2005 Algeria: Assia Djebar becomes the first North African woman elected to the Académie Française. Lebanon: Former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri is assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut, setting off the Cedar Revolution, which results in the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country. Iran: Conservative populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becomes president. Palestine: Paradise Now, directed by Hany Abu-Assad, becomes the first Palestinian film accepted for entry into the U.S. Academy Awards. Shashat is established in Ramallah to support Palestinian women’s filmmaking. United Arab Emirates: A Dream, directed by Hani Al-Shibani, becomes the first UAE-produced feature to screen at an international film festival. Yemen: A New Day in Old Sana’a, directed by Bader Ben Hirsi, becomes the first feature film from Yemen.
2006 Israel/Lebanon: 12 July–14 August: The 33-day Israel–Hezbollah War takes place as Israel reinvades Lebanon, becoming the focus of several films, including Under the Bombs, directed by Philippe Aractingi, and I Want to See, directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige. Saudi Arabia: How’s It Going?, directed by Izidore Musallam, becomes the first Saudi-funded feature film.
2007 Yemen: December: The first-ever Yemeni film festival is held at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). United Arab Emirates: The Middle East International Film Festival, renamed Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2010, is launched.
2008 Egypt: 27 July: Youssef Chahine, the prolific and probably best-known of all Arab filmmakers, dies in Cairo. Israel/Palestine: December: The Israel Defense Forces massively invade the Gaza Strip. Turkey: Domestic cinema in Turkey sells more tickets than foreign films for the first time since the Yeşilçam years, and all 10 top-grossing films are domestic products. Nuri Bilge Ceylan wins the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival with his Three Monkeys.
2009 Algeria: The National Amazigh Film Festival begins in Tizi Ouzou. Iran: Opposition to disputed election results in Iran is partly coordinated and publicized online through the use of YouTube and Twitter. Palestine: Amreeka (Cherien Dabis), arguably the first Palestinian American feature film, is released to critical acclaim in North America.
2010 Iraq: August: The United States begins combat troop withdrawal from Iraq. Israel: The Reut Institute codifies the hasbara project in “Building a Firewall against Israeli Delegitimation: Conceptual Framework.” Jordan: The Karama Human Rights Film Festival is established in Amman.
2011 Algeria: 24 February: The 19-year state of emergency is lifted. Egypt: 25 January–11 February: Popular uprising leads to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Bahrain: February: Popular protests erupt against the governing Bahraini monarchy. 14 March–4 July: Saudi Arabian military troops intervene to quash the antigovernment protests. Iran: February: A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi, wins an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category. Kuwait: 28 November: Prime Minister Nasser Al-Sabah resigns under corruption allegations. Lebanon: Where Do We Go Now?, directed by world cinema darling Nadine Labaki, becomes the highest-grossing Lebanese film. Syria: 26 January: Civil crisis breaks out as multiple forces with various foreign backers attempt, ultimately unsuccessfully, to compel the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Tunisia: 14 January: President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is overthrown after popular protests. Yemen: 27 January: Revolution breaks out across the country.
2012 Egypt: 30 June: Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi is inaugurated president of Egypt. Israel/Palestine: December: The Israel Defense Forces bomb the Gaza Strip in Operation Pillar of Defense. Yemen: 25 February: President Ali Abdullah Saleh is overthrown.
2013 Egypt: 3 July: President Mohamed Morsi is overthrown in a military coup d’état. Palestine: Omar, directed by Hany Abu-Assad, becomes the first Palestinian film entirely funded by Palestinian donors.
2014 Egypt: 8 June: General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi assumes the presidency of Egypt. Iraq: January: Civil crisis erupts. Israel/Palestine: July: The Israel Defense Forces bomb the Gaza Strip in Operation Protective Edge. United Arab Emirates: The Abu Dhabi Film Festival closes.
2015 Lebanon: A record 35 films are produced in Lebanon. Waves ’98, directed by Ely Dagher, wins the short film Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival. Saudi Arabia/Yemen: January: President Mansour Hadi is overthrown following a Houthi insurgency from the north. March: Saudi attacks on Yemen begin—with support from Western powers.
2016 Iran: 4 July: Internationally renowned, award-winning Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami dies in Paris.
2017 Iraq: December: Civil crisis terminates. Kuwait: The Kuwait Film Festival is inaugurated. Lebanon: The Insult, directed by Ziad Doueiri, becomes the first Lebanese film to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards. United Arab Emirates: The Dubai International Film Festival closes.
2018 Iran: May: The United States withdraws from the Iran nuclear deal, leading to the heightening of sanctions, in four stages, against Iran, which come into full effect in November. Lebanon: Capernaum, directed by Nadine Labaki, becomes the first Lebanese film to receive a Golden Globe nomination (for that award ceremony’s 2019 installment).
2019 Algeria: 2 April: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns after several months of popular protest. Iran: November: Protests regarding fuel price rises, beginning in Shiraz, lead to widespread civil unrest and a violent government response. Iraq: November: Anticorruption—and some anti-Iranian—protests lead to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. Lebanon: 29 October: President Rafiq Hariri resigns in the face of popular protests calling for a new government. Sudan: 11 April: President Omar al-Bashir is ousted after civilian protests lead to a loss of military support.
2020 Iran/Iraq: 3 January: The U.S. assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad escalates international tensions and portends escalating violence throughout the Middle East.
Introduction
Middle Eastern cinema is the product of multiple countries and regions, intersected by a series of recurring themes and formal strategies that can be traced through the entries in this book. Like film industries throughout the world, this cinema must operate in the shadow of Hollywood’s dominant model, although audiences in many parts of the region have also had significant exposure to Indian popular cinema (Bollywood). Egyptian cinema, sometimes referred to as “Hollywood on the Nile,” is the region’s biggest industry and historically has supplied films and filmmakers to the rest of the Arab world. Saudi Arabia has played a substantial role in the funding of Egyptian productions for some time, although Saudi Arabian cinema has until very recently seemed a contradiction in terms. Turkey and Iran have also produced large numbers of films during particular periods, and continue to do so today, mostly for domestic markets, while Maghrebi cinema, on the other hand, has typically centered around the work of independent filmmakers working outside the genre- and star-driven studio systems of the major industries. Algerian cinema, which flourished immediately after independence, all but disappeared in the early years of the 21st century, following the so-called black decade of