Cinema of the Arab World: Contemporary Directions in Theory and Practice

ISBN-13: 9783030300838 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 422 str.

Terri Ginsberg; Chris Lippard

Recenzje

"One of the many merits of this volume is that it approaches cinema in its sociohistorical dimension, thus shedding as much light on the circumstances (social, historical, economic, etc.) under which films are produced and consumed as on the films themselves. ... The contributions in this collection present a series of possibilities and case studies in how to approach a field that remains both understudied and oversimplified ... ." (Giovanni Vimercati, Film Quarterly, Winter, 2020)

O autorze

Terri Ginsberg is Assistant Professor of Film at The American University in Cairo, Egypt. She is co-author of Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema; author of Visualizing the Palestinian Struggle and Holocaust Film: The Political Aesthetics of Ideology; and co-editor of Perspectives on German Cinema and A Companion to German Cinema.

 

Chris Lippard is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah, USA. He is co-author of the Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema and has recently published articles on contemporary Iranian cinema and on Anthony Mann’s Devil’s Doorway.

Blurb

"Ginsberg and Lippard have managed something rare: a riveting collection of essays with a consistently strong voice throughout. These chapters treat a diverse archive of films, filmmakers, and contexts with theoretical and historical depth and an urgency of interpretation, challenging the enormous gaps in our knowledge of Arab cinematic expression. Not only is this book indispensable for courses on Arab cinema, it will undoubtedly prompt new routes of inquiry for researchers, teachers, and viewers alike."

— Peter Limbrick, University of California-Santa Cruz, USA

 

“Cinema of the Arab World fills gaps in the literature and re-envisions the ways in which Arab cinema has been looked at previously. It succeeds by avoiding conforming to the stereotypical molds that guide some scholarship about the region. The mix of established scholars as well as young researchers, and the inclusion of different philosophical and critical theories and methodologies, make this book indispensable to anyone interested in understanding contemporary Arab cinema. Highly recommended."

— Orayb Najjar, Northern Illinois University, USA

 

This volume engages new films and modes of scholarly research in Arab cinema, and older, often neglected films and critical topics, while theorizing their structural relationship to contemporary developments in the Arab world. The volume considers the relationship of Arab cinema to transnational film production, distribution, and exhibition, in turn recontextualizing the works of acknowledged as well as new directorial figures, and country-specific phenomena. New documentary and experimental practices are referenced and critiqued, while commercial cinema is covered both as an industrial product and as one of several instances of contestation. The volume thus showcases the breadth and depth of Arab film culture and its multilayered connections to local conditions, regional affiliations, and the tendencies and aesthetics of global cinema.