Review by Choice Review
Tracing the trajectory of Arab cinema in the Maghreb and the Middle East in the 1980s and 1990s, Armes (emer., Middlesex Univ. London, UK) illustrates how pre-independence national cinema was mostly deployed as a mode of resistance against Western colonization and how European cinema--namely French, Italian, and British--influenced this new wave of Arab filmmakers and postcolonial Arab cinema in general. Armes draws intimate portraits of leading Arab filmmakers, examining their financial woes and their rebelliousness toward the despotic governments that controlled every aspect of film production. The author highlights the plight of Arab filmmakers who incessantly searched for funding, from mostly Western sponsors, and negotiated their newfound freedom to create work that appealed primarily to Western audiences without compromising the core of their stories. Situating Arab cinema in pertinent historical, social, economic, and political settings, this insightful, well-researched book abounds with interesting material about pioneering women filmmakers in Arab countries and less-popular documentary films, as well as prominent feature-length motion pictures. A must-read for anyone interested in cinema of the Arab world. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Hamid Bahri, The City University of New York, York College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review