Terri Ginsberg is a director at the International Council for
Middle East Studies in Washington, D.C. She is the editor of a
special issue on media and film of the International Journal of
Contemporary Iraqi Studies, and the author of Holocaust Film: The
Political Aesthetics of Ideology.
Chris Lippard is assistant professor of Film Studies and director
of Graduate Studies in Film at the University of Utah. He has
published work on Abbas Kiarostami, Derek Jarman, Dennis Potter, F.
W. Murnau, and Jorge Sanjines.
With contributions from:
Farshad Aminian (Florida Gulf Coast University)
Savas Arslan (Bahçesehir University)
Sandra Carter (Penn State University)
Anne Ciecko (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)
Gayatri Devi (Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania)
Iman Hamam (American University in Cairo)
Helga Tawil-Souri (New York University)
Mark Westmoreland (American University in Cairo)
Ginsberg (Holocaust Film) and Lippard (By Angels Driven), along
with eight distinguished field scholars, provide the foremost
subject dictionary, intended to support deeper inquiry into Middle
Eastern filmmakers' representation of culture, history, and self.
Entries cover films, figures, production companies, cinematic
concepts, and key terms relevant to the various nations positioned
between Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. However, among the
500 alphabetized entries are also productions made by exiled or
otherwise politically dispersed Middle Easterners. While
acknowledging North American and European filmic depictions, the
authors devote less time to these outsider interpretations.
Instead, the multiparagraph, fully cross-referenced entries offer
specifics on whether profiled films were intended for domestic or
international audiences, and consideration is given to how these
particulars impact characterization and self-depiction. The entries
are bookended by a chronology, dating the inception of Middle
Eastern cinema to 1896 Lumière screenings in Egypt, and a 51-page
film list, organized by country. A 31-page further reading list
rounds out the work. BOTTOM LINE While it extends well beyond the
chronological boundaries of Lina Khatib's Filming the Modern Middle
East, this is still a fitting complement. Recommended for
collections serving Middle Eastern-focused studies and film
studies.
*Library Journal*
This work by Ginsberg (International Council for Middle East
Studies) and Lippard (Univ. of Utah) will be a necessary purchase
for most academic and large public libraries because it is the
first English-language dictionary published on Middle Eastern
cinema as a whole....This new historical dictionary opens with a
valuable chronology, covering 1896-2009, and dealing with
outstanding cinematic events in the region. Key sociopolitical
events are also mentioned, to provide context. Following a brief
but helpful introduction, the body of the dictionary provides A-Z
entries on significant films, filmmakers, stars, and topics of
concern. These topics include but are not limited to film schools,
festivals, centers, organizations, movements, genres and types of
film (e.g., Beur cinema), themes (e.g., women, Islam), and
historical summaries of national cinemas under the nation's name.
This volume offers pioneering coverage of Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, and provides references for their nascent
cinematic developments. It is blessed with a substantial and
valuable filmography and bibliography, the latter classified into
general works and then into works by nation; it covers both journal
articles and books....This is an excellent buy and should see heavy
use in libraries. Essential.
*CHOICE*
For students or aficionados of specialized topics, the various
Historical Dictionary series can mean the difference between
starting the research process or finding nothing at all. Historical
Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema, part of the Historical
Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts series, is a prime example.
The authors are both specialists in the field, with substantial
publication credentials. The volume starts with a chronology that
begins in 1896 (the first Lumiere screenings in Egypt) and
concludes in 2009 (the use of YouTube for political purposes in
Iran; the first Palestinian American feature film). The lengthy
introductory essay that follows concludes with an explanation of
what countries are not included and why. The 500 or so A–Z entries
cover people (including actors, directors, critics, composers,
writers, and important historic figures), specific films, styles of
film, concepts, and more. Entries on individual countries are
several pages long and outline the place of the country within the
region, its contribution to the history of the film, and important
films and individuals. Entries about concepts such as Gender and
sexuality and Nationalism focus on how these have been treated in
film. The entries on the films themselves, which include
information on the director, actors, plot, and significance, may be
the most consulted entries in the volume. An alphabetically
arranged filmography is cross-referenced to the dictionary entries.
The bibliography that follows is divided by subject. This book is
essential for all academic libraries where film study is important
and should be given consideration by larger public libraries in
areas with a large Middle Eastern population.
*Booklist*
This dictionary is recommended for all academic libraries, and for
larger public libraries. It would also be a useful reference for
anyone involved in the film industry.
*American Reference Books Annual*
As a preface, [the Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema
asks] about the future of these types of cinema which flourish in
the Middle East. It is difficult to predict what will come of
low-distribution films which are prey to the giants of Hollywood
and Bollywood. Whatever may happen, we can only be thankful for
this dictionary, the main aim of which is to make the gems of
Middle Eastern cinema accessible to a large audience. They
regretfully tend to stay inaccessible to an audience that does not
speak the language of the film or, in some cases, the film's
limited budget means that it cannot see international distribution.
Most of these films have been resounding successes in their own
country and there is a cinematic treasure trove to discover in
Europe, for example. They are the torch of a generation and a
nation that builds itself through imagination and the aesthetics of
film and it is our duty as researchers to make sure that as living
memory such films do not fall into oblivion.
*British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies*
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