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The
NCSU Film Studies
Program,
Middle East Studies Program,
and Union Activities Board Films Committee
are
collaborating on a year long Middle East Film series. (For a PDF
file of the program click
here.)
These
35mm
screenings will be
free
and open to the public. For the Fall semester of 2007 the
theme and schedule are as follows:
| October 17 |
THE
LAND/AL-ARD
(Youssef Chahine,
Egypt,
1969)
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Youssef
Chahine's classic film, adapted from Abdel Rahman al-Sharqawi's
well-known novel of the same name, was eight years in the making.
Chronicling a small peasant village’s struggles against the careless
inroads of the large local landowner, THE LAND shows why political
oppression does not necessarily lead to a sense of solidarity among
the disinherited. This contemplative, epic film about feudalism in
rural regions was named the best Egyptian film ever made in a recent
poll of Egyptian film critics.
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| October 24 |
TICKET TO JERUSALEM/ TADHKIRAH ILA AL-QUDS
(Rashid
Masharawi, Palestine, 2002)
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Jaber
tries to make a good life with his wife in a Palestinian refugee
camp just north of Jerusalem. A kind, gentle man in his early 40s,
he runs a mobile cinema, bringing entertainment throughout the West
Bank. One day, Jaber is encouraged to organize a screening in
Jerusalem's old city. His perseverance is put to the test when he
investigates the complicated possibilities of staging this
screening. His efforts get him involved in the problems of Rabab's
elderly mother, a Jerusalem resident trying to protect her home from
Israeli settlers. Jaber’s determination to follow through with the
Jerusalem screening, despite a strained political and domestic
atmosphere, is the inspiration that carries this film through to the
end.
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November 7 |
THE
SLEEPING CHILD/L'ENFANT ENDORMI
(Yasmine Kassari, Morocco/Belgium,2004)
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A film
about the African/European immigration issue as viewed from the
other side of the equation – by the women left behind when their
husbands leave to seek employment in Europe. Shortly following their
wedding, Zaynab’s husband leaves the tiny, rural community where
they live, traveling to Spain with the other men of the village to
seek work illegally. Only the women remain, scratching out a
back-breaking living in the fields while awaiting the men’s return.
After discovering she is pregnant, Zaynab uses folk magic to put her
unborn child to sleep in order to have her husband present for the
birth. But as the months pass, the prospect of her husband’s return
begins to seem increasingly remote.
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November 14 |
OFFSIDE
(Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2006)
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From the
director of THE CIRCLE and CRIMSON GOLD, Jafar Panahi, comes a smart
comedy illustrating the fight for women's rights in Iran. World Cup
season is just around the corner, and Iran's team is playing a game
against Bahrain. Nearly everyone in Tehran seems to be abuzz with
excitement over the game, through officially soccer in Iran is quite
literally for men only -- no women are allowed inside the stadium.
But that doesn't stop a number of young women from all over the city
from trying to crash the game dressed up as boys; while some
succeed, others are unable to fool security, and are sent to a
holding bullpen in the stadium where they can hear the cheers of the
crowd but can't see the game.
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All
films will screen at Witherspoon Campus Cinema on Wednesdays at 7:00pm.
There will be a short (5-10 minutes) presentation before each film to
introduce the context, the director and the work itself.
For more information about the program
and/or the films please contact
Terri
Ginsberg or
Akram Khater.
For more information about the NCSU Campus
Cinema, including events, hours, and directions:
http://www.ncsu.edu/cinema/
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