the american university of paris

COURSE TITLE:
PREREQUISITES:
PROFESSOR:
CLASS TIMES:
ARAB CINEMA
EN 110
Justin McGuinness, MA, PhD
Wed 16h55-18h15 and
then18h30-19h50.
COURSE NO:
SEMESTER:
CREDITS:
ROOM NO:
OFFICE HOURS:
CONTACT:
PERIOD (S):
Thurs, 15h20 – 18h, C-53 Dept
Mailbox Combes, [email protected]
FM 3076
Autumn 2013
4
Grenelle 23
6&7
COURSE DESCRIPTION: What is specific about the nature of the film industry in the Arab-speaking world as it has
developed since the 1930s? What forms of self-representation have been and are being created on film in Arabic? Are
Arab cinéastes using film to mediate international attitudes to their societies and cultures – or are they working to
challenge local audiences? What are the conditions under which feature films and documentaries are produced,
circulated and consumed in Arab-speaking societies? FM 3076, Arab Cinema, explores a raft of film-related issues.
It requires students to explore specific periods and trends in Arab film making – and opens a window on film in Turkey,
a country with interesting Art-House film production in the 2000s. Also examined is the film produced to recount the
experience of Arab diasporas, notably in western Europe.
The course takes a broadly thematic approach, exploring the treatment of family and gender in film d’auteur,
cityscapes on film and the visual documentation of conflict. The course will also include short sessions on ‘film-syntax’.
Thus through a thematic and analytic approach, the specifics of the national film industries working for the
heterogeneous Arabophone markets can acquire a more general validity.
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
The following general aims underpin course FM 3076, contributing to the broader aims of the BA in Film. As they
study Arab Cinema, students will acquire:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
insight into the history and construction of film studies with reference to a particular ethno-linguistic region;
in-depth knowledge of recent developments in film studies;
some background useful for eventual graduate study in film;
practical film-criticism skills applicable in a future career in visual media;
sharpened film research methods, which may include historical, textual, socio-cultural, and empirical
approaches and procedures for writing and presenting a critical paper;
6. an understanding of film’s role in national and trans-national identity formation and how this process works
trans-culturally.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By taking FM 3076, students will:
1. Acquire knowledge of the main trends and features in the Arab film industry, including both mainstream
Egyptian film and Art-House cinema.
2. Be aware of the socio-economic, cultural and institutional context of the development of film in Arabic.
3. Situate film in Arabic in the context of popular culture in the Middle East and North Africa.
4. Acquire an awareness of the main non-Arab film cultures in the Middle East, and recent Turkish film.
5. Build on analytic skills applicable to the moving image acquired in previous courses.
COURSE CONTENT:
The course is based on lectures and discussions centring on academic readings and on the viewing of films. Students
will become familiar with the work of scholars writing in English and, if possible, French, on film in Arabic, and with the
work of a number of leading directors, including Henri Baraket, Nouri Bouzid, Youssef Chahine, Michel Khleifi,
Abderrahmane Sissako, Abderrahman Tazi and Moufida Tlatli. Practical analysis sessions leading to writing about the
composition and rhetoric of film sequences are an essential part of the course.
GENERAL EDUCATION: This course fulfills one or more General Education requirements: ___ Yes ___No
If yes specify:
TEXTBOOKS AND FILMS:
REQUIRED READING:
Extracts from texts by Walter Armbrust, Martin Barker, Shohini Chaudhuri, Kevin Dwyer, Juan Goytisolo,
Lina Khatib, Robert Lang, Viola Shafik, Zahia Smaïl-Salhi, Richard Tapper and Elizabeth Thompson. See
bibliography for more detail.
REQUIRED VIEWING:
Attendance at film screenings are an essential part of this course.
ATTENDANCE: Class attendance is compulsory. Participation is important. Absences mean that you
miss important information and this will undoubtedly be reflected in your final grade.
