Companion encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African film /

Leaman's encyclopedia defines the Middle East both broadly, including parts of the former Soviet Union (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and thoroughly, covering cinema in Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, and Syria. Its entries combine historical overviews of cinema (often focusing on genre), with an information section on films, directors, and in some instances, actors and institutions in particular countries. Bibliographical references follow each chapter. The text is enhanced by stills, easy-to-read typeface, sturdy binding, and helpful indexing (including separate indexes by film and name). This work brings together material unavailable elsewhere in one place, much of it hitherto unavailable in English. Since a great part of the literature on cinema in this part of the world exists only in Arabic or French, this title has no English-language rivals, and hence will be essential for any library wanting up-to-date, thoughtful coverage of cinema in the Middle East and North Africa. General and academic readers, lower-division undergraduate through faculty. C. Hendershott New School for Social Research

Edited by Leaman (philosophy, Univ. of Kentucky), this welcome addition to film reference is divided into nine chapters covering countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East, including Central Asia (the former Soviet republics), Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, The Maghreb, Palestine, and Turkey. Each chapter is written by a specialist in a particular region and gives the history and major issues of its filmmaking, biographical information on leading directors and actors, and annotated filmographies of significant works. Information varies widely from chapter to chapter, with some detailing audience size and distribution and others focusing on themes. Chapter length also varies significantly, dependent upon the strength of the nation's film industry (e.g., the chapter on Israel's cinema runs 140 pages, while that on Palestine's runs only 15). The transliteration of names and titles is irregular, but this should pose little trouble to most readers. Each chapter concludes with a brief bibliography, and short name, film, and general indexes make up the end matter. Sixty black-and-white photos from select films are also included. This is a useful addition to the growing library on non-Western cinema, which includes Sharon Russell's Guide to African Cinema (Greenwood, 1998), Lizbeth Malkmus and Roy Armes's Arab and African Film Making (o.p.), and Viola Shafik's Arab Cinema (American University in Cairo, 1998). Highly recommended for all libraries supporting film studies. Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ., TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.