Overview

In spite of harsh censorship, conservative morals and a lack of investment, women documentarists in the Arab world have found ways to subtly negotiate dissidence in their films, something that is becoming more apparent since the 'Arab Revolutions'. In this book, Stefanie Van de Peer traces the very beginnings of Arab women making documentaries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), from the 1970s and 1980s in Egypt and Lebanon, to the 1990s and 2000s in Morocco and Syria. Supporting a historical overview of the documentary form in the Arab world with a series of in-depth case studies, Van de Peer looks at the work of pioneering figures like Ateyyat El Abnoudy, the 'mother of Egyptian documentary', Tunisia's Selma Baccar and the Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri. Addressing the context of the films' production, distribution and exhibition, the book also asks why these women held on to the ideals of a type of filmmaking that was unlikely to be accepted by the censor, and looks at precisely how the women documentarists managed to frame expressions of dissent with the tools available to the documentary maker.

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9781474437554

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Reviews

Disputing the notion that documentary exploits the vulnerable, Van de Peer's fascinating study of great Arab women documentarists shows how subject, filmmaker, and viewer can collaborate in the creative work of solidarity and understanding. Rich with historical context, the book is also an ideal introduction to Arab cultural history since 1967--Prof Laura U. Marks, Simon Fraser University

Author Information

Stefanie Van de Peer is Reader in Film & Media at Queen Margaret University. She has published Negotiating Dissidence (EUP 2017), Women in African Cinema (Routledge 2020) and ReFocus: The Films of Annemarie Jacir (EUP 2023). She has also edited several edited collections on diverse topics including Jocelyne Saab’s work, Arab Stardom and Global Feminist Film Archives. She sits on the Executive Committee of the British Association of Film, TV and Screen Studies, is series editor for EUP’s ReFocus: The International Directors series, and is associate editor for the journal Studies in World Cinema.

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