Fifty years of movie magic, from Tunisia to Iraq, as chosen by Omar al-Qattan, film-maker and chair of Shubbak – A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture
The Night (Al-Lail)
Mohammad Malas, 1993
A great Syrian film. It is about the director's home town of Quneitra, on the borders of the Golan Heights, which was almost completely destroyed by the Israelis after the 1967 war and remains in ruins. The film is a historical-autobiographical epic of three generations, taking you from the Syrian fight for independence against the French in the 1930s, through the 1948 war with Israel, and into recent times. Malas is probably the most highly regarded living Syrian director – he is still based in Damascus as far as I know – and this film is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky in the use of long, contemplative dream and memory sequences where time is as important an expressive element as space, dialogue or movement.
The...
The Night (Al-Lail)
Mohammad Malas, 1993
A great Syrian film. It is about the director's home town of Quneitra, on the borders of the Golan Heights, which was almost completely destroyed by the Israelis after the 1967 war and remains in ruins. The film is a historical-autobiographical epic of three generations, taking you from the Syrian fight for independence against the French in the 1930s, through the 1948 war with Israel, and into recent times. Malas is probably the most highly regarded living Syrian director – he is still based in Damascus as far as I know – and this film is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky in the use of long, contemplative dream and memory sequences where time is as important an expressive element as space, dialogue or movement.
The...
- 7/6/2013
- by Omar al-Qattan
- The Guardian - Film News
A couple of years ago, the Toronto International Film Festival launched a new sidebar called City-to-City, devoted to focusing attention on a specific nation's cinema. They drew much criticism and protest over their inaugural selection of Tel Aviv, sparked by Toronto filmmaker John Greyson's withdrawal of his film from the short film competition. Tiff defended its decision, claiming it was an innocent selection based purely on cinema, rejecting that their were ill-advised political undertones with the choice. Cannes is starting up its own like-minded section this year, albeit smaller, simply calling their selected country a "Guest Country". They've picked Egypt to jumpstart this to-be annual feature. The selection of Egypt is politically motivated, for sure, but for obvious reasons it's unlikely to draw the same level of ire as Tiff's Tel Aviv pick. The January 25 uprising that led to a national revolution arose from a strenuous world-wide battle that...
- 4/29/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Starting with the 64th edition, festival de Cannes will welcome a guest country to the festival each year. Egypt will be the first country to be welcomed in 2011. Egypt has been chosen because of its revolution of January 25 which demonstrated its collective strength and desire for democracy.
The tribute to Egypt will take place on May 18, 2011 and Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine will be remembered.
It will be followed by the screening of 18 jours, a work grouping the short films of ten Egyptian filmmakers. These filmmakers along with twenty actors, six writers, eight cameramen, eight sound engineers, five set-designers, three costume designers, seven film editors, three post-production companies and a dozen technicians filmed ten short film stories based on the January 25 revolution in Egypt. This endeavor was under pressure, without a budget and on a totally voluntary basis. All profits from the film will be given towards the organisation of political...
The tribute to Egypt will take place on May 18, 2011 and Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine will be remembered.
It will be followed by the screening of 18 jours, a work grouping the short films of ten Egyptian filmmakers. These filmmakers along with twenty actors, six writers, eight cameramen, eight sound engineers, five set-designers, three costume designers, seven film editors, three post-production companies and a dozen technicians filmed ten short film stories based on the January 25 revolution in Egypt. This endeavor was under pressure, without a budget and on a totally voluntary basis. All profits from the film will be given towards the organisation of political...
- 4/29/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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