Arab film and culture Midterm PDF

Preview

Summary

Arabic Film and Culture- Martin...

Description

Development of Arab Cinema ● When/how cinema was introduced in the Arab World. ○ New Inventions in the second half of the 19th century camera, cinema, phonograph ○ Gramophone and broadcasting ○ Radio as a tool for propaganda by state ○ Most Arab countries did not produce films before independence ○ Introduced by Europeans ■ Intention to support colonial cause= propaganda ■ Filming provided inflexibility and ethnic identification ■ Films shot in these exiotic landscapes with western superiority and racism→ fictional film shots ■ Locals did not have real role and were just part of the background ○ Arab filmmaking ■ Came from elite that were Educated in Europe ■ Weakened links of traditionalism ■ Linguistic issues ■ Financed by Europeans as co productions as first ○ Egypt responsible for significantly more film production than any other country ■ Cinema, recording industry, and broadcasting made cairo the cultural center of the arab world ○ Early on most theaters and productions were owned and produced by Europeans ○ Egypt was the only place with a national film industry under the colonial period ■ Started off by short film productions ■ Due to the economic independence gained by Muhammad Ali in the 19th c. ○ Studio Misr development in 1934 by Taalet Harb ■ Between 1945-1952 Egypt produced 48 films a year ■ Had European film specialists ■ Sent young Egyptians to study films in Europe ○ Colonialism: ■ Different forms of culture: traditional, popular, elite ■ Films were produced by an elite, drawing on traditional themes and sources, but aiming the popular audience ■ Film production initially remained confined to foreign and non-native investors → in Algeria french used it to impose their culture, confine indigenous culture, and spread propaganda ■ Algerians and Palestinians used cinema to produce counter-representations against French and Zionist propaganda

● Development of the cinema industry in different Arab countries, with examples. ○ Most had lack of film education in their country ○ Algeria ■ Indigenous culture was suppressed and there weren’t any native movie makers ■ French had strict rules ■ Students taught only french ■ High taxes ■ Limited categories ■ Not many Arab actors in Maghreb set films by French ■ Cinema started after independence in opposition to the French ● Movies and propaganda against colonialism ● Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina directed in Chronicle of the Years of Embers ■ Lacks qualified film technicians ■ Most films dealt with war and liberation until 1972 ■ 1969 ONCIC ○ Syria ■ Bad economic state suppressed economic development ■ Many intellectuals left for more opportunity in Egypt ■ Only commercial Egyptian productions and state productions after 1963 revolution ○ Palestine ■ Development in regard to armed struggle ○ Lebanon ■ Economic Upswing after world war 2 ■ Random early production with very high cinema attendance ■ 60’s: films produced by Egyptians in exile ■ 70’s: local filmmakers, mostly educated abroad ■ Egyptian nationalization led entrepreneurs to Lebanon to create ■ Civil war erupted in 1975 ○ Tunisia ■ Albert Chikly pioneering efforts (1920s) ● Introduced camera, made first film, organized first projection and screening. ■ Film culture starts in the decade before independence ■ 1966: first post-independence film by a Tunisian ■ Lack of modern studios

● Uniqueness of the Egyptian cinema industry. ○ Timeline: ■ 1896 First film projection in Alexandria ■ 1900 First film theater ■ 1911: 8 theaters in Cairo and Alexandria ■ First production of films in Egypt 1914-1918, by foreigners ■ 1922 “First” film: Mohammad Bayoumi “The Clerk” ● Bayoumi = father of egyptian cinema ■ 1919 revolution and Egyptianization of society ■ 1920 Creation of Bank Msr by Talaat Harb ● He wanted the company to be able to make Egyptian films about Egyptian subjects, Egyptian literature, and Egyptian aesthetics ■ 1935 first real studio Studio Misr ■ 1940s-1950s- golden age ■ 1960s full involvement of state ■ 1970s film makers began to leave and work outside of Egypt ○ Egypt always had a dynamic multicultural life with native Egyptians that played an important role which was undisturbed by colonial authorities ○ After 1919 upheavals there was strong interest in film as an established art ○ Increasing Egyptianization due to independence in the economy ○ Had a film school ○ Many people migrated to Egypt at the time ○ Incorporated other forms of art like music and live theater into films ● Relationship between cinema and previous forms or artistic expression Cinema before and after independence. ○ Music was already popular and musicians like Umm Kulthum sang and acted in films ○ Egyptian theater was full of shadow play and comedic scenes and was further influenced by European cinema ○ Noty dramatic theater before Europeans came just passion plays and story telling ○ Greek gods and stories did not resonate because they believe in one monolithic God ○ Popularity of poetry ○ Genre of maqama similar to drama ■ More of a narrative but not performed by actors ○ European influence ■ First european style theater in Beirut in 1848 ■ a large number of french plays were Arabitized

