Pari (Fereshteh Sadr Orafai, "Fairy"), is four months pregnant and unmarried (her lover has been executed in prison), which means that she and her child are doomed. She tries to get an abortion, but the woman she asks for assistance -- Elham (Elham Saboktakin), who works in a hospital -- is afraid to help, for fear of irritating her own man, who also works at the hospital, and can be seen through windows and doorways, a threatening figure whenever the women spot him. Pari can only get an abortion with a husband's consent. Women in The Circle come up against one obstacle after another: in its first moments, a young woman gives birth behind a closed door, screaming while her own mother waits outside in another room. When the mother learns that her daughter has given birth to a girl (when the ultrasound had suggested she was having a boy), she can only react with dismay, knowing that the husband's family may demand a divorce, because she has not delivered the expected and much desired son. A girl child is only a burden. Every story is more of the same, yet also individual and newly terrible, as the women (many first time actors) subtly convey the strength and determination needed just to get through their days. The camera is restless -- tracking, circling, observing, but never intruding -- suggesting the impossibility of really understanding the day to day duress of being a woman in this lifelong situation. It's a beautifully understated and powerful technique, drawing you inside and keeping you at a distance at the same time. When a prostitute (Mojhan Faramarzi) is picked up toward the end of the film, she sits quietly on the bus taking her to be booked and incarcerated, watching the cops joke and talk with one another. This routine is familiar to her, and tedious. For a brief moment of respite, and taking a cue from one of the cops, who starts smoking on the bus, she lights her own cigarette, and draws deeply. For an instant, she is free, while on her way to jail.
Close up = Nema-ye nazdik
Written, edited and directed by Abbas Kiarostami; director of photography, Ali Reza Zarrin-Dast; produced by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults; released by Zeitgeist Films. In Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 90 minutes. WITH: Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami (Themselves), Abolfazl Ahankhah (Father), Mehrdad Ahankhah and Manoochehr Ahankhah (Sons), Mahrokh Ahankhah and Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi (Daughters), Ahmed Reza Moayed Mohseni (Friend) and Hossain Farazmand (Reporter).
(olin PN1997 .N45 1990)
At the heart of this true story is Hossein Sabzian, an unemployed movie buff who finds himself mistaken for the enigmatic director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The misunderstanding takes on a life of its own and Sabzian ends up in jail where his trial is filmed by Kiarostami.
Reviews
The New York Times "A transcendent humanist in the tradition of the Italian neo-realists and the Indian director Satyajit Ray, Mr. Kiarostami has made a film that looks into the heart of a man accused of a crime and, instead of evil, discovers only sweetness, longing and a sad confusion."
On Screen "Granted, Close-Up's incredibly slow pace proves that it definitely does issue from the same man who gave us such real-time snore classics as Where is the Friend's Home? and ...And Life Goes On. But in this case, the premise and content far outweigh the presentation. If you can keep awake long enough to appreciate them."
Mr. Showbiz "Close-Up is relatively simple in its conception and execution, yet bottomlessly complex in its intent and intelligence — indeed, it barely qualifies as a "movie" in any traditional sense. Kiarostami is rewriting the rules, if only we'd listen."
The closed doors = Al abwab al moghlaka = Les portes fermées
Originally released as a motion picture in 1999. Director of photographer, Samir Bahzan ; editor, Dalia el Nasser ; music, Hisham Nazih. WITH: Ahmed Azmi, Mahmoud Hémeida, Sawsan Badr. Misr International Films ; Médiane Production présentent en coproduction avec Arte France Cinéma ; écrit et réalisé par Atef Hetata. 1 videocassette (105 min.)
Directed by Youssef Chahine's longtime assistant,The Closed Doors touches on several taboos in contemporary Egyptian society, examining their social and political implications. Set during the Gulf War, it tells the story of Mohamad, a highly impressionable young man who embraces fundamentalist ideas as a way of dealing with the confusion of adolescence and sexual awakening. This powerful first feature by one of Egypt's most promising young directors tackles complex themes like oppression, jealousy, virtue, the love ideal and violence in an uncompromising way.
RVIEWS
Review by Jeff Vorndam. Review © June 2000 by AboutFilm.Com and the author.
