Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema
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Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. Science Fiction Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2004. 2. Hong Kong Cinema, by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007. 3. American Radio Soap Operas, by Jim Cox, 2005. 4. Japanese Traditional Theatre, by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006. 5. Fantasy Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2005. 6. Australian and New Zealand Cinema, by Albert Moran and Errol Vieth, 2006. 7. African-American Television, by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006. 8. Lesbian Literature, by Meredith Miller, 2006. 9. Scandinavian Literature and Theater, by Jan Sjåvik, 2006. 10. British Radio, by Seán Street, 2006. 11. German Theater, by William Grange, 2006. 12. African American Cinema, by S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry, 2006. 13. Sacred Music, by Joseph P. Swain, 2006. 14. Russian Theater, by Laurence Senelick, 2007. 15. French Cinema, by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins, 2007. 16. Postmodernist Literature and Theater, by Fran Mason, 2007. 17. Irish Cinema, by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007. 18. Australian Radio and Television, by Albert Moran and Chris Keat- ing, 2007. 19. Polish Cinema, by Marek Haltof, 2007. 20. Old Time Radio, by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008. 21. Renaissance Art, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008. 22. Broadway Musical, by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2008. 23. American Theater: Modernism, by James Fisher and Felicia Hardi- son Londré, 2008. 24. German Cinema, by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008. 25. Horror Cinema, by Peter Hutchings, 2008. 26. Westerns in Cinema, by Paul Varner, 2008. 27. Chinese Theater, by Tan Ye, 2008. 28. Italian Cinema, by Gino Moliterno, 2008. 29. Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008. 30. Russian and Soviet Cinema, by Peter Rollberg, 2008. 31. African American Theater, by Anthony D. Hill, 2009. 32. Postwar German Literature, by William Grange, 2009. 33. Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, by J. Scott Miller, 2009. 34. Animation and Cartoons, by Nichola Dobson, 2009. 35. Modern Chinese Literature, by Li-hua Ying, 2010. 36. Middle Eastern Cinema, by Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard, 2010. Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema Terri Ginsberg Chris Lippard With contributions by: Farshad Aminian, Savaş Arslan, Sandra G. Carter, Anne Ciecko, Gayatri Devi, Iman Hamam, Helga Tawil-Souri, Mark R. Westmoreland Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts, No. 36 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2010 Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2010 by Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ginsberg, Terri. Historical dictionary of Middle Eastern cinema / Terri Ginsberg, Chris Lippard. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts ; 36) Includes filmography. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8108-6090-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7364-3 (ebook) 1. Motion pictures—Middle East—Dictionaries. I. Lippard, Chris. II. Title. PN1993.5.M53G56 2010 791.4303—dc22 2009035611 ϱ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America Contents Editor’s Foreword (Jon Woronoff) vii Preface ix Reader’s Note xv Acronyms and Abbreviations xvii Chronology xxi Introduction xxxv THE DICTIONARY 1 Filmography 443 Bibliography 495 About the Authors 525 About the Contributors 527 v Editor’s Foreword No region has faced more adversity over the past half century or so than the Middle East: foreign colonization, the struggle for liberation, often followed by coups d’état, revolutions, international and civil wars, repressive government, economic problems (obviously not for the oil producers), generational and gender conflicts, and more. To this must be added the “isms”: nationalism, socialism, neoliberal capitalism, orientalism, Islamism, and Zionism, as well as the more general bane of censorship. This is certainly not a conducive atmosphere for cinema to flourish . or is it? These challenges have compelled its directors, producers, actors, and others to try harder. In many cases, they have succeeded in overcoming all adversity and producing excellent films, and when that was not possible, impressive documentaries in their re- spective countries, and abroad. Knowing their own people better, they have even produced works that overcome the encroachment of Holly- wood and Bollywood and encourage nationals to think more seriously about their own societies. This could be the main strength of Middle Eastern cinema; it deals seriously with serious issues, although as else- where—and given the need for escapism—it also produces comedies, farces, adventure films, and even some relatively “naughty” films. The authors of Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema have certainly done an exceptional job of exploring and explaining one of the least-known areas of cinema, but one that certainly deserves to be known better. As in other books in this series, this book sets the scene with a chronology, one longer and more extensive than one might ex- pect, and then an introduction, which is certainly more complex than most. But the bulk of the material is contained in a dictionary section full of informative entries on the various countries concerned and the composite regions; their directors, producers, and actors; dozens of the better films; most of the genres; and many of the themes, from exile to vii viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD gender and sexuality. Other entries deal with significant political lead- ers and events, including the Arab–Israeli conflict, the Defeat, and the Iraq War, which have generated films. And mention is also made of film schools, festivals, and currents, such as New Realism and Third Cinema. In short, the field of cinema is studied from many different angles, and it would not be easy to find more in a smaller space. Finally, for those who want to learn more, there is a bibliography with further reading on cinema in the region and in each part as well. Nor should one forget the amazingly long filmography. Considering that this volume covers 18 different national cinemas, it could not have been written as competently as has been done without the participation of a team of contributors, each specialized in certain aspects and countries, and two editors who coordinated the work and produced parts of the manuscript themselves. The contributors are Far- shad Aminian, Savaş Arslan, Sandra G. Carter, Anne Ciecko, Gayatri Devi, Iman Hamam, Helga Tawil-Souri, and Mark R. Westmoreland. The two editors, who both selected the various contributors and made contributions of their own, are Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard. This able and diligent team certainly deserves a vote of thanks for having created an essential reference tool for anyone interested in Middle East- ern cinema or the Middle East in general. Jon Woronoff Series Editor Preface This volume covers the production and exhibition of cinema in the Middle East and in exilic and diasporic communities whose heritage is from the region and whose films commonly reflect this background. Much of the Middle East consists of the Arab-Muslim world, stretch- ing from Morocco in North Africa (the “Maghreb”), to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) in the west, and to Iraq in the east and northeast (both in southwest Asia, or the “Mashreq”). In addition, it includes the non-Arab states of Turkey and Iran, as well as the Jewish state of Israel. Although we include an entry on Afghanistan, this is largely in view of its interrelationship with Iran; likewise, an entry on Western Sahara has been included for that region’s interrelationship with Morocco; and an entry is provided on Kurdistan in light of that region’s interrelationships with Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. The history and current position of cinema in each of these countries is different, and the cinema of the Middle East covers a remarkably diverse range of topics and aesthetic approaches. With minor exceptions, however, Middle Eastern films are some of the least-known to audiences and scholars outside the region, their global distribution and exhibition being limited largely to international film festivals in major urban centers. In some instances, for example, Syria, where rarely more than three films per year are produced, they have hardly been seen. This is a pity, because the quality and breadth of much Middle Eastern cinema is undeniable. We cannot expect a volume such as this to address fully all the impli- cations raised by the geographical and political constraints of the above, but we do firmly believe that the Historical Dictionary of Middle East- ern Cinema will provide a useful resource to support inquiry and analy- sis of the ways in which Middle Easterners have depicted themselves, their societies, and histories on film. Although the volume does lend ix x • PREFACE minor attention to North American and European depictions of the re- gion and its peoples, which have often repeated the long tradition of ori- entalism that variously discredits or demeans its subject, this is not our emphasis: we assume that a majority of our readers will have encoun- tered that “Middle East” in popular Hollywood films about the region, and perhaps in the Western media more broadly speaking. In fact, the Middle East is a part of the world that remains poorly understood, and we believe that examining the aesthetic quality and intellectual breadth of its cinema can supply a powerful means toward helping change that.