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| Arab cinema is in crisis – it needs dramatic resolution | Arab cinema is in crisis – it needs dramatic resolution |
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| Recent weeks have seen images from the Arab world that most would rather forget: angry mobs, burning flags, dead civilians. That there is so much more to the region and its people is indisputable. That Arabs themselves need to do a better job of articulating their own dreams, hopes and ambitions for the future – ie the existential elements of humanity that tie us together regardless of race, creed or religion – is also beyond dispute. | Recent weeks have seen images from the Arab world that most would rather forget: angry mobs, burning flags, dead civilians. That there is so much more to the region and its people is indisputable. That Arabs themselves need to do a better job of articulating their own dreams, hopes and ambitions for the future – ie the existential elements of humanity that tie us together regardless of race, creed or religion – is also beyond dispute. |
| As any mainstream filmgoer who first learned from Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves that native Americans weren't actually red or Indian can attest, one of the most powerful communication tools available is cinema. | As any mainstream filmgoer who first learned from Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves that native Americans weren't actually red or Indian can attest, one of the most powerful communication tools available is cinema. |
| For a region of more than 300 million people with a rich tradition of folklore and storytelling, however, the Arab world has been historically under-served by its own filmmakers. Although Egypt can boast of a proud filmmaking industry that dates back over a century, beyond that the picture has often been less encouraging. | For a region of more than 300 million people with a rich tradition of folklore and storytelling, however, the Arab world has been historically under-served by its own filmmakers. Although Egypt can boast of a proud filmmaking industry that dates back over a century, beyond that the picture has often been less encouraging. |
| We are fast approaching a crisis in Arab cinema, though it's a crisis that could be blamed on excess rather than shortage. There are new major film festivals such as Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with sections – and funds – dedicated to Arab cinema. | We are fast approaching a crisis in Arab cinema, though it's a crisis that could be blamed on excess rather than shortage. There are new major film festivals such as Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with sections – and funds – dedicated to Arab cinema. |
| They are putting money – admittedly to varying degrees – into dozens of Arab films. That is to be applauded. A generation of new and first-time filmmakers from north Africa to the Middle East has emerged and is helping to sow the seeds for a potential Arab cinema renaissance. | They are putting money – admittedly to varying degrees – into dozens of Arab films. That is to be applauded. A generation of new and first-time filmmakers from north Africa to the Middle East has emerged and is helping to sow the seeds for a potential Arab cinema renaissance. |
| The problems begin, however, when that funding is too readily available for filmmakers whose scripts are not properly developed, whose stories are not interesting enough, whose characters are not engaging and who have no idea of the concept of dramatic resolution. Instead, these filmmakers hide behind the label of "auteur". What they seem to forget, however, is auteur is someone with an actual artistic vision and something original to say, not simply a propensity for long, slow, listless treatises on the banality of life. | The problems begin, however, when that funding is too readily available for filmmakers whose scripts are not properly developed, whose stories are not interesting enough, whose characters are not engaging and who have no idea of the concept of dramatic resolution. Instead, these filmmakers hide behind the label of "auteur". What they seem to forget, however, is auteur is someone with an actual artistic vision and something original to say, not simply a propensity for long, slow, listless treatises on the banality of life. |
| Of course, there are a plethora of talented, hard-working and genuinely engaged filmmakers in the Arab world. The likes of Nadine Labaki, Elia Suleiman and Hany Abu-Assad have won international awards and achieved box office success both at home and abroad. | Of course, there are a plethora of talented, hard-working and genuinely engaged filmmakers in the Arab world. The likes of Nadine Labaki, Elia Suleiman and Hany Abu-Assad have won international awards and achieved box office success both at home and abroad. |
| But we need more. And we need our young voices to push themselves harder and not simply take the money because they can. One must also recognise the myriad challenges that still remain for Arab filmmakers: namely the lack of an Arab audience for their films. | But we need more. And we need our young voices to push themselves harder and not simply take the money because they can. One must also recognise the myriad challenges that still remain for Arab filmmakers: namely the lack of an Arab audience for their films. |
| The region is still woefully lacking in cinemas. And while the Arab world is officially bound by the same language, the truth is the 22 countries all have their own dialects and local customs that frequently remain specific to their own borders. The result is the absence of a genuine pan-Arab market for Arab cinema. | The region is still woefully lacking in cinemas. And while the Arab world is officially bound by the same language, the truth is the 22 countries all have their own dialects and local customs that frequently remain specific to their own borders. The result is the absence of a genuine pan-Arab market for Arab cinema. |
| In Saudi Arabia, financially the region's biggest consumer of entertainment, cinemas have not been allowed since the 1970s. Other populous, and potentially lucrative, markets such as Iraq and Syria are also largely untapped due to instability. Without a vibrant, economically viable local audience for Arab films to rely on, filmmakers will remain frustrated in their efforts to be heard. | In Saudi Arabia, financially the region's biggest consumer of entertainment, cinemas have not been allowed since the 1970s. Other populous, and potentially lucrative, markets such as Iraq and Syria are also largely untapped due to instability. Without a vibrant, economically viable local audience for Arab films to rely on, filmmakers will remain frustrated in their efforts to be heard. |
| The flipside of this argument, however, is to ask if these filmmakers are actually ignoring their own audience back home in their misguided attempts to be heralded as the next indecipherable guru of subtitled obscurity. | The flipside of this argument, however, is to ask if these filmmakers are actually ignoring their own audience back home in their misguided attempts to be heralded as the next indecipherable guru of subtitled obscurity. |
| A key missing ingredient is the relationship – or more appropriately the lack thereof – between Arab cinema and the Arab TV industry. The rise of pan-Arab satellite TV (with more than 700 free-to-air channels at the last count) has given local content a platform that never existed before and helped break the hegemony of state-controlled outlets. | A key missing ingredient is the relationship – or more appropriately the lack thereof – between Arab cinema and the Arab TV industry. The rise of pan-Arab satellite TV (with more than 700 free-to-air channels at the last count) has given local content a platform that never existed before and helped break the hegemony of state-controlled outlets. |
| Arab TV executives, with the notable exception of Rotana and ART, have mostly been absent from the Arab film business creatively and commercially. This must change if we are ever to join the dots and connect filmmakers with audiences both in the Arab world and internationally. | Arab TV executives, with the notable exception of Rotana and ART, have mostly been absent from the Arab film business creatively and commercially. This must change if we are ever to join the dots and connect filmmakers with audiences both in the Arab world and internationally. |
| When a 14-minute online abomination masquerading as a trailer for a film that most likely has never been completed can bring hundreds if not thousands of Egyptians to the street, but an award-winning, crowd-pleasing Arab film such as Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? struggles to persuade them to leave their house and see it in their local cinemas, you know the situation is critical. | When a 14-minute online abomination masquerading as a trailer for a film that most likely has never been completed can bring hundreds if not thousands of Egyptians to the street, but an award-winning, crowd-pleasing Arab film such as Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? struggles to persuade them to leave their house and see it in their local cinemas, you know the situation is critical. |