How familiar are film lovers in the West with North African and Middle Eastern films? They probably know more about films from India, China and Japan and other art forms like music and literature from these regions. This might change; Egypt was guest of honour at the Cannes Film Festival that just closed. Thanks to present and recent revolutions and uprisings in the area the world is becoming more aware of what goes on here. It is possibly also a question of distribution; not everybody is as proactive as certain bearded preachers sitting in garishly decorated film studios, hell-bent on spreading their religion and the delights of its heaven all over the West. Josef Gugler, the editor of Film in the Middle East and North Africa, Creative Dissidence, confirms my view. In his introduction ‘Creative Responses to conflict', he writes: “Images and voices from the Middle East and the Maghreb are little seen and heard abroad. As far as films are concerned, some are feted at film festivals, but only a few are shown in art houses and on select television channels, and home video distribution remains extremely limited.” “The lack of public interest parallels a dearth of scholarly attention, with the notable exception of Iran and Israel. Not a single scholarly article has been devoted to many of the films featured in this volume.” The volume in question is Film in the Middle East and North Africa, Creative Dissidence, published by the American University Press Cairo, 2011, and simultaneously by the University of Texas Press, US. The latter listed the table of content on its website (http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exgugfil.html) and Google published excerpts from the book. Josef Gugler, the editor, “is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, where he continues to teach on the cinemas of the Middle East and Africa. A late convert to film studies, he is the author of African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. He served as a member of the jury for long fiction films at Pan Africa International, Montreal, 2010.” The essays can be read in any order. Nineteen authors collaborated on this book, among them Walter Armbrust, Roy Armes, Kevin Dwyer, Eric Egan, Josef Gugler, Nurith Gertz, Lina Khatib, Florence Martin, and Nadia Yaqub. About half of the contributors are film scholars; the others range across literary studies and the social sciences to two film directors and a novelist. There is an almost encyclopedic wealth of information – listing and describing films from all countries in the region as well as their similarities and unique differences. As you could expect from a book with ‘creative dissidence' in the title, the essays obviously deal with political realities, criticism of oppressive regimes, censorship, gender issues, religion, social customs and more. Ultimately, the book is now history: various revolutions and uprisings are changing the region's artistic landscape. Certain filmmakers and actors in Egypt are now personae non grata because they, before and during the revolution, supported Mubarak's regime. The ones who didn't and/or joined in the protests are gaining new popularity. The local art scene is also holding its breath as far as censorship is concerned, expecting more freedom of expression. Egypt, known as ‘Hollywood on the Nile', has always been producing many films that are viewed all over the region, and as a result everybody in the Medina of Marrakech for example understands Egyptian Arabic. It's not surprising that The Yacoubian Building (2006), based on the novel by Alaa' el-Aswany, is mentioned more often here than many other films. The book is a must-read for every film buff, but I'm not exactly sure who the target audience is. Since it's in English and also published in the US, the idea is probably to attract Western readers above all others. And this is exactly where the flaw appears: when opening the book I get the impression that the contained information is truly encyclopedic (a not very realistic expectation since every editor and author has to make a choice). Western film lovers most likely visit art house cinemas located near universities and so on, they are probably not only politically active or aware, but also engaged in overcoming discrimination of all sorts; be it against women, refugees or sexual and other minorities. They might be disappointed and think that some of these aspects would deserve more attention. Two examples of missing films: Just before the revolution an Egyptian film made quite a stir. It was about the widespread phenomenon of sexual harassment, about women being groped and insulted in the street. Solutions and countermeasures were suggested which many people did not agree with! And although the book mentions religious tensions, it fails to list an Egyptian film that is extremely pertinent in this respect: Hassan wa Morcos by Rami Imam, with Omar Sharif and Adel Imam in the main roles, Egypt 2008. Any vibrant society does not only produce mainstream films and blockbusters; film makers tackle difficult issues like discrimination and taboos. The book seems to avoid at least the latter to a certain extent. Nevertheless, Kevin Dwyer mentions the Moroccan film Casanegra (2008) by Noureddine Lekhmari, “which follows the violent lives of two Casablanca youths as they try, through petty crime and other schemes, to reach their goals – for one finding a way to emigrate, for the other meeting a well-off woman to usher him among Casablanca's privileged.” This film really seems to push the envelope and deal with taboos by portraying drunks, whores, drug addicts and other outcasts in a remarkable artistic and visual language. It's good that Israel is included in this book, although some people would disagree, since they are in favour of boycotting everything that comes from that country. Art has no borders, and ‘the Other' cannot be understood or dealt with if ignored. But according to the essay ‘Israeli Cinema' by Nurith Gertz and Yael Mulk, Israeli society has a tradition of doing just that. Film makers denounce the way society excludes the nation's Others: women, sexual minorities, Oriental Jews and Jews from the Diaspora in general. In this context, I wish the book mentioned Eyes Wide Open (Einayim Petukhoth) by Haim Tabakman (2009) about the forbidden love of two Orthodox Jews, trapped in the claustrophobic prison of their community and religious rules – a most revealing film. But all these minor quibbles aside, Film in the Middle East and North Africa truly is a seminal work; it also contains a huge amount of foot notes and indexes, not to forget film posters and photos, and will keep any film lover engaged for a lifetime. This book can only be warmly recommended.