○ Modern native theater developed much later than Egypt ■ bc loss of talented artists to Egypt ■ French attempts to marginalize indigenous culture in N Africa ○ Tropes ■ Stereotypes of accidents, nubians, upper Egypt society ● Nationalization of the Arab cinema. ○ Independence was a catalyst for national filmmaking ○ Socialist states: production and distribution managed by the state ○ Sometimes state monopoly in distributions and importation but there was a dependence on foreign products because national products were insufficient ○ Syria and Tunisia demanded state intervention because making films was costly ○ European and American imports placed the most strain on native developments so they nationalized the distribution networks ○ American and French films boycotted in Tunisia ○ It was hard to oust western influence ● Positive and negative aspects of nationalization, with examples. ○ Pro ■ Could control taxes and fees on imported films and reinvest them in home production ■ Egyptian nationalization promoted filmmakers to move to lebanon and jordan or rely on co productions ■ Good for local economy ■ Legitimize a national identity ■ Combats impacts of colonialism (algeria making films critiquing French and french colonialism) ○ Con ■ Long run insufficient financial means ■ Incompetence of state officials ■ Standards decreased ■ Propaganda 2. Censorship ● Censorship in different countries and periods ○ 3 taboo subjects in Arab cinema= sex, politics, and religion ● Arbitrary and Unpredictable → any film that portrays something that does not correspond to the normal or embarass the audience can be banned ● Strategies used by filmmakers to overcome censorship ○ Having two films (one to export, one to play at home) ○ Stylistically encode a message/action (linguistic images)

○ Coproductions offer alternative financing ○ Distort representation through distance, irony, and ambiguity ● Examples of censorship. ○ The Nightingale’s Prayer ■ All sexual actions took place behind closed doors ■ Never mentioned sex/rape, only said seduction ○ Hello America ■ Prostitute scene was used imagery of a rocket to imply sex ○ Also, governments used to change the subtitles for foreign films, making them more appropriate (but incorrectly translated) 3. Language and Film ● Use of Classical/Modern Standard Arabic and dialects in films ○ Danaanir  is one of few films to use modern standard arabic (fusha) ○ The first movie in algerian dialect was omar gatlato ● Varieties used in certain films and why. ● Controversies around language in films (example: Algeria). ○ At first films use colloquial arabic without french terminology and they dont take into account the local dialects = artificial language ○ Omar gatlato is the first one to not do this - has authentic language ● Cairo was the dialect dominated over other varieties in Egypt but it became disconnected from the real language of the people ● Forms of narration: development and trends. ○ Monologue (omar gatlato) ○ Anecdotes/flashbacks ■ Chased by the dogs 4. Genres: Music(als), Melodramas, Comedies, Epics ● Popularity/Variations of different genres in diverse time periods and countries. ● Characteristics of the different genres, with examples. Films: 1. Zohra a. b. c. d.

Directed: Albert Samama-Chikli, 1922. Credited as the first Tunisian film Stars: Haydee Chikli, his daughter About a woman who is shipwrecked young french woman who is taken in by the bedouins e. “Mysterious orient” genre. 2. Barsum looks for a Job

3.

4.

5.

6.

a. Genre: comedy b. Directed: Mohamed Bayoumi, 1923. i. Bayoumi— Egyptian filmmaker in the 20s. ii. Filmed the opening of tutankhamun's tomb, founded Egypt’s first cinema school, studied film in germany, and went to military school before that c. 2 main characters, Barsum (a christian), and his muslim friend who are both looking for a job d. Showed many things about 1920s egypt i. Fierce competition for food/economy in lower class ii. French influence in egypt (cultural difference between britain and france) iii. Support of saad zaghloul (based on the picture of him and the flag of egypt seen in one scene). Even if you’re poor you are with zaghloul iv. Religious cohesion— muslim and christian helping each other → unity within the religions v. Only films before or meant to portray before 1952 have the Fez 1. Only bad people wear the fez after that time (especially in the 60s/70s) e. Mishmish effendi a. Directed: Frenkel Brothers, 1936-51. i. A jewish family from belarus, escaped to egypt during the jewish attacks in russia b. “Mickey Mouse got an Egyptian Brother” c. A character they created in 1935, a popular cartoon d. girlfriend= Bahea e. First movies was “Ma Fish Faida” in 1936 f. Screened the movies in Cairo until 1939 g. 1940— during WWII, the ministry of war ordered patriotic films, so mishmish starred in “National Defense” h. Frenkel brothers left egypt in 1948 after the creation of israel, and they fled to Paris Dananir a. Directed: Ahmad Badrakhan, 1940. b. Star: umm kulthum c. Long singing scenes The Flirtation of Girls (fragment) a. Directed: Anwar Wagdi, 1949. b. Was a comedy Omar Gatlato