The Closed Doors marks the feature film debut of Atef Hetata. It's a promising effort–Hetata has a knack for exploding a social problem onscreen to powerful effect. He constructs his film like a time bomb, and the often humorous action never completely conceals the feeling of impending detonation. The laughs are uneasy, because though the situations are comical, the anger in the protagonist's eyes is real. Sawsan Badr plays Mohamad, a teenager teetering on the brink. On the one hand, he is a naive and sexually curious young man, intrigued by nearly every woman he meets–including his mother. On the other, he is a budding Islamic Fundamentalist, and the notion of sex is impure, particularly if it involves his mother. This is the essential personal conflict that drives the film. Which side will win the war for his mind–the liberal and exploratory side or the conservative and punitive side? Sawsan Badr, on the right At the beginning of the movie, Mohamad's father has just left the family, leaving Mohamad alone with his mother. She begins to date his tutor, which disturbs Mohamad. It's hinted that Mohamad may be jealous of his mother's affection. He stares at her when she's not looking in a way that reminded me of Jeremy Davies' character in Spanking the Monkey. He's confused and repelled, yet he wants her. Mohamad's shame in desiring his mother leads to an increasing reliance on Fundamentalist dogma to soothe his mind. He turns his mother into an icon of chastity and places her on a pedestal. She is not to see anyone, and she must not leave the house unveiled, he says. Mohamad's mother must leave the house because she must work to support herself and her son. Mohamad is forceful though, and obtains a job selling flowers on the street to make ends meet. His mentors at the extreme religious sect tell Mohamad that he must be in control of both of their lives, that a good Muslim shows his discipline and his faith through this control. Ascribing more and more to the religious fanaticism of these Fundamentalists, Mohamad arranges a marriage for his mother with one of the sect leaders and a marriage for himself with one of leaders' daughters. I won't divulge any further plot details, save to say that extreme beliefs beget extreme acts. Atef Hetata pares the story down to its essentials, not straying or dallying during its progression down a path of fanaticism. The acting is all-around convincing and natural. Badr goes from wide-eyed and wet-eared to wild-eyed and dogmatic with unerring conviction. However, The Closed Doors is unlikely to break from the film festival circuit. It's no spectacle, and its hard-bitten realism isn't going to win it a wide audience. Seekers of intelligent social commentary should keep their eyes peeled for it just in case.
SEE Also --Notes by Michael Dembrow
In English and Turkish with English subtitles. Directed by Elif Savas ; produced by Brian Felsen. Cinematographers, Metehan Aras, Bariðs Bidav. 1 videocassette (158 min.) COUP is made possible by a grant from the New York Council on the Arts and the Experimental Television Center
A documentary film about the 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997 military interventions and coups d'etat in Turkey.
COUP explores the origins of the militarily-patrolled democratic system created by Ataturk in the 1920's; the place of the armed forces in the political and cultural life of the nation; the causes and consequences of each coup d'etat and how they differ from those in South America and the rest of the world, and the future of the "military democracy."
It contains not one word of voice-over narration or one frame of simulated footage. The film instead weaves together interviews with activists, politicians, and military leaders with extraordinary archival and personal footage of the military actions, street demonstrations and extremist activisms. This enables the film to illustrate the variegated nature of the current debate in Turkey, interweaving radically differing viewpoints without passing them through the filter of an overriding narrator. In so doing, the film can remain true to its subject, giving the viewer visual experience of the devastating impact of the collision between state and military authority and extreme civil activism, while providing a hoard of information that goes beyond the mere "sound-byte."
Some of the film's interview subjects are Former National Ministers of Health, the Interior, and Foreign Affairs; authors of the Turkish Constitution; current and former Members of Parliament; aides to the President and Prime Minister; military officers; junta leaders; intelligence agents; publishers; party leaders; extremist activists; former death-row prisoners, and scholars. Several of the film's interview subjects have never before spoken on film about their experiences. The filmmakers have brought together for the first time politicians from all sides of the political spectrum, even the extremes, to talk about issues of international importance.
COUP is above all an oral history of world-shaping events, and viewers are able to hear direct testimony from the participants themselves. Several who participated in the 1960 coup are well into their 80's, making this film a great chance to preserve their thoughts and a wonderful window into their times. Already, two of our speakers are no longer with us: General Muhsin Batur (who died in Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul of natural causes after filming) and journalist Ahmet Taner Kislali (who was murdered by a car bomb outside of his home shortly after filming completed.)
