MK2, Pyramide). Pyramide). MK2, king totheFrench majors(Wild Bunch, LePacte, by adistributor(Jour2Fête)thatissecondintheran Arabdirectorwith littlecachet, andbackedbutant different proposition,however:thefirstfilmofade We GoNow?”(2011).“Papicha” wasanaltogether with “Caramel”(2007), anditsfollow-up,“Where Do Europe) andherpreviousstellarbox-office record Wild Bunch, theleadingEuropean filmdistributor, in backers behindher(SonyPictures inNorthAmerica; not entirelysurprising,giventhecaliberofheavy worldwide,Labaki’ssuccesswas Long established directed byawomanattheFrench box office. feat ofbecomingthemostsuccessfulAfricanpicture the Cannesnomineeaccomplishedunexpected soldtickets, in 1.6millioneurosfromabout250,000 feature, “Papicha,” attheFrench box-office. Raking success ofFrench/Algerian MouniaMeddour’sdebut commercial from lastyearwastheequallyremarkable The morefascinatingandtelling Arabsuccessstory often beenlumpedintheniche art-housemarket. sign oftheexpandingreach ofacinemathathas garded asawatershedmomentforArabmovies: mercially successfulArabfilmofalltime–wasre triumph ofLabaki’srefugeedrama–themostcom were grossedinChinaalone.The unprecedented millionofwhich millionworldwide,$50 raked in$64 car-nominated thirdfeature,“Capernaum,” which box-office successofLebaneseNadineLabaki’sOs The bigArabsuccessstoryof2019wasthecolossal Film criticandprogrammer, Cairo Joseph Fahim Losses andChallengesahead Arab CinemainEurope: The Gains, Strategic Sectors: cha-becomes-most-successful-female-directed-african-film-ever-in-france-1203416926/ 2 box-office-success-capernaum-means-arab-cinema-1218378. 1
R K
ITMAN ESLASSY , Alex.“What Million Success of‘Capernaum’inChinaMeansforArabCinema.” the$50 , Elsa. “‘Papicha’ BecomesMostSuccessful Female-Directed Elsa. AfricanFilmEverinFrance.”
Cultural Dialogue
2
1 a
- - - - -
veals thechallenges facingArab cinemainincreasing tream. Conversely, thesuccessof“Papicha” alsore picture couldpenetratethesternbarrierofmains with propermarketingandgoodreviews,anArab ma’s growingpopularityinEurope;anindicatorthat Civil War –wasanotherconfirmationofArabCine ganize afashionshowatthepeakofAlgerian melodrama aboutacollegestudentattemptingtoor The successof“Papicha” –agarish,high-pitched used tobeinthelastcentury. parts oftheArabworldisnolongeraone-off,asit selections, anddistributionoffilmsfromdifferent it hasbecomehabitualforArabfilmstofigureintheir festivals, such asCannes,Venice, BerlinandToronto, Inmajor expanding theirgeographicalrepresentation. withfestivals with Arabfilmmakerswentintandem increase ofregionalfundsandEuropeanco-production production values,andsophisticatednarratives.The past 20yearsonalllevels:artfulaesthetics,elevated Arab cinemahaswitnessedamajorleapoverthe and art-housecinemas. jects orriskbanishmenttothepurgatoryoffestivals sub agentsbelieve,itmuststick tothesestatic sales to reach awideraudience, or sodistributorsand confrontingArabCinema:foranfilm obstacle rather thandefythem.Andhereinliesthepresiding viewers’ perceptionsandprejudicesoftheArabworld 678,” 2010).Inotherwords,filmsthatratifyWestern female oppression(“Papicha”; “Wadjda,” 2012;“Cairo 2005), poverty(“Cappernaum”;“Ali Zaoua,” 2000), specific formulas:storiesofterrorism(“ParadiseNow,” successful ArabfilmsinEuropecloselyadheredto Over thepasttwodecades,mostcommercially its presenceinEurope. www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/what-china- https://variety.com/2019/film/news/papi
------
IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook Med. 2020 1 Strategic Sectors: Cultural Dialogue Panorama IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook Med. 2020 2 Strategic Sectors: Cultural Dialogue Panorama anwhile, hasseenitscongested marketfornon- in Lithuaniaand$15,971 me inRomania. The UK, to score$7,578 inBulgaria,$5,002Czech, $25,281 Oscar andCannesbuzz,“Capernaum” onlymanaged of Europe,bycomparison, is negligible.Despiteits an Arabfilm.The impactofArabcinemaontherest in theemergingScandinavianmarket–arecordfor for Arabfilmmakers.“Capernaum”rakedin$197,205 nema. Norwayisemergingasapotentialnewmarket The restofEuroperemainsvirtuallyblindtoArabci and$135,133inSpain. inItaly $849,360 refugee. Doueiri’sVenice FilmFest winnergrossed Christian Lebanesemechanic andaPalestinianMuslim courtroom dramacentreingonaspatbetween 2017 Oscarnominee,“The Insult,” acontroversial An evenbiggerbox-office success wasZiadDoueiri’s Arab filmsshowingtheatrically. and$104,370in Italy inSpain–sizeablefiguresfor year,carno FilmFest ofthesame grossed$191,398 ature, which premieredatthe competitionoftheLo grey realityofpresent-dayPalestine.Jacir’sthirdfe andmorally ther-son relationshipexploringthestark lestinian AnnemarieJacir’s“Wajib” (2017) –afa few exceptionstotherule,mostprominentlyinPa films havelittlecommercialpotential.There werea tries, acostlyprocesswhenyouconsidermostArab crack. Foreign filmsareusuallydubbedinbothcoun havebeenmoreelusivemarketsto Spain andItaly country. in theiroriginallanguagedifferentpartsofthe thanks totheabundanceofcinemasshowingfilms theatrically. second, Germanycomesinasadistant revenues about Arabfilmcangeneratesubstantial international marketwhereahigh-profiledorbuzzed- pendent films,andbydefaultArabmovies;theone theatres. FranceremainstheMeccaforglobalinde the EuropeanterritoriesexhibitingArabmoviesin Beyond festivals,evenmorelimitedincapacityare pictures fromtheregion. neral Europeanviewerswithaverylimitedpoolof to struggleforinternationalattention,leavingthege deviate fromthestilldominantsocialrealism,continue with differenttopicsandofgenresthat wars/revolutions andsubjectionofwomen.Arabfilms the usualthemesofpoverty, migration,terrorism, chances onselectingArabfilmsthatstrayfrom take festivals isalmostmandatory. Notallfestivals,however, a participationinoneoftheaforementionedmajor For anArabfilmtogarnerdistributiondealsinEurope,
------
for art-housecinemawithawiderreach anddiverse festivals haveevolvedintoalternativeexhibitionspaces brow culturaleventsstrictlycateringforfilmbuffs: tinent. Today, festivalsarenolongerexclusivehigh- shapes andsizeshavesprungupallacrossthecon cinema acrosstheregion,filmfestivalsofdifferent towards theincreasingstreamliningofmainstream gramming ofmostcinemasinEurope.Asareaction local comedies,which continuetodominatethepro also struggledtocompetewithHollywoodandthe world over. It’snowonderthenthatArabfilmshave ted, arestrugglingtoattractawideraudiencethe Art-house cinemas,whereArabfilmsareusuallyslot many). grossedinGer andthe$1,103,683 inItaly; taken the $2,881,734 generatedinFrance,the$1,210,101 splash atthebox-office ($183,773 incomparisonto with only“Capernaum”managingtomakealittle English filmsradicallyshrinkinginthepastfewyears, remains avirginterritoryforArab cinema,chiefly due Film Festival inSpain.EasternandCentralEurope Oslo; ArabfilmFest inRotterdam;AmalEuroarab den; ArabFilmFestival inZurich; ArabFilmDaysin tinent. The listislong:AlfilminBerlin;MalmoSwe also boostedthepresenceofArabfilmsoncon The proliferationofArabfestivalsalloverEuropehas art spacesandmuseums. various otheravenues,such aseducationalinstitutions, for alimitedtheatricalrelease.Andthat’snotcounting can equal,andevenexceed,thenumberofadmissions figures formultiplefestivalscreeningsacrossEurope ferent focusesinsubsequentmonths.The audience miere, beforeexpandingtosmallerfestivalswithdif the roundsinmarqueefairsitsfewmonthsofpre can havealengthyfestivallifeacrossEurope,making A well-receivedsmallormedium-budgetArabfilm Arab festivalshavegainedvisibility. latitudes ofprogramming.Andthisiswheremost visibility most Arabfestivalshavegained programming. Andthisiswhere and diverselatitudesof house cinemawithawiderreach alternative exhibitionspacesforart- Festivals haveevolvedinto