a. Directed: Merzak Allouache, 1976. i. Algerian b. Music: Ahmed Malek c. Stars: Boualem Bennani (omar), Farida Guenaneche (Selma), Aziz Degga (Moh) d. Used 2nd/3rd person narration (Omar monologues right to the camera) e. Follows Omar Gatlato and utilizes second and third person points of view as Omar directly addresses the audience and f. Large focus on the prevalence and importance of masculinity g. Significance of locally produced music h. Illustrates tensions between gender expectations i. Was one of the first Algerian films to avoid the subject of the war of independence against France i. Viewed as being a representation of normal Algerian life j. Known as the first movie to show the language of the people instead of MSA, also the first movie to not address the war/independence from France 7. 100% Arabica a. Directed: Mahmoud Zemmouri, 1997. b. Set in a poor neighborhood in the outskirts of France i. Crime-filled, mostly arab immigrants c. Cheb Mami and Khaled bring people together with Rai music d. Some main themes i. gender/treatment of women— women in the film were treated extremely poorly, called bitches a lot, controlled ii. Criticism of the older generations/conservatives 1. A lot of religious corruption was beat out by music iii. Criticism of strict Islamic and how money corrupts people iv. High vs low culture in regard to music 8. The Sparrow a. Directed: Yusuf Chahine, 1973. i. Born 1926 in cairo to a levantine christian family ii. Educated in Victoria college of alexandria iii. Left egypt for ‘pasadora playhouse’ in 1946 LA 1. Decided to be a director, and not an actor iv. First movie— baba amin 1950, then started making popular films to be successful commercially v. 1958— cairo central station (1st realistic movie) vi. 1958— jamila the algerian (solidarity with algeria) vii. 1963— saladin, an ode to arab nationalism

viii.

After 1963, when the egyptian film industry was nationalized, he left to lebanon and stopped making arab pan-arab movies, after 1967 revolution b. Movie set shortly before the 6 day war in 1967 c. About a young police officer in egypt, citizens suffering under the corrupt businessmen in the village d. Often cited as the 1st arab film dealing with defeat e. Bahiya— represents mother egypt f. The sparrow represents the lower class struggle 9. The Nightingale's Prayer (The Call of the Curlew) a. Directed: Henry Barakat, 1959 b. Starred Faten Hamama (1931-2015) i. Refused to give a kiss onscreen until she made a movie with omar sharif, who she later married c. Based on the novel by Taha Hussein i. 1889-1973, born in upper egypt, blind by the age of 3 ii. 1st person to get a phd from the university of cairo iii. 1950 became the minister of education, and set a framework for secular education iv. Called “The dean of Arabic Literature” d. About a young woman named Amna from a small village. She, her mother, and her sister hanadi are forced to move to the city after their father is murdered for his infidelity. Her sister is seduced by her new boss, the engineer, and then is murdered (honor-killing) by her uncle. Amna vows revenge, and goes to work for the engineer. He tries to seduce her as well, and she eventually falls in love with him. However, her uncle comes back to try and kill her, and the engineer takes the bullet for her. 10. Chased by the Dogs a. Directed: Kamal al-Shaykh, 1962. i. Refused to put songs in his movies, because it made it less realistic to stop action for a song b. Based on the novel by Naguib Mahfouz i. Mahfouz was an egyptian novelist and screenplay writer ii. Won nobel prize for literature (the first arab to do so) iii. Tragedy usually serves as a starting point, character is usually a victim of their own circumstances c. Literary adaptations— film= popular right away, was a new genre (A critique of social abuses and of bourgeois morals/snobbery) d. Narrator is the only source of knowledge i. Uses flashbacks, thinks his personal story=collective story