Never-before-seen photos, documents, audio clips, and film footage from news services and personal archives form the backbone of the film. The film contains ceremonials with the Ottoman Pasha from the 1910's; Atatürk speeches from the 1930's; footage from the army trial resulting in the hanging of Prime Minister Menderes; speeches by 1960 coup leader Turkes; clips of the condemned student leader Deniz Gezmis; May Day street demonstrations from the 70's and extremist café bombings; the September 1980 coup announcement and the follow-up elections in 1983; the 1995 rise of the religious Refah party; the 1997 coup by memorandum and closing down of the Refah office; and military press briefings from 1998. COUP examines the degree to which abstract ideals (such as "freedom of speech" and "human rights") are actually applied in a country facing political exigencies. Even if such rights exist on paper, there are practical consequences of asserting them in a nation where the stakes are so high: one of the film's speakers was murdered by a car bomb after filming; some were jailed for their writings; and some were punished for having spoken with Amnesty International about their experiences. The film also takes a hard look at the practical and ethical issues raised when a country takes anti-democratic measures in its attempt to preserve a democratic system. These implications are both national, when the military becomes involved in the political process, and international, when the nation must balance their own needs with those of foreign governments and world powers.
(olin, DR593 .C68 1999)
Cover-Up: Attack On The USS Liberty
History Undercover, 2001 A&E Television Networks. 50.00 minutes
On June 8, 1967, during the Six Day War, the intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked off the Sinai Peninsula. The unprovoked assault came first from jets, then torpedo boats, all of which were unmarked. Virtually unique among such cases, the incident has never been formally investigated by Congress.
HISTORY UNDERCOVER® goes where the government won't with this unblinking look at the event that strained US-Israeli relations. We'll hear from survivors of the attack about what it was like onboard the Liberty, and the disbelief the crew felt when they realized that their anonymous assailants were their alleged allies. We'll look for signs of a cover-up in a thorough analysis of the public statements made by both the US and Israeli governments. And we'll examine the leading theories put forth to explain the motive behind the attack, and the reasons why the United States chose not to pursue the incident, despite the loss of 34 lives. This is the definitive examination of the Israeli sneak attack on the USS Liberty.
(Olin DS127.6.N3 C68 2000)
Cow = (Gaav)
One of the most celebrated films before the 1979 revolution!
A film by: Dariush Mehrjui
Black & White, Farsi w/English subtitles. Cast: Ezat Entemazi, Ali Nassirian, Jamshid Mashamyekhi, Esmat Safavi, Khosrow Shoja'zadeh, Jafar Vali, Ramezanifar B&W, 16 mm, 100 min. Type: Drama ; Picture quality: Poor (Black & White)
Mehrjui based the story for this film on a novella by Ghalam Hossein Saedi. After a first successful one-hour version for Iranian television, he made a new and longer version for the cinema. The leading character is Hassan, a peasant in a small and poor village. Hassan is the only one in the village lucky enough to own a cow. He spoils the cow like a child and lives in perpetual fear that the inhabitants of a neighboring and hostile village will steal his cow. One day, when Hassan is out of the village at work, the cow dies. The villagers bury the cow and tell Hassan it wandered off. Hassan can't believe it. In his sorrow and astonishment, he takes the place of his cow.
(olin,av Video 3052)
The Cyclist = Bicyleran
Director/writer, Muhsin Makhmalbåaf ; director of photography, A.R. Zaiindast ; music, Majid Entezami. WITH: Muharram Zaynalzadah, Isma°il Sultaniyan.
1 videocassette (75 min.). Videocassette release of a 1989 motion picture under the title: Bicyleran. In Farsi with English subtitles.
(olin PN1997 .B53 2000)
Synopsis: Noghre, Nasim's husband-an Afghani emigrant- is suffering from a bad disease, which the treatment needs a lot of money. Nasim hospitalizes him after a lot of begging and insisting so that she could go after the money they need. When a middleman finds out that Nasim was once a cycling champion and that she has the reputation of non-stop cycling during few days in a row, he proposes to her to cycle in one of the squares in the city for one week so that people gather there and he could make money and Nasim could get a wage to be able to pay the hospital expenses for his wife. Nasim accepts it and soon the cycling square turns into a gathering place for all middlemans, wagers and badgers and a total circus is held to fill the pocket of those who are holding the string of others' fates in their hands. A lot of incidents take place and this emotional story changes into a social crisis. Eventuall the one-week cycling of Nasim is over but the middleman takes the money and runs away with a gypsy woman. Great wagers are looking for new plans for betting right now and the reporters are waiting for Nasim's cycling to come to an end. But he is still cycling and he is not willing to get out of the circle that he has been trapped in and end the game; in a way that it is not obvious if he has accepted the circle of his compulsory fate or if he has turned into a myth.
