Roots of the New Arab Film /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Armes, Roy, author.
Imprint:Bloomington, Indiana, USA : Indiana University Press, 2018.
Description:1 online resource
Language:English
Series:Book collections on Project MUSE.
Subject:Motion pictures, Arab -- France.
Motion pictures -- Arab countries.
Motion picture producers and directors -- Arab countries.
PERFORMING ARTS -- Film & Video -- History & Criticism.
Motion picture producers and directors.
Motion pictures.
Motion pictures, Arab.
Arab countries.
France.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12351415
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780253031730
0253031737
9780253031716
0253031710
9780253034182
9780253031723
0253034183
9780253034182
0253031729
9780253031723
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Print version record.
Summary:Roots of the New Arab Film deals with the generation of filmmakers from across North Africa and the Middle East who created an international awareness of Arab film from the mid-1980s onwards. These seminal filmmakers experienced the moment of national independence first-hand in their youth and retained a deep attachment to their homeland. Although these aspiring filmmakers had to seek their training abroad, they witnessed a time of filmic revival in Europe - Fellini and Antonioni in Italy, the French New Wave, and British Free Cinema. Returning home, these filmmakers brought a unique insider/outsider perspective to bear on local developments in society since independence, including the divide between urban and rural communities, the continuing power of traditional values and the status of women in a changing society. As they made their first films back home, the feelings of participation in a worldwide movement of new, independent filmmaking was palpable. Roots of the New Arab Film is a necessary and comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the foundations of Arab cinema.
Other form:Print version: Armes, Roy. Roots of the New Arab Film. Bloomington, Indiana, USA : Indiana University Press, 2018
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