Middle East - Anthony Ham [63]
But it was the 2008 release of Baby Doll Night, produced by the ground-breaking new-media company Goodnews4Film, headed by new-media mogul Adel Adeeb, that took the willingness to confront previously taboo subjects well and truly into the mainstream. The film, with an unprecedented US$8 million budget, took on the vexed issue of misunderstandings between the West and the Arab world post-9/11. Like The Yacoubian Building, Baby Doll Night was produced for both local and international release, a model that could raise the profile of Egyptian cinema and help ease the funding crisis in the industry as a whole.
* * *
ISRAEL
Film directors from elsewhere in the Middle East must look with envy at the level of government funding and freedom of speech enjoyed by Israeli filmmakers. It’s a freedom that Israeli directors have used to produce high-quality films that have been praised for their even-handedness by juries and audiences alike at international film festivals.
* * *
Israeli films have received more Oscar nominations (six) for Best Foreign-Language Film than films from any other Middle Eastern country, although they’ve yet to win the prize.
* * *
A readiness to confront uncomfortable truths about Israel’s recent history has long been a hallmark of Amos Gitai (b 1950) who has won plaudits for his sensitive and balanced portrayal of half a century of conflict. He became a superstar almost overnight with Kadosh (1998), which seriously questioned the role of religion in Israeli society and politics. He followed it up with Kippur (1999), a wholly unsentimental portrayal of the 1973 war, and Kedma (2001), which caused a stir by questioning many of the country’s founding myths through the lens of the Israeli War of Independence. If Israeli cinema is entering a period of international acclaim, as many believe, Gitai is more responsible than anyone else for the renaissance.
But Gitai has not been the only director to produce the works of national self-criticism that set Israeli apart from other Middle Eastern film industries. Avi Mograbi goes a step further than Gitai with no-holds-barred depictions of the difficulties of life for the Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
Beyond the politically charged films that are causing a stir, there’s also a feeling within Israel that the country’s film industry is entering something of a golden age. Highlighting the sense of excitement, Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret won the Caméra d’Or for best film by debut directors at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for Meduzot (Jellyfish). At the same festival, Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit won the Jury Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics. Kolirin’s film, which follows an Egyptian police band that gets lost while touring Israel, marked what may ultimately be seen as a more important cinematic landmark: in 2008, it was shown to a select audience at a Cairo hotel, the first Israeli film to be shown in Egypt since the peace treaty between the two countries was signed almost 30 years ago.
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
* * *
The Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers, by Rebecca Hillauer, is one of few works to challenge the male dominance in Middle Eastern film-making.
* * *
The picture for Palestinian directors could not be more different. Starved of funding and living in occupation or exile, Palestinian filmmakers have done it tough, but have nonetheless turned out some extraordinary movies.
One Palestinian director who has made an international impact is the Hebron-born Michael Khalifa, whose excellent Images from Rich Memories, The Anthem of the Stone and Wedding in Galilee were all shot covertly inside the Palestinian Territories. Rasheed Masharawi has been rejected in some Palestinian circles for working with Israeli production companies, but the quality of his work is undeniable. Elie Suleiman’s work – which includes Cyber Palestine, Divine Intervention and