Films

The Battle for the Arab Viewer

A Tale of Two Networks

Bobby Gulshan

Nordin Lasfar’s “The Battle for the Arab Viewer” puts the debate about media bias and political influence center-stage. The film argues that despite pretenses to the contrary, neither Al Jazeera nor Al Arabiya operate in total objectivity.

Faces, Conversations, and Camaraderie in the Egyptian Revolution

Paige Donnelly

The revolution documented by Stefano Savona’s “Tahrir: Liberation Square” is not the sexy revolution of the media. Instead, Stefano Savona captures an organic Egyptian revolution – one of patience, uncertainty, and fraternity. The film is shot in Cairo on January 30, 2011, six days after Egyptians took to the streets.

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'Goodbye Mubarak'--The Road to Revolution

Joseph Sills

Though "Goodbye Mubarak" begins with a shot of Cairo’s Tahrir Square full of protest, director and writer Katia Jarjoura focuses on rising political tensions three months before the Egyptian revolution.

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The Legacy of a Martyr

Paige Donnelly

The late Mohamed Bouazizi was a butterfly for Tunisia. In life, he went unnoticed by society’s radar. But in death, his small wings blew tremors throughout the Arab world; his self-immolation on December 17, 2010 was seismic for the region. His death epitomizes the butterfly effect.

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Hope , Fraud, ....Freedom? The 2009 Iranian Election

Lynne Rogers

"The Green Wave"by filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi combines animation, film footage, interviews, and actual blog posts to record the “lost or silenced voices” of the Iranian 2009 elections. In the preceding years under Ahmadinejad, Iran had experienced numerous economic problems despite their lucrative oil revenues. As a result of the economic suffering,

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Wives in Tension

Rebecca Joubin

In this exemplary documentary film, women (both veiled and unveiled, religious and secular) discuss the presence of Islam and secularism in contemporary Turkish ...

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When "Honor" Becomes Murder

Rebecca Joubin

In this exemplary documentary film, women (both veiled and unveiled, religious and secular) discuss the presence of Islam and secularism in contemporary Turkish society, where it is common for educated urban women to choose to wear the hijab. Turkish-born and Lebanese-raised filmmaker Olga Nakkas combines historical footage with interviews of Turkish women with ...

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Innocence Crushed

By Lynne Rogers

The Israeli and French filmmaker Simone Bitton has composed yet another powerful documentary with her new film "Rachel." The story begins with Rachel’s fellow activists reading excerpts from her personal journal five years after her death. Bitton’s camera dexterously shifts from the accounts of Rachel’s family, friends, and teachers, to those of the Palestinians living on the ...

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The Modesty of the Intellectual: Waiting For Abu Zayd

MICHAEL TEAGUE

Contemporary debates about the role of Islam in modern Middle-Eastern societies are often captive to the vocabulary of “moderate vs. extremist,” leaving little room for discussions that move beyond these black and white distinctions. Fortunately, Mohammed Ali Atassi’s recently released documentary about the late Egyptian “liberal” Islamic intellectual Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd is a rare exception.

A Dangerous Business

Al Jadid Staff

In March 2007, Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo set out with his Afghan driver, Sayed Agha, and his ‘fixer,’ the 24 year old Ajmal Naqshbandi, to interview a “notorious one-legged Taliban commander.” Instead, the trio found themselves in a nightmare, ...

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