The Sparrow Directed by Youssef Chahine Egypt | 1972 Egypt’s best-known auteur Youssef Chahine (1926-2008) never shied away from controversial topic-matter during his six decades of filmmaking. An expressionistic non-linear approach to cinematic storytelling made his internationally award winning feature films – thirty-six in total – unique. The Sparrow (Al-Asfour), which was banned for two […]
PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE CINEMA CRITIC AND SCRIPTWRITER: RAFIK EL SABAN 18th July 2013, Cairo, Egypt. “The sweet voice of this 81 year-old man was enveloping and took us through a fascinating trip of knowledge and experience to the golden era of Egyptian cinema. I wish you had not left us so early, Rafik, so […]
Chaos, Disorder Directed by Nadine Khan Egypt | 2012 What a difference a week makes. In an isolated sleepy, out of the way district on the edge of a Cairene garbage dump, an assortment of junkyard personalities sort through detritus. TokTok (Ossama Mohamed Attia) is the village’s jester, always ready to provoke trouble through his […]
Rock the Casbah Directed by Laila Marrakchi 2013 | Morocco In 2012, the Safar festival featured the first film that Omar Sharif starred in, The Beginning and the End (Bidaya wa nihaya, 1960). This year, Safar is closing with what could be perhaps his last. Rock the Casbah was a runaway success in Morocco […]
Around the Pink House Directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige 1999 | Lebanon Around the Pink House (Al bayt al Zahr in Arabic and La Maison Rose in French) is a portent for countries coming out of war and revolution. The urbanism of Beirut encapsulates in amplified form the experience of all evolving cities […]
Factory Girl / Fatat al Masnaa Directed by Mohamed Khan 2013 | Egypt Two years after the mass demonstrations in Egypt, the socially engaged filmmaker Mohamed Khan has come up with what initially appears to be a typical Egyptian romp. A handsome new supervisor Salah (Hani Adel) is appointed to a clothes factory where there […]
The Broad in Black with a Beretta, My Wife is Hippy and other tales from Arab cinema An exhibition of vintage posters and contemporary Middle Eastern art inaugurate the second Safar Festival of Popular Arab Cinema, at the ICA. A lurid belly dancer, a dishevelled woman screaming, a couple in a lascivious embrace, Hitler, a […]
Earlier in 2014, we at the Arab British Centre, had the pleasure of working with Beau Beausoleil, the founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project, who also visited us and stayed with us for a few days and engaged with a new audience in London. The outcomes of which can be seen here. Now, […]
We’ve teamed up with Fajr Falestine Collective to bring you some of their exclusive, wonderful, quirky, different films from the Middle East! The first of this collection is Jessica Habie’s brilliant Mars at Sunrise which stars one of our favourite actors, Ali Suliman. The full description of the film is below but we think you’ll love […]
Algiers Like many countries, Algeria prides itself in an array of traditional clothing, each with a unique history. For both men and women, the existence of traditional clothing in Algeria allows Algerians to take pride in their country’s past, as well as tell a story. Each wilaya (provinces) of Algeria has its own clothing: given […]