World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies

Barcelona, July 19th - 24th 2010

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Cinema and Society (412) - NOT_DEFINED activity_field_Panel
 

· NOT_DEFINED language: English, Français

· NOT_DEFINED description: Paper presenter: Florence Martin (Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Goucher College, Maryland, USA), “Le Corps se Fait son Cinéma”
Les représentations du corps dans le cinéma maghrébin actuel donnent à voir une corporéité tant littérale que symbolique polysémique unique dans le corpus filmique mondial. Si le corps exprime à l’écran les douleurs, frustrations et plaisirs des individus, il peut aussi y dire le mal-être social, l’interdit socio-culturel ou politique, ou la résistance à divers pouvoirs. Cette communication se propose d’examiner, de façon thématique, à travers un échantillon de films algériens, marocains et tunisiens récents, comment le corps se met en scène et ce qu’il y signale. Ainsi, jouant avec les conventions culturelles régionales et filmiques, le corps féminin apparaît en gros plan à l’écran du cinéma des réalisatrices comme un corps en mouvement qui se console ou s’émancipe (Satin rouge, Amari, Tunisie, 2001 ; Rachida, Bachir-Chouikh, Algérie, 2002) ou comme lieu immobile du désir réprimé (La Saison des hommes, Tlatli, Tunisie, 2000, Khochkhach, Baccar, Tunisie, 2006 ; L’Enfant endormi, Kassari, Maroc, 2005). Il y acquiert une dimension politique au sens féministe du terme : lieu de l’intime par excellence, le corps dénonce le patriarcat, et s’érige en emblème socioculturel de résistance. Dans le cinéma masculin, le corps qu’il soit masculin ou féminin, est mis en scène pour dénoncer la violence structurale de la société (Ali Zaoua, Ayouche, Maroc, 2001 ; What a Wonderful World, Bensaïdi, Maroc, 2007), des idéologies (Making Of, Bouzid, Tunisie, 2006), de certaines survivances d’un patriarcat insupportable (Fatma, Ghorbal, Tunisie, 2002 ; Viva l’Aldjérie, Moknèche, Algérie, 2004), de la guerre (Morituri,Touita, Algérie, 2007). A travers cet échantillon, cette communication propose donc de regarder de près comment le corps à l’écran renvoie à un hors-champ politique, culturel et social maghrébin et européen précis, ainsi que les façons nouvelles de filmer la corporéité chez les cinéastes du Maghreb.

Paper presenter: Amina Rizaeva (Dr., The State Institute for Art Studies), "Female Problem in Islamic Cinema"
One of the most essential themes of the entire Middle East is the so called gender problem, which is studied based on the material of Arabic cinema. In introduction, a short historical material on the ‘female problem’ in Islamic countries as well as in Arabic cinema is portrayed. A rather surprising trend: ever since the very birth of the cinematograph in the Middle East women were the playing a leading role in it. Even the first national movie in Egypt was initiated and produced by a woman (Asiya Dager), and that move played a significant role in the cinematograph of the Middle East. Since the beginning and up to this day a so called ‘feminization’ of the cinematographic art is ongoing -the author’s goal is to explore this process- or, at least, to point out to it. Portraits of the famous actresses’ art provided, and of the most exiting parts of this subject is that in most of the Arabic countries more and more female movie directors are emerging.

Paper presenter: Mitsuko Sano (Assistant Director of Japan Academic Center, Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon), "Post Post-war in Lebanese Cinema: The Breakthrough of 'Bosta' and 'Caramel'"
The focus of my paper is to present the germ of post post-war in Lebanese cinema by examining the meaning of two Lebanese films ‘Bosta’ (Philippe Aractingi, 2005) and ‘Caramel’ (Nadine Labaki, 2007) in the context of Lebanese cinema history. In recent years Lebanese films have been acclaimed both internally and internationally and above all ‘Bosta’ and ‘Caramel’ achieved the huge success commercially. However these two films also accomplished great breakthrough in the eyes of postwar Lebanese cinema history. Dating back to before the seventies, it can be said that Lebanese cinema was ‘Mountain Cinema’, which unfolds the stories mainly in the anonymous mountain villages, exampled by ‘Where to’ (Georges Nasser, 1957), a first internationally acclaimed Lebanese film, and a Lebanese diva Fairuz’s trilogy musical films; ‘Ring Seller’ (Youssef Chahine, 1965), ‘Safar Barlek’ (Henri Barakat, 1967) and ‘The Guardian’s Daughter’ (Henri Barakat, 1968). But in the seventies, especially after a legendary Lebanese director Maroun Baghdadi presented his first feature film ‘Beirut, oh Beirut’ in 1975, in which the civil war erupted, Lebanese cinema experienced a dramatic change in its orientation. Many Lebanese directors started to show their obsession with these two themes; ‘Beirut’ and ‘Civil War’. This tendency was supported by what we call ‘War Generation’ directors first, and then has been taken over to the post-war generations. In these circumstances that ‘Beirut’ and ‘Civil War’ remain the main focus in Lebanese cinema until now, it is remarkable that ‘Bosta’ and ‘Caramel’ resisted this stream deliberately for the first time. Here what is interesting is that they did it in completely opposite manners; ‘Bosta’ rejected Beirut while it follows in ‘War Cinema’ referring to the civil war. On the contrary ‘Caramel’ never talks about any kind of war and violence although it keeps the frame of ‘Beirut Cinema’. My paper will discuss how these two films broke the conventional premise of Lebanese cinema since the seventies by exploring the state of during-war and post-war Lebanese cinema based on the analysis of the prominent films since the fifties and the interviews of directors in the perspective of Lebanese cinema history, and also will imply the advent of post post-war era in Lebanese cinema.