e. Sheikh— useless. Religion can be a temporal refuge, but cannot save somebody like Sa’id, who cannot be saved through love and resignation f. Opposition of light and dark, day and night, open and closed spaces g. Names have meaning i. sanaa/noor= brightness and light ii. alish= wolf iii. Sa’id= happy (ironic) 11. Hello America a. Directed: Nader Galal, 2000. b. Produced: Kamla Abu Zekri c. 3rd movie in a trilogy d. Major Points: i. - Criticism of perceived American values ii. - Dichotomy between Egyptian and American culture iii. - Islamic Radicalism iv. - Israeli-Palestinian conflict/American foreign policy v. - Role of money e. Adel Emam’s character is the archetype of an individual down on his luck who rises above powerful outside pressures and ends up dismissing the society as a whole 12. Saladin a. Directed: Youssef Chahine, 1963 b. Based on a novel by Naguib Mahfouz c. Major points: christian v. muslim rhetoric, colonization and control of Jerusalem, heroism, allegiance d. Summary: Set during the 3rd crusade the film loosely follows warlord Salah al-Din al-Ayubi, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, and other characters (Richard the Lionheart, King Philip of France etc.) Salah al-Din is portrayed as a pan-Arab national hero who was able to defeat the crusaders with his military skill, wisdom, righteousness and dignity. 13. Chronicle of the Years of Embers, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, 1975. a. Dir: Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian film director and screenwriter. Studied film in Prague through the FLN. Joined Service Cinema in 1960. Member of Algerian Maquis (guerrillas) b. Summary: Divided into 7 chapters i. The Years of Cinders ii. The Years of the Cart iii. The Years of Embers iv. The Year of the Assault

v. The Year of Fire vi. 1 November 1954 vii. 11 November 1954 c. Significance:

d.

Extra Third World ● Not aligned with US or USSR during Cold War ● Were occupied by Western powers who imposed their language, cultures, and ideology ● Led to violent revolutions against power New Arab Cinema ● Post six day war new unconventional forms of cinema come out trying to break away from economic and political constraints ● Sometimes private production companies would work with foreign producers ○ Positive: films seen abroad. Neg: co produced films tend to make less money at home Theater and Cinema ● Influence of popular theatre in early cinema productions ● Influence of early dramatic forms in popular theater ● Lots of crossover in certain topics ● Close relationship between popular theater and early egyptian film production ○ Involvement of theater actor in cinema ○ Cinematic adaptations of successful plays National Identity ● Elites were westernized ● Nationalism is westen National culture ● Members of the elite are often cut off from the mass of people by language Film Costs ● Highest goes to actors High vs Low culture

● “High-culture” dominated by classical Arabic or MSAPopular culture uses mainly dialects of Arabic ● Filmmakers prefer to use dialect for dialogs (some exceptions– Danaaniir) ● In the Arab world, there is coexistence of MSA, dialects, local vernaculars, French, and now English. ● Debates about which language to use in films. Evolution of music ● Popularity of music in early Arab cinema ○ Music guaranteed box office hits ● Arab singing ghina closely linked to poetry ○ Singing increases the enjoyment of listening to poetic texts ● Arab songs in films were long ● Golden Age 1952-1957 ○ Politically correct music and films ○ Umm Kulthum was popular and supported Nasser ● Musically Quality Decline in 1960s ● Arabs took western pop music and spun it in their own way ● Algeria rai 1960s-1980s ○ Spoke of common people’s struggles ○ Rai singers attacked by radical muslims and immigrated to france ● 1970s Egyptian Shaabi ● Decline of global Arabic music decline after 9/11 Melodrama ● Melodrama is a genre expressing extremes of emotions ● Focuses on societal rules and social differences between men and women ● – Women=weeping and helpless, didn’t express emotions or desires ● – Men=masculine, carry inevitable pattern of corruption, rise, downfall, and replacement (futuwwa) ● ■ “Missionary Zeal” in spreading European ideals ● Melodrama=a play with music ● Themes of characters mistreated by fate ● Individual happiness and love vs. tradition and family ● 1940s-50s Morally and Physically threatened women in almost all melodramas ● 1980s-90s Melodrama almost completely replaced by realist films Comedy ● Majority of early silent films were comedies

● Fragmentary style of comedy where it takes a long time to introduce the plot became outdated in the 1940s ● Draws from the regional tradition of the “shadow play” ○ relatively slow pace, verbally-oriented, wordplay, clumsy behavior of protagonists ● ● From the 1960s, a shift towards realism in comedy ● Describes 4 categories of comedy: gags, situations, analogies, and derision ○ Gags: Questions identities and what is significant using a series of gags ○ Situations: Mistake intrudes into the life of the central character, somehow the character finds himself out of place and must find his way back in ○ Analogies: Use substitution to critique an institution; this is a way to get around censorship ○ Derision: Based on the tradition of hija (derision), it draws out the issue at hand and is a way of degrading an enemy

Genre Review 1. Epic a. Saladin b. The chronicle of the year of embers 2. Comedy a. Hello america b. We are the bus people 3. Melodrama a. The nightingale's prayer b. Thief and dog 4. Musical (?) a. 100% arabica b. danaanir 5. Literary adaptations a. Thief and dog

Random shit about directors 1. Youseff Chahine: from egypt, super famous a. Experimented with realism b. Did saladin, the sparrow c. Supported pan-arabism at first

d. After six day war however he ‘woke up from a post-independence nationalist euphoria’ 2. Naghib Mahfouz a....