Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity PDF
Preview Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity
Arab Cinema This page intentionally left blank VIOLA SHAFIK Arab Cinema HISTORY AND CULTURAL IDENTITY The American University in Cairo Press Cairo New York To the memory of my mother Elfriede Laux and with gratitude to my stepmother Ingrid Offterdinger Copyright © 1998 by The American University in Cairo Press 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini Cairo, Egypt This is a revised and expanded version of Der arabische Film: Geschichte und kulturelle Identitdt, published by Aisthesis Verlag Bielefeld, 1996 Third printing 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Dar el Kutub No. 1916/98 ISBN 977 424 475 3 Printed in Egypt CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Names, Titles, Dates, and Credits viii Introduction 1 1. The History of Arab Cinema 9 Encounter with a new medium — Production during the colonial period — Cinema and resistance — National film making and the state - Education and know-how - Hollywood or socialism - The crisis of the public sector - Censorship —Cinema artisanal and coproduction - Diversification in the satellite era 2. Artistic Roots of Arab Cinema 47 Image and symbolic arrangement — The theater — Language and the art of narration - Music 3. Cultural Identity and Genre 121 The literary adaptation — La dame aux camelias: an example of cultural repackaging - Realism - History in Cinema - Cinema d'auteur 4. Conclusion 209 Notes 215 Bibliography 233 Index of Titles 245 Index of Names 250 This page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Ibrahim al-Ariss, Marie Claude Behna, Professor Gabriele Braune, Professor Joachim Colmant, Dr. Karin Horner, Boudjemaa Kareche, Dr. Verena Klemm, Professor Albrecht Noth, Professor Muhammad Kamil al-Qalyubi, Kamal Ramzi, Professor Ella Shohat, Professor Robert Stam, and Magda Wassef. My thanks also to the many filmmakers and cineastes who have helped me. The research that led to this book could not have been accom- plished without the financial support of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. I am also very grateful to the Cinematheque Algerienne, the Algerian Cultural Institute, and the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. My special thanks go to my husband Onsi Abou Seif for his precious comments, and my sisters-in-law Nawal and Busayna (Souheir) Abou Seif, for their constant and loving support. Names, Titles, Dates, and Credits The Arabic transcription used here is a simplified version of that applied in the Encyclopedia of Islam (London, 1960). Titles of films from the Maghreb are given in French as well as Arabic where these titles differ. Names of persons are not strictly transcribed, but given as commonly cited. Occasionally, where this form departs markedly from the Arabic, a closer transcription is added in parentheses. In the transcription of Egyptian names and notions the usual dj is replaced by the letter g (as in 'garden'), since this corresponds more closely to Egyptian pronunciation. Colloquial expressions are transcribed according to the same principle, but taking into consider- ation phonetic differences. Thus, in transcribing the Egyptian vernacular, for example, the 'hamza' (') replaces the letter 'qaf (q). The date in brackets following film titles normally indicates the year of release and not that of production. The year of production is only mentioned when a film was not distributed until several years later. If two dates are given, divided by a slash, they refer to a screening season. Unless otherwise credited, all photographs are from the author's personal collection. INTRODUCTION The Arab world is not, as is often perceived, a monolith, but is made up of different communities, peoples, states, and governmental and societal forms. Neither does it form linguistically, ethnically, or culturally an unchallenged unity. The majority of its inhabitants adhere to Islam, but other religions are represented in the region, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islamic sects such as those of the Alawites and Druze. On the linguistic level little unity exists; in addition to the languages of ethnic minorities like Berbers, Nubians, ^nd Kurds, the Arabic language itself has split into a huge variety of local dialects. To include such a heterogeneous region in a single study is problematic even when the subject is confined to a relatively clear phenomenon like feature film production. In light of the existing local differences that result, even in the field of cinema, from national character and the political situation of each Arab country, French publications in particular have increasingly tended to speak about Arab cinemas (les cinemas arabes) rather than one Arab cinema. In spite of this, the book touches on more or less all the relevant Arab countries. Although the Arab-Muslim lifestyle and popular culture have developed different local contours, they still possess in many cultural fields a common topography, in particular in so-called high culture—the classical language, science, theology, and the arts of the elites. Furthermore, most Arab countries possess a comparable history regarding colonialism and dependency on foreign powers. Comparisons and juxtapositions may therefore give way to a deeper understanding of cinematic production in each particular country if differences and similarities are taken consciously into consideration.
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