GRADING: The course involves a large amount of reading. Your understanding of the texts will be
monitored in a number of ways, including:
Summary of assignments with due dates:
1. Presentation of background to a film or theme, with PP:
(students to choose dates and themes)
2. Quizzes on readings:
3. Short critical writing assignments
4. Participation in discussions and attendance
5. Final examination – practical criticism
10%
10%
50%
10%
20%
Date of final exam to be announced.
ABSENCE POLICY: Students at The American University of Paris are expected to attend all sessions. Certain
absences may, however, be excused. Excused absences fall into two categories: sickness or unforeseen
emergency, and university-sponsored activities, such as study trips. When a student misses a class, he or she
must present an excuse to the teacher. If three consecutive classes are missed, however, the student must go
to the Student Affairs Office to present third-party verification (a doctor's note, for example) in order for the
absence to be excused. In all cases the responsibility for making up missed work rests solely with the student.
However, the instructor may recommend administrative withdrawal of a student whose absences, excused or
not, have made it impossible to continue in the course at a satisfactory level.
PLEASE NOTE: Copies of the University's policies on absences and academic dishonesty were given to each
student at registration. You are responsible for adhering strictly to these policies in all classes. Additional copies
of the policies are available at the Office of the Registrar.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY STATEMENT: As an Anglophone university, the American University of
Paris is strongly committed to effective English language mastery at the undergraduate level. Most courses
require scholarly research and formal written and oral presentations in English, and AUP students are expected
to strive to achieve excellence in these domains as part of their course work. To that end, professors include
English proficiency among the criteria in student evaluation, often referring students to the university Writing Lab
where they may obtain help on specific academic assignments. Proficiency in English is monitored at various
points throughout the student's academic career, most notably during the admissions and advising processes,
while the student is completing general education requirements, and during the accomplishment of degree
program courses and senior theses.
SCHEDULE, Autumn 2013: Dates and themes, readings and screenings
After introductory sessions on the rise of Islam – and ways of filming the beginning of Islam – the course tackles
two main themes:
1. Gender, society and film in the Arab world
2. Film and imagined communities.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
Week I
Wed 11 Sept. Class 01 Course overview. Specifics of Arab culture. Development of film in the Middle East.
Emergence of the medium of cinema in the Arab world. Short reading for home: ‘Cinema Eden’ by Juan
Goytisolo.
Week II
Wed 18 Sept. Class 02. Imagining early Islam in Film: Representations of Revelation: the sword and sand
epic: extracts from The Message by Mustapha Akkad. Discussion: the question of figurative representation in
Islamic culture. Extra viewing: extract from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel according to Saint Matthew.
.
Week III
Theme I: Gender, society and film: the coming-of-age film (Tunisia).
Wednesday 25 Sept. Class 03 Background to themes in Arab cinema: viewing, Férid Boughedir’s Caméra
arabe and reading Zahia Smaïl Salhi’s ‘Maghrebi women film-makers and the challenge of modernity: breaking
women’s silence’ (Focus: Les Silences du Palais).
Critical viewing: extracts from Nadir Moknèche’s Viva Laldjérie (2003) and Leïla Kilani’s Sur la planche.(2013).
Week IV
Theme I (cont): Gender, society and film
Wednesday 02 October. Film screening of Moufida Tlatli’s Les Silences du Palais. Discussion. First written
assignment, due Wed 16 October (10%) critical note on Les Silences du Palais.
Week V
Theme I (cont): Gender, society and film: the coming-of-age film.
Wednesday 09 October. Further discussion of Les Silences du Palais. Viewing: Abderrahmane Sissako’s En
attendant le bonheur.
Critical viewing: Second assignment, due Wed 23 Oct: critical note on En attendant le bonheur.
Week VI
Theme I (cont) Gender, society and film: constructions of romance by Hollywood-on-the-Nile
Wednesday 16 October. Viewing: extracts of Saïda Boukhemal’s Samia Forever.
