[Reader-list] Call for Papers: Arab Cinema

[Kuhu Tanvir]

*Cinemas of the Arab World
Call for papers  - special issue of Wide Screen
Editor: Latika Padgaonkar (film scholar, formerly Executive Editor of Cinemaya
and festival director of Osian's Cinefan Festival)*

The Arab world may be bound by language and religion, but it is in no sense
homogeneous, neither in its history nor in its customs. Yet, over the years,
what has largely been common to many Arab countries in the field of
cinemais a set of shared problems: decline in film production, closure
of halls
consequent to the video revolution, censorship, issues of distribution,
diminishing investment, narrowing of the domestic market and the invasion of
American films and television programmes, quite apart from the pervasive and
longstanding influence of Egyptian cinema to which several countries were
called upon to adjust in an earlier day.

For all that, a large number of Arab films have, in recent years, made a
mark in the international arena. These films have been made in the face of
odds – economic, material and psychological. They continue to grapple with
their past and, increasingly, with their present: a past linked to their
colonial experience, war and displacement, and a present that is trying to
shape an identity. The colonial yoke may have been shed but the region is
now battling turbulent issues of another kind.

*Wide Screen* attempts an engagement with cinemas of the Arab world by
asking questions on a variety of topics that are pertinent to this region –
from censorship to the new cinema, from the position of women to the
question of identity, from the implications of foreign funding to the
diversities and similarities of the cinemas of these countries.

Apart from inviting general articles that may be specific to a director,
film or a theme in Arab cinema (as a whole or from a particular film
culture), here are a few very broad ideas that can be incorporated in the
suggestions we make to people who want to write for the journal and even as
guidelines for ourselves.

   - Focus on one director – an entire section of the special issue could
   have articles/essays and interviews and reviews of films made by one
   director.


   - Censorship – articles dealing with censorship in Arab cinema. Is it
   just censorship of content by the state machinery, or is it also
   self-censorship – a kind of moral policing done socially. Is there also a
   censorship of form? How accepting is the audience and the state to
   non-linear forms? How much has that changed over the years.


   - Showcasing cinema – the rest of the world knows precious little about
   the cinephile culture in Arab countries despite a growing cinema culture.
   Examination of cinema halls, the kinds of films they showcase, box office
   returns etc can be interesting to look at. Furthermore, what is the kind of
   give-and-take with other popular cinemas, for instance Hollywood and popular
   Indian cinema. Do locally produced films get more popular than foreign
   films? What is the state and role of film festivals in Arab countries.


   - Articles dealing with Arab audience and also audience of Arab cinema


   - Identity – film cultures across the world, be they art films or popular
   ones have obsessed over questions of a Muslim identity ever since 9/11. How
   does Arab cinema engage with this question? Is Arab cinema (and within it
   cinemas of individual countries) put on a defensive, loaded with the notion
   of proving innocence? Apart from content, how does form deal with this
   question? The most important question here is, What is Arab cinema?


   - Women – when it comes to Arab cinema, a look at the representation and
   position of women in the film industry is inevitable. How many women
   directors are there? Are big actors ready to work with them? Are female
   stars paid as much as their male counterparts. Who are the directors that
   are working on issues relating to women. What is the kind of opposition they
   have to face.


*Deadline for paper submission: 15 March 2009.*

*Papers can be submitted at*:
http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

or *emailed to*: kuhutanvir at gmail.com

*Author guidelines, copyright notice and other information can be accessed
at*: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/submissions