Directed by Marziyeh Meshkini Written by Mohsen Makhmalbaf With Fateme Cheragh-Azar, Hassan Nabehan, Shabnam Toloui, Cyrus Kahourinejad, and Azieh Seddighi ***1/4 Distributed by Shooting Gallery Films
Decoding The Past: Secrets of the Koran
"It is one of the most important works ever written. For some billion people worldwide, it is the holy scripture, the word of god and his prophet. For others, it is a historical artifact that has left an indelible imprint on the world. It is the Koran. SECRETS OF THE KORAN probes the heart of the work that many outside Islam find impenetrable and mysterious. Examine the history of the verses and their implications for modern times, as well as the striking similarities and differences between the Koran and the Bible--and the ways in which Muslims believe the Koran corrects some of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Trace the influence of the Koran from the Golden Age of Islam to the modern rise of jihadism. And hear from top Islamic scholars and holy men as they share their insights into the work that lies at the foundation of one of the world's great religions." The History Channel.
Al-Dhakira = La memoire.
Originally produced as a motion picture in 1982 by Misr Film International. Title on disc label: An Egyptian story. Also known as: Hadduta misriya. With: Oussama Nadir, Mohson Mohieddine, Nour El Charif. Producer, director and writer, Youssef Chahine; director of photography, Mohsen Nasr ; editor, Rashida Abd el Salam ; music, Dr. Gamal Salama.
In Arabic, with subtitles in English; credits in French and Arabic. 1 videodisc (ca. 127 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. New York, NY : WinStar TV & Video, c2000.
In the middle of his own heart surgery, an Egyptian filmmaker remembers his life. In fact his old self, as a child, is accused of attempted murder of his new self. Through the metaphoric trial, we are drawn into his life in relation with the Egyptian revolution, his constant need for success, and the effect the American Dream has on him.
Divorce Iranian style
A film by Kim Longinotto & Ziba Mir-Hosseini. -- New York : Women Make Movies, c1998. 1 videocassette (ca. 80 min.) : sd., b&w ; 1/2 in. In Farsi with English subtitles and Narration.
This video is a powerful documentary made inside the divorce courts in present Iran. The film is directed by award- winning independent filmmaker Kim Longinotto (co-director of DREAM GIRLS, an expose of the Japanese all-woman musical theater company, which played at Film Forum) and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, an Iranian anthropologist and writer, based in London, whose specialty is women's rights and family law in the Mid-East. Her 1993 book, Marriage on Trial: A Study of Islamic Family Law, inspired Longinotto to collaborate with her on this production. One woman tells the judge her husband is crazy: in 30 years he has refused to let her answer the phone. (In Iran the husband's insanity, impotence, or inability to provide financially are the only grounds for divorce when proceedings are brought by a woman; for men, divorce is granted upon request.) A 16-year-old, married at age 15 to a man 2 and a half times her age, explains that she desperately wants a divorce to go back to school. Another pleads for custody of her 4-year-old daughter, having already lost custody of the older child. "You're poisoning my tea," mutters the clerk to a woman who insists he find her misplaced file within the hour (he had suggested she return in a week).
(olin,str1)
A Door on the sky = Bab al-Sama® Maftuh
Originally released as a motion picture in Morocco in 1989. Zakiyah Tahri, Eva Saint Paul, Shaybiyah Ghadrawi, Bashir Skirj, Ahmad al-Bånani. Producer, Hasan Daldul ; director and writer, Faridah bin al-Yazid ; editor, Mufidah al-Talatali ; music, Anwar Braha. 1 videocassette (107 min.)
A young woman struggling between her Moroccan heritage and adopted French culture, returns from Paris to Fez to visit her dying father. At his funeral, she is overcome by the voice of Karina chanting the Koran. A powerful friendship develops between the two women as they decide to turn the father's palace into a shelter for Muslim women.
