Reading Exercise 1

This is a blog dedicated to reading exercises I give to my students in which I will add critical thinking questions to.

I believe that reading lights up our mind, open up our eyes and enhances our opportunities. Reading critically enhances our students' educational, social and professional opportunities.

It was a good habit I developed thanks to my supervisor Dr. Shawky El Sheik to add up a reading activity each week which is not related to the curriculum to supplement the curriculum, help develop students literacy and encourage students on their own on topics not related to the curriculum.

The course Integrating Critical Thinking into the Educational Process will make think about the essential questions and add them up to any article or reading activity I choose to make the learning activity more worthwhile.     

You are all welcomed to use, make up new questions, use the text with the questions I added.

Here is the first reading which I will use in Week one of my course:

           

Arab cinema

Arab cinema or Arabic cinema, refers to the cinema of the Arab world, Arabic cinema is dominated by Egyptian movies because of the large number of productions of movies in Egypt Three quarters of all Arab movies are produced in Egypt. Of the more than 4,000 short- and feature-length films made in Arabic-speaking countries since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian.

There is increased interest in films originating in the Arab world. For example, films from Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestine, Syria and Tunisia are making wider and more frequent rounds than ever before in local film festivals and repertoire theaters.

There are numerous film festivals that have historically been and are held in various parts of the Arab world to present films from Arab countries, as well as international standouts. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also another festival held in Alexandria which was not held for some years due to funding resources.

In 1987, the inaugural Mogadishu Pan-African and Arab Film Symposium (Mogpaafis) was held, bringing together an array of prominent filmmakers and movie experts from across the globe, including other parts of Northeast Africa and the Arab world, as well as Asia and Europe. Held annually in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, the film festival was organized by the Somali Film Agency, the nation's film regulatory body.

The International Film Festival of Marrakech (FIFM) is an international film festival held annually in Marrakech, Morocco is devoted to Moroccan cinema. And is chaired by Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco. The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), launched in 2004, is an international film festival based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that aims to foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world. The DIFF is held under the honorary Chairmanship of Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and is a not-for-profit cultural event, presented and organised by the Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority. The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) is another key international film festival in the larger Arab region that started d in 2007. ADFF aims to encourage and foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world by showcasing movies from the region alongside standout productions from prominent international filmmakers.

Many countries are introducing new festivals and many cinema festivals in the Arab are stopped because of lack of funding. Critics assure that famous American movie stars go to the cinema festivals held in Emirates rather than those held in Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt because they are well paid.    

Many critics of Arab movies produced with technical excellence criticize the fact that they are funded by European entities and assure that they carry foreign agendas. Many directors and script writers deny this fact but some directors assure this denoting that they receive no funding from their own countries. Critics also criticize the idea that some Arab movies are based on American or Indian movies and ask for originality of ideas.

Based on:

Shafik, Viola (2007). Arab cinema: history and cultural identity (New rev. ed.). Cairo, Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9774160657.

"Learning About Arab Film and Cinema". Arab Film Festival. 29 July 2016.

"FindArticles.com | CBSi". findarticles.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.

Additions and changes are mine.

Further reading

Josef Gugler (ed.) Film in the Middle East and North Africa: Creative Dissidence, University of Texas Press and American University in Cairo Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-292-72327-6, ISBN 978-9-774-16424-8

Josef Gugler (ed.) Ten Arab Filmmakers: Political Dissent and Social Critique, Indiana University Press, 2015, ISBN 978-0-253-01652-2

Rebecca Hillauer: Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers, American University in Cairo Press, 2005, ISBN 978-9-774-24943-3

Laura U. Marks: Hanan al-Cinema: Affections for the Moving Image, MIT Press 2015, ISBN 978-0262029308

Viola Shafik: Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity, American University in Cairo Press, revised and updated 2015, ISBN 978-9-774-16690-7

Questions to Discuss:

Are you familiar with Arab cinema productions? Why?

Reading about Arab cinema will you plan to watch an Arabic movie in the near future? why?

How can movies hold a political agenda?

It is worthwhile to have many cinema festivals.

Movies should be based on original ideas. Comment.