Fifty years of movie magic, from Tunisia to Iraq, as chosen by Omar al-Qattan, film-maker and chair of Shubbak – A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture
The Night (Al-Lail)
Mohammad Malas, 1993
A great Syrian film. It is about the director's home town of Quneitra, on the borders of the Golan Heights, which was almost completely destroyed by the Israelis after the 1967 war and remains in ruins. The film is a historical-autobiographical epic of three generations, taking you from the Syrian fight for independence against the French in the 1930s, through the 1948 war with Israel, and into recent times. Malas is probably the most highly regarded living Syrian director – he is still based in Damascus as far as I know – and this film is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky in the use of long, contemplative dream and memory sequences where time is as important an expressive element as space, dialogue or movement.
The...
The Night (Al-Lail)
Mohammad Malas, 1993
A great Syrian film. It is about the director's home town of Quneitra, on the borders of the Golan Heights, which was almost completely destroyed by the Israelis after the 1967 war and remains in ruins. The film is a historical-autobiographical epic of three generations, taking you from the Syrian fight for independence against the French in the 1930s, through the 1948 war with Israel, and into recent times. Malas is probably the most highly regarded living Syrian director – he is still based in Damascus as far as I know – and this film is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky in the use of long, contemplative dream and memory sequences where time is as important an expressive element as space, dialogue or movement.
The...
- 7/6/2013
- by Omar al-Qattan
- The Guardian - Film News
bidaya wa nihaya (1961)
The 5th Abu Dhabi International Film Festival is paying tribute to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. Apart from writing novels, Mahfouz collaborated with major Egyptian directors such as Youssef Chahine, Hassan Al Imam and Salah Abu Seif on screenplays. This year marks the birth centenary of the prolific author, who is often regarded as one of the first contemporary Arabic writers.
Salah Abu Seif, the legendary Egyptian director adapted quite a few of Mahfouz’s novels and short stories, ‘Bidaya wa Nihaya’ (The beginning and the end) being the first of this collaboration.
Salah, who is widely regarded as the father of Egyptian realist cinema was a prolific director who made more than forty films which are still very popular. Abu Dhabi Film Festival screened a restored version of ‘Bidaya wa Nihaya’ (The Beginning and the end) with new subtitles.
The 5th Abu Dhabi International Film Festival is paying tribute to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. Apart from writing novels, Mahfouz collaborated with major Egyptian directors such as Youssef Chahine, Hassan Al Imam and Salah Abu Seif on screenplays. This year marks the birth centenary of the prolific author, who is often regarded as one of the first contemporary Arabic writers.
Salah Abu Seif, the legendary Egyptian director adapted quite a few of Mahfouz’s novels and short stories, ‘Bidaya wa Nihaya’ (The beginning and the end) being the first of this collaboration.
Salah, who is widely regarded as the father of Egyptian realist cinema was a prolific director who made more than forty films which are still very popular. Abu Dhabi Film Festival screened a restored version of ‘Bidaya wa Nihaya’ (The Beginning and the end) with new subtitles.
- 10/17/2011
- by Bikas Mishra
- DearCinema.com
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