(uris Video 2875)
Dreams of Hind and Camilia = Ahlam Hind wa Kamilah
Originally released as a motion picture in Eygpt in 1989. Producer, Husayn al-Qalla ; director, Muòhammad Khan. Presented by Al-Sharikat al-°Alimiyah al-Talafizyun wa-al-Sinama ; music, °Amar al-Sharii ; story and script, Muhammad Khan ; editor, Nadiyah Shukri ; photography, Muhsan Nasr. WITH: Najlah Fathi, Ahmad Zaki, Ayidah Riyyad, Hasan al-°Adil, Muhammad Kamil ... [et al.].1 videocassette (110 min.)
Hind and Camilia are two housemaids who are abused both by their employers (who overwork them) and by their male relatives (who mistreat them). After many misfortunes and disappointments, they decide to strike out on their own. Dreams of Hind and Camilia offers a very convincing portrayal of the brutality and hopelessness that mark the lives of Cairo's poor, especially its women.
(olin,av Video 3006)
1 videocassette (107 min.) : sd., b&w ; 1/2 in. VHS format. Arabic with English subtitles.
Muhammad Khayr Halwami, Bassam Lutfi, Salih Khalqi, °Abd al-Raòhman Al Rashi. Presented by Al-Muassasah al-°Amah li al-Sinima ; music, Sulhi al-Wadi ; editor, Sahib Haddad ; photography, Bahjat Haydar ; screenplay and director, Tawfiq Salih. Presented by Al-Muassisat al-'Amah li al-Sinama.
Based on the book Men in the sun by Ghassan Kanafani. Originally released as a motion picture in Syria in 1972?
Two men and a boy try to be smuggled into Kuwait to find work and escape the poverty and apathy of the Palestinian refugee camps.
(Olin PN1997 .M2546 1992)
Un Été à La Goulette
[Also Known As: Halk-el-wad (1995) (Tunisia: Arabic title); Summer in La Goulette]
Directed by Férid Boughedir. Writing credits Férid Boughedir Image : Robert Alazraki. Son : Faouzi Thaber. Interprétation : Sonia Mankaï, Camille Bouyssonie, Sarah Pariente, Mustapha Adouani, Antonio Mancini, Guy Nataf, Michel Boujenah, Mohamed Driss et Claudia Cardinale. Montage : Catherine Poitevin. Musique : Jean-Marie Senia. Producteur délégué : Marie-Françoise Mascaro. Production : Marsa Fims (France), Cinares Productions (Tunisie), Lamy Films et la RTBF, avec l'aide de WBI et de la Communauté française de Belgique.
Available in: French with English subtitles. VHS/PAL
A comedy about tolerance. In la Goulette, a harbour suburb of Tunis, various populations and cultures have lived together in effortless happiness. Youssef, the Muslim, Jojo the Tunisian Jew and Guisseppe the Sicilian Catholic are as inseparable as their 16 year old daughters, Meriem, Gigi and Tina. Their close friendship is severely tested after a series of unfortunate events. Some interesting social dynamics are observed as a result. Brilliant storyline. (100 minutes)
Reviews
Summer in a magic place
By LIZ BRAUN. Toronto Sun. Monday, April 21, 1997.
A Summer In La Goulette is a snapshot, a memoir, of a people, a way of life and a time that no longer exist. Only the second Tunisian film ever to have theatrical release in Canada, A Summer In La Goulette is from filmmaker Ferid Boughedir and celebrates life in a tiny port town -- just before the start of the Six Day War in 1967. Youssef (Mustapha Adouani) is a Muslim, Jojo (Guy Nataf) is Jewish and Giuseppe (Ivo Salerno) is an Italian Catholic, and they are the closest of friends. Their teenaged daughters are likewise best buddies: There's Meriem (Sonia Mankai), Gigi (Sara Pariente) and Tina (Ava Cohen-Jonathan). Initially, it's difficult for a viewer to keep straight the characters and their various cultural and religious differences, and that would seem to be the point: A Summer In La Goulette is about a magical place where open-mindedness and tolerance are givens. Taking the role of local 'villain' is the Hadj Beji (Gamil Ratib), a falsely pious old goat who owns most of the buildings in La Goulette and who lusts endlessly for more property. When he begins to lust after the beautiful young Meriem, things take a comic turn. Despite the emphasis on an ethnic mix, A Summer In La Goulette is about people, not politics. What shakes up the community is not some far-off potential war but a simple plot by Meriem, Gigi and Tina to rebel against parental authority and lose their virginity by Aug. 15 -- the feast of the Madonna. Each chooses a boy of the 'wrong' religious persuasion, a gesture that scandalizes the community and threatens to bust up life-long friendships. Living alongside the central figures is a support cast of eccentrics -- the local half-wit listens to a portable radio and screams the news along the beach, a match-maker plots endlessly, citizens speculate as to when La Goulette's most famous citizen, Claudia Cardinale, will return home. A Summer In La Goulette is a comic but loving celebration that works on many levels. It's a wonderfully animated and exuberant story about everyday life and friendship, about life in a tiny village where no one locks his door and everyone knows your business. The film does have nationalistic and political underpinnings, of course, but the issues serious enough to prompt war are gently ridiculed in miniature as the petty squabbles -- easily solved -- and general minutiae of everyday life in a village. The real La Goulette is a tiny resort town renowned for being a geniune melting pot in the Islamic world -- though various global political changes have prompted the non-Muslim minorities to gradually move away. A Summer In La Goulette celebrates what once was. It's quick and innocent and funny, and has an impact that comes after-the-fact rather than at the moment of viewing. A Summer In La Goulette -- with subtitles -- opened Friday at the Carlton. SUN RATING 3 OUT OF 5.
