FILM 168A: Arab and N.Africa Cine

University of California, Santa Cruz

Introduction to the diverse cinemas of the Arabic-speaking world. By introducing a wide range of films and clips every week, the course gives students a historical grounding in cinema from across the region, paying attention to the interconnections and influences between films, filmmakers, and countries. While history and politics are considered to understand the films' contexts, attention is paid to form and aesthetics, too: one of the course aims is to illustrate that Arab films are more than just political or sociological texts, even if they are usually read that way in the United States.