------
pendent filmsacquiredbythestreaminggiantsfor fateasmostinde content, Arabfilmsfacethesame promotion andnoguidanceinchanneling thisvast mouth orsheerserendipity. With nomarketingand covered bytheinattentiveaudiencethroughwordof curation. Smallermoviescaneasilygetlost,onlydis content fromaroundtheworld,withlittlesenseof popular streamingservicesofferendlesshoursof missing ispropermarketingandcuration.The most in Europenowthananytimehistory. What issorely In otherwords,there’smoreaccesstoArabcinema to beavailableonAmazon,GoogleandApple. the lockdown. Meanwhile,more Arabtitlescontinue tributor, streamedArabfilmsfromitsarchive during senal, Germany’sforemostart-housecinemaanddis Chahine, theArabworld’smosticonicfilmmaker. Ar cluding, mostrecently, therestoredfilmsofYoussef films, oldandnew, foritsinternationalaudience,in reality. NetflixhasbeenaggressivelyacquiringArab The riseofstreamingservices isswiftlychanging this work, Arte. programming onthelikesofFrench/German net Arab films,which weremostlyplacedinspecialty little forboththevisibilityandgeneratedincomeof meant world. Inpreviousyears,EuropeanTVsales insidetheArab rated fromTVandstreamingsales The largerpartoftheproceeds,however, aregene dealsfinalizedbeforetheactualrelease. the sales doesn’t comefromtheatricalrelease,butrather A considerablepartofrevenuesformostArabfilms Arabcommunitiesinthisregion. targeted wever, thatthereisanaudiencebeyondthetypically- Central Europe’sleadingfilmfestival–proves,ho Chahine retrospectivesatKarlovyVary –Easternand cess ofthepost-warLebanesecinemaandYoussef and theirnegligibleArabimmigration.The recentsuc makeup to theheterogeneousnessoftheirsocietal This article is being released online in advance of publication in the IEMed MediterraneanYearbookThis articleisbeingreleasedonline inadvanceofpublicationtheIEMed 2020printissue.(www.ieme
------
It isdifficulttoenvisionhowseriousanimpactthe of theArabexperience. gramming andconsequentlyofferingdifferentvisions chances withtheirpro local markets,seldomtaking rators ventureoutsidethefestivalcircuitsandinto ropean audiencesdeemArabcinematobe.Few cu viewers, limitingthebreadthandscopeofwhatEu non-political dramasarerarelyshowntointernational habitual aforementionedsubjects.Genrefilmsand films moststreamersacquiredonotdeviatefromthe The lack ofdiversityisanothermajorissue.The festival the solepurposeofincreasingcontent. Arab cinema. could providethenextchapter intheevolutionof aming servicesanddeclineofthetheatricalexperience the Arabworld?For betteror worse, theriseofstre be willingtoacceptdifferentstoriesandimagesfrom Most importantly, willWestern andEuropeanviewers market? outinthisever-oversaturated manage tostand relevant tothecoronavirusage?Will Arabfilmmakers or willtheypushforthecreationofdifferentcontent, and butterofindependent,festival-friendlyArabfilms; topicsthatarethebread demand moreofthesame for consumingfilmaroundtheworld.Will the streamers is theriseofstreamingservicesasprimaryvehicle back tonormalsoon.What cannotbereversedthough opening acrossthecontinent,thingsmightbegetting albeit onascaled-downform,andwithcinemasre ropean festivalsscheduled to resumeinSeptember, Covid-19 crisiswillhaveonArabcinema.With Eu the evolutionofArabcinema could providethenextchapter in decline ofthetheatricalexperience The riseofstreamingservicesand
d.org/medyearbook) d.org/medyearbook)
------
IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook Med. 2020 3 Strategic Sectors: Cultural Dialogue Panorama