This film is a shambling but lightly enjoyable Tunisian comedy about three teenage girls whose sexual curiosity is more powerful that their parents' admonitions. In a resort town in 1967, Jews, Catholics and Muslims are brought together by their common desire to protect their daughters' virtue. There's little in the way of plot here, mostly a series of vignettes linked only by consistent energy and a sense of good will, but it all manages to cohere for the film's brief length. The vision of ripe young women eager to secure their own deflowering may seem a little dated, but it's all part of the rosy nostalgia trip. Not particularly original, Summer is unflaggingly good-natured enough to make you forgive its flaws." Philadelphia City Paper.
One of those foreign films that will achieve wide circulation due in large part to its promise of naked young flesh ... The story takes place in La Goulette, Tunisia in the late sixties. Three 16-year-old girls -- one Muslim, one Jewish, and one Christian -- conspire to lose their virginity with a boy outside their faith. When they are caught necking with their chosen studs in a hotel room, all hell breaks loose among their families, who had previously managed to maintain an air of civility. With its sultry, exotic atmosphere and focus on losin' it, the film is reminiscent of last year's Stealing Beauty; but where that film was sweet and lyrical, this one is bawdy and coarse, using scantily-clad fat people and lecherous old guys for cheap laughs. Boughedir -- apparently a critic and auteur of some note -- seems to be aiming for a Mediterranean Do the Right Thing: in the heat of summer, an explosive incident causes simmering racial tensions to boil over. But his exploration of racial themes is shallow at best (the reaction of the families basically amounts to, "A Jew! Couldn't you find anything better than a Jew!" or "A Christian! Couldn't you find anything better than a Christian!" and so forth), and he seems more interesting in ogling his trio of young ingenues. There is a brief tangent in which hometown-girl-made-good Claudia Cardinale (playing herself) returns to madly appreciative crowds, which is probably meant to be symbolic of something or other, but which I didn't care to ponder. Like Chasing Amy, the film squanders a potentially intriguing premise by pandering to the lowest common denominator. Tunisian in origin, but a stealth French sex farce. You have been warned. Skander Halim's Film Geek Haven
The Extras = Al-Kompars
Writen and directed by Nabil Al-Maleh ; National Film Organization Damascus-Syria.
The engaging story of a poor young couple's courtship. For eight months, Salem, an aspiring actor/gas station attendant has been courting Nada, a young widow--yet they can only see each other in public under the watchful eyes of her overly protective brothers. Initially banned in Syria.
"The Extras is the fourth and finest feature from the inaugurator of Syrian auteur cinema, Nabil Maleh. A multiple festival award winner, The Extras is the engaging story of a poor young couple's courtship. For eight months, Salem, an aspiring actor/gas station attendant has been courting Nada, a young widow - yet they can only see each other in public under the watchful eyes of her overly protective brothers. A number of comic situations arise as Salem convinces a friend to lend his apartment for two hours so he can finally meet Nada in private. However, once alone, the understandably paranoid lovers are awkward and helpless, having so internalized societal scrutiny, their exchange is fraught with anxiety and shame. Initially banned in Syria, The Extras is at once a profound and entertaining film examining how the lack of privacy affects young people." - Cinemateque Ontario.
