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Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East

Cinemas of the Middle East

Course Code:
155901383
Unit value:
0.5
Year of study:
Year 3
Taught in:
Term 2

Prerequisites

None

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

At the end of the course the student should be able to understand the nature and development of Middle Eastern cinemas both as an apparatus enmeshed in the processes of cultural production and social consumption, and as an artistic genre reflecting the major concerns of Middle Eastern cultures and societies. S/he should be able to analyze films critically and treat them as cultural icons revealing some of the concerns and inherent attitudes of the culture that produce them. S/he should feel competent to appreciate films critically and aesthetically and probe them for their underlying cultural significance.

Workload

The course will be taught over 11 weeks with 2 hours classroom contact per week.

Scope and syllabus

This course continues from Arabic Cinema I. It is also a parallel course of Arabic Cinema II.  It offers a structured survey of the development of Middle Eastern cinemas, with particular focus on Israeli, Iranian and Turkish cinemas from its early beginnings to the present through a range of selected films. It elaborates the development of different cinematic genres, prevalent themes and common trends and schools. Students examine the socio-political and cultural contexts in which Middle Eastern films operate and which are necessary for their critical comprehension. Films are studied as artistic works. The course includes an elaboration of the careers of film directors and their approaches to filmmaking and to the cultural issues of their time.

Course readings and discussions are guided by, but not exhaustive of, or exclusive to, the following major themes:

  1. Cinema as a vehicle of socio-political and cultural change
  2. Mediation of the west in Middle Eastern cinemas
  3. Cinema, politics and political film
  4. Cinema, Islam, history and myth
  5. Cinema and the quest for freedom
  6. Cinema and the construction of identity
  7. Women and sexuality Middle Eastern cinemas

The course is compulsory for students of Year 3, BA Middle Eastern Studies.

Method of assessment

One two-hour written examination taken in May/June (70%); one essay of 2,500 - 3,000 words to be submitted on day 5, week 1, term 3 (30%).

Suggested reading

  • Donmez-Colin, Gonul, Women, Islam and Cinema. London, 2004.
  • Downing, John D. H., Film and Politics in the Thirld World.  New York, 1987.
  • Egan, Eric, The Films of Makhmalbaf: Cinema, Politics and Culture in Iran.  Washington, DC, 2005.
  • Elena, Alberto, The Cinema of Abbas Kiarostami.  London, 2005.
  • Ezram Elizabeth and Terry Bowden, eds., Transnational Cinema: the Film Reader. London, 2006.
  • Issa, Rose and Sheila Whitaker, ed., Life and Art: the New Iranian Cinema. London, 1999.
  • Loshitzky, Yosefa, Identity Politics on the Israeli Screen.  Austin, 2002.
  • Robins, Kevin and Asu Aksoy, Cinema and Nation.  London, 2000.
  • Shohat, Ella, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation.  Austin, 1989.
  • Suner, Asuman, New Turkish Cinema: Belonging, Identity and Memory.  London, 2009.
  • Tapper, Richard, ed., The New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation and Identity. London, 2002.
  • Vitali, Valentina and Paul Willemen, eds., Theorising National Cinema. London, 2006.
  • Woodhead, Christine, ed., Turkish Cinema: An Introduction. London, 1989.
  • Yosef, Raz, Beyond Flesh: Queer Masculinities and Nationalism in Israeli Cinema. New Brunswick, 2004.