Documentary: Um Kalthoum, l’étoile de l’Orient. Readings: extracts from Virginia Danielson, The Voice of
Egypt.and article by Lila Abou Lughod, “Movie stars and Islamic moralism in Egypt”.
Quiz 01, on articles by Danielson and Abou Lughod.
Week VII
Theme I (cont): Gender, society and film: family politics in the Arab diaspora (France / Tunisia)
Wednesday 23 October. Viewing: Couscous (La graine et le mulet) (Kechiche)
Third written assignment, critical note on La Graine et le mulet, due due Wed 06 Nov,
Wednesday 30 October. NO CLASS. Toussaint Break, Wed 30 October to Sun 03 November.
Week VIII
Theme I (cont): Gender, society and film: an excursus into Turkish cinema -representations of childhood
and masculinity
Wednesday 06 November Viewing: extracts from Bal, Süt and Yumurta in The Yussuf Trilogy by Samih
Kaplanoglu. In-class writing atelier, work to be completed outside class and handed in on Wed 13 Nov.
Week IX
Theme II Film and imagined communities: Bricolage and mobile technologies.
Wednesday 13 November. Extracts from VHS Kahloucha and local film from Belin..
Fifth written assignment on VHS Kahloucha.to be handed in on Wed 27 Nov.
Week X
Theme II: Filming imagined communities: the Israel-Palestine Conflict on screen
Wednesday 20 November. Background to Israel and Palestine. Readings TBA. Viewing: extracts from Route
181 by Michel Khleifi and Elie Sivan.
Full film viewing: James’ Journey to Jerusalem.
Quiz 02. On readings on Israel Palestine and Route 181.
Week XI
Theme II Film and imagined communities: the national narrative
Wednesday 27 November. Background to colonialism in North Africa. Screening: The Battle of Algiers.
Readings TBA.
Week XII
Theme II Film and imagined communities: cinema and national memory in Egypt
Wednesday 04 December. Readings: Joel Gordon, “Nasser 56 / Cairo 96. Reimagining Egypt’s lost community”
and Lina Khatib, “The Orient and its Others: women as tools of nationalism in Egyptian political cinema”. Viewing
of extracts from Nasser 56.
Week XIII
Theme II Film and imagined communities: American cinema and the Iraq conflict
Wednesday 11 December. (To be confirmed). The production and reception of distant conflict. Readings from
Martin Barker’s A Toxic Genre. Class members will be assigned different chapters of the book for presentation
for this class).
Final examination
Date of final exam to be confirmed. Exam week begins on Monday 16 December.
Summary of assignments:
1. Presentation of background to a film or theme, with PP:
(students to choose dates and themes)
2. Quizzes on readings:
3. Short critical writing assignments
4. Participation in discussions and attendance
5. Final examination – practical criticism
10%
10%
50%
10%
20%
Short critical writing assignments due on following dates:
1. Wed 16 Oct for Les Silences du Palais ;
2. Wed 23 Oct for En attendant le bonheur ;
3. Wed 06 Nov for La graine et le mulet;
4. Wed 13 Nov for Yussuf Trilogy ;
5. Wed 27 Nov for VHS Kahloucha.
Quizzes on Wed 16 Oct (Entertaining Egypt) and Wed 20 November (Route 181).