(olin,str1 PN1997 .K652 1993)
Fatimah
Ta'lif Musta Amin ; mudir al-intaj, Ahmad Raja'i ; ikhraj, Ahmad Badrkhan. Umm Kulthum, Anwar Wajd i. Sharikat Misr lil-Tamthil wa-al-Sinima, Studiu Misr, [193- ?]. Arabic with English subtitles. 1 videocassette (VHS)
Musical comedy.
(uris,med Video;548)
Ghazl al-banat = Suspended Life [The razor's edge] = L'adolescente sucre d'amour = "Une vie suspendue"
Originally released as a motion picture in 1984. Une production Balcon Production France et U.P.C.T., Cine Video Canada ; avec la participation de Centre National de la Cinematographie C.N.C. ... [et al.] ; un film de Jocelyne Saab ; scenario et dialogues Gerard Brach ; idee originale, Jocelyne Saab ; mise en scene Jocelyne Saab. Director of photography, Claude Larue ; music, Siegfried Kessler. WITH: Jacques Weber, Hala Bassam, Juliet Berto, Youssef Housny, Denise Filliatrault, Ali Diab, Khaled El Sayed, Claude Prefontaine, Souheir Salhani. 1 videocassette (90 min.)
The first film shot in post-war Lebanon, A Suspended Life is set in Beirut ten years into the conflict. Hala, a child of the war, finds relief from the chaos around her through Egyptian movies she watches on television. Karim, an artist in retreat from life, remains in his apartment in war-torn West Beirut, confident that he is safe in his familiar neighborhood. An unlikely bond is formed between the two as they face the devastating civil war. A tale of poetic truth, A Suspended Life examines the ways in which war brings people together as well as tearing them apart. "I've invented places," writes director Jocelyne Saab, "as if by making a work of fiction about them, I could preserve them."
(uris Video 2874)
The Girl With The Running Shoes
A film by: Rasoul Sadr-Ameli. (Color, Farsi , VHS video (NTSC & PAL format))
This film deals with the problem of the wide generation gap which exists among most Iranian families and focuses on a story of young girl who runs away from home.
The Guests of God
Written & narrated by David Tindall ; producer, Maurice Thompson. Meridian International Communications Production, c1991. 1 videocassette (51 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in.
This BBC production traces the steps of a European Muslim convert family in Germany to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Camera work provides breathtaking shots of Makkah's two million 'hajjis'.
Uris. Video 1907
The Gulf War, what next? = Harb Al-Khalij, Wa Ba'd?
1 videocassette (109 min.) ; a co-production [of] Cinétléléfilms and Libra Films for Channel Four ; associate producers, RAI 3 (Italy), Transméditerranée.
A compilation film by five leading Arab directors, asked by the producers to express themselves freely about the Gulf War and its impact on Arab individuals and intellectuals yielded The Gulf War, What Next?
Borhane Alaoui's Black Night Eclipse follows a Lebanese filmmaker (living in Paris) as he grapples with what thematic approach to take in making a film about the war.
Nouri Bouzid's It is Sherherazade They're Killing is about an Arab family gathering in Tunis during Ramadan, torn apart over dissension about the heroes and victims of the war.
Mustapha Darkaoui's The Silence follows a film and theater production group as they are increasingly distracted from their current project by the desire to revisit Iraq and film the changes wrought in the decade since their last trip.
Nejia Ben Mabrouk's Research of Shaima follows the filmmaker as she travels to Bagdad in search of a girl whose face she has seen on television, only to find the inevitable personal tragedy caused by the destruction of war.
Elia Suleiman's Homage by Assassination, in which a Palestinian screenwriter attempting to finish a script in New York City becomes increasingly distraught over news of the war.
(Text from FilmFest DC)
... Despite a seemingly relentless struggle with censorship, some Middle Eastern filmmakers have produced work that addresses -- often directly -- the issues of politics, war and religion; their films represent those who support extremist governments as well as those who quietly rebel against them. These films frequently personify an intense anger directed at the United States, but they also convey the mixed emotions about fanaticism that often plague the weary inhabitants of the region. "The Gulf War, What Next?" (1991), for example, is a collection of five short films by Arab directors addressing the war in Kuwait from the point of view of those living in the region. The series was commissioned by British television, and demonstrates how events in Kuwait rippled through Islamic countries as far away as Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon. "Research of Shaima," a short documentary by filmmaker Nejia Ben Makbrouk, is particularly striking: Makbrouk travels to bombed-out Baghdad in search of a girl she saw in a television report. Her film juxtaposes footage of the widespread destruction and death she finds in Iraq -- dead children, charred bodies -- with films of American soldiers chanting "I'm going to kill me an Arabian" to a chilling effect..."--From: Film to watch as we engage in war - - - - - - - - - - - - By Janelle Brown (Salon.com)
(olin,av Video 2992)
Googoosh Series
This series consists of the following films: Bita ; Nazanin ; Dar Emtedad Shab ; Fereshteh Farari ;Panjareh ; Mah Assal ; Life Story of Googoosh.
(Olin PN1997.A1 G84 2000)
The Hajj : a journey of faith. The Hajj mission of a lifetime. Title on cassette label: Hajj package
Executive producer, Jim Miller ; Atlanta producers, Rena Golden ... [et al.] ; director, Terry Torson. Camera, Mohammad Ali Asaad ; graphic design, Nancy Williams ; editor, Scott McGhee. Host and correspondent, Riz Khan. Atlanta, Ga. Cable News Network. 1 videocassette (ca. 48 min.) : sd., col. ;1/2 in.
Originally broadcast on CNN on Aug. 13, 1998. Copy 2 air date: Apr. 2-6, 1998. An unprecedented coverage of the Hajj, or the holy pilgrimage to Mecca, by a western news organization with live reports, including interviews with the officials, scholars, and pilgrims. First half of the program describes the purpose and rituals of the pilgrimage. The second half shows how the reports were put together.
Halfaouine [Asfur al-sath = A child of the terraces]
Directed by Ferid Boughedir ; screenplay, Ferid Boughedir. Adaptation, Maryse Leon Garcia ; dialogues, Taoufik Jebali ; music, Anour Braham. With: M. Driss, H. Kazaras, R. Ben Abdallah, F. Ben Saldane, Selim Boughedir. A Cine Tele Films, France Mâedia, Scarabee Films production. New York : Kino International, [1997], c1990. 1 videocassette (98 min.). A videorecording of the 1990 motion picture. An International Film Circuit Release In Tunisian Arabic with English subtitles. Official selection, Cannes 1990.
A Cine Tele Films, France Media, Scarabee Films production ; screenplay, Ferid Boughedir ; adaptation, Maryse Leon Garcia ; directed by Ferid Boughedir. -- New York, NY : International Film Circuit, 1990. Cast: Selim Boughedir, Mustapha Adouani, Rabia Ben Abdallah, Mohammed Driss, Carolyn Chelby. Producers: Ahmed Baha Attia, Eliane Stutterheim, and Hassen Daldoul. In Arabic with subtitles [Although it has been floating around film festival circuit for the better part of five years, Ferid Boughedir's feature Halfaouine (named after the small Tunisian town where it takes place), has finally received U.S. distribution, albeit of the most limited kind (I believe there's only one print). However, while the film contains a few memorable sequences, it's hardly worth the kind of intensive search that will be necessary to uncover the nearest screening. Regardless of the culture in which a child grows up, adolescence is always a confusing and difficult phase of the maturation process. In the Muslim lifestyle, where women's features are veiled and men assert themselves as the "superior gender", the male's transition from boyhood to manhood is all the more difficult. At the age of 12, Noura (Selim Boughedir) is regarded as neither a child nor an adult. His growing sexual curiosity has gotten him banned from the women's baths, where his mother took him when he was younger, but he is not yet old enough to be permitted to listen to discussions of "men's matters." His sense of isolation is profound. His father (Mustapha Adouani) is emotionally distant, yet warns him against closeness with his mother and aunt, saying that "men don't hang around with women." Noura's only real companionship comes from a local libertine named Salih (Mohammed Driss), who is the village's political outcast. Halfaouine is a coming-of-age story that, at its core, isn't much different from similar narratives set in the United States. Most of the film deals with Noura's attempts to come to grips with his impending adulthood, and sexual discovery is a large part of that growth. Like many boys his age, Noura is forever trying to sneak peeks at the female body. It's natural that in a society where women display little skin in public that there is great curiosity about what lies under all the clothing. Telling Noura's story isn't the movie's lone objective. Openly challenging religious traditions, the writer/director criticizes the cultural schism that exists between the sexes. As depicted in Halfaouine, women are objectified in Muslim society, and it's the lack of meaningful communication between husbands and wives that perpetuates the cycle. In addition to his social commentary, Ferid Boughedir pave
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