FM 3076 ARAB CINEMA - BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abu Lughod, Lila (1995) “Movie stars and Islamic moralism in Egypt” in Social Text, 42, pp.53-67
Armbrust, Walter, ed. (2000) Mass Mediations. New approaches to popular culture in the Middle East and
beyond Berkeley: University of California Press
Armbrust, Walter (2000) “The Golden Age before the Golden Age: commercial Egyptian cinema before the
1960s” in W. Armbrust (ed) Mass Mediations. New approaches to popular culture in the Middle East and beyond
Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.292-327
Armbrust, Walter (2001) “Colonizing popular culture or creating modernity? Architectural metaphors and
Egyptian media” in Hans Korsholm Nielsen et al, eds Middle Eastern Cities 1900-1950. Aarhus: Aarhus
University Press, pp.20-41
Ayish, Muhammad, Dajani, N. Dajani et al (2011) Arab Media. Globalization and emerging media industries
Cambridge: Polity
Barker, Martin (2011) A Toxic Genre. The Iraq War Films London: Pluto
Bresheeth, Haim (2001) “Telling the stories of Heim and Heimat, Home and Exile: recent Palestinian films and
the iconic parable of the invisible Palestine” in New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 1.1, pp.24-39
Chamakhi, Sonia (2002) Cinéma tunisien nouveau. Parcours autres Tunis: Sud Editions
Dabashi, Hamid (2001) Close-Up: Iranian cinema past, present and future London: Verso
Danielson, Virginia (1997) The Voice of Egypt. Um Kulthum, Arabic song and Egyptian society in the twentieth
century Chicago: Chicago University Press
Dönmez-Colin, Gönül (2007) The cinema of North Africa and the Middle East London: Wallflower
Dwyer, Kevin (2005) Beyond Casablanca. M.A. Tazi, Moroccan Cinema and Third World Film Making Cairo:
American University of Cairo Press
Gordon, Joel (2000) “Nasser 56 / Cairo 96. Reimagining Egypt’s lost community” in Walter Armbrust, Mass
Mediations Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.161-181
Goytisolo, Juan (2003) “Cinema Eden” in Cinema Eden, essays from the Muslim Mediterranean London: Eland
Books, pp.13-23
Khatib, Lina (2004) “The Orient and its Others: women as tools of nationalism in Egyptian political cinema” in
Naomi Sakr (ed) Women and Media in the Middle East. Power through self-expression London: I.B. Tauris,
pp.72-88
Khatib, Lina (2006) Filming the Modern Middle East. Politics and the cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab World
London: I.B. Tauris
Khelil, Hédi (2002) Le parcours et la trace. Témoignages et documents sur le cinéma tunisien Salammbô:
Médiacom
Korsholm Nielsen, Hans and Skovgaard-Petersen, Jakob, eds (2001) Middle Eastern Cities 1900-1950. Public
spaces and public spheres in transformation Aarhus: Aarhus University Press
Lehman, Peter (ed) (2001) Masculinity, Bodies, Movies, Culture New York: Routledge
Lang, Robert (2001) “Choosing to Be ‘Not a Man’: masculine anxiety in Nouri Bouzid’s Man of Ashes” in Peter
Lehman (ed) Masculinity, Bodies, Movies, Culture New York: Routledge, pp.81-94
Lang, Robert (2003) “Le colonisé et le colonisateur dans Les Silences du palais” in Revue de l’Institut de belles
letters arabes 192, pp.189-204
Monaco, James (2000) How to Read a Film. Movies, media and multimedia Oxford University Press
Sabry, Tarik (ed) (2012) Arab Cultural Studies. Mapping the field London: I.B. Tauris
Sakr, Naomi (ed) (2004) Women and Media in the Middle East. Power through self-expression London: I.B.
Tauris
Shafik, Viola (1998) Arab Cinema: history and cultural identity New York: Columbia University Press
Smail-Salhi, Zahia (2004) “Maghrebi women film-makers and the challenge of modernity: breaking women’s
silence” in Naomi Sakr (ed) Women and Media in the Middle East. Power through self-expression London: I.B.
Tauris, pp.53-71
Tapper, Richard, ed (2002) The New Iranian Cinema: politics, representation and identity London: Routledge
Thompson, Elizabeth (2001) “Sex and cinema in Damascus: the gendered politics of public space in a colonial
city” in Hans Korsholm Nielsen et al, eds Middle Eastern Cities 1900-1950. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press,
pp.89-111
Vitalis, Robert (2000) “American ambassador in technicolor and cinemascope: Hollywood and Revolution on the
Nile” in Walter Armbrust, Mass Mediations Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.269-291