Animation in the Middle East: Practice and Aesthetics from Baghdad to Casablanca

by Stefanie van de Peer (Editor), Julian Ross (Editor), Lúcia Nagib (Editor)

Overview

The internationally acclaimed films Persepolis and Waltz with Bashir only hinted at the vibrant animation culture that exists within the Middle East and North Africa. In spite of censorship, oppression and war, animation studios have thrived in recent years - in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Turkey - giving rise to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs and artists. The success of animation in the Middle East is in part a product of a changing cultural climate, which is increasingly calling for art that reflects politics. Equally, the professionalization and popularization of film festivals and the emergence of animation studios and private initiatives are the results of a growing consumer culture, in which family-friendly entertainment is big business. Animation in the Middle East uncovers the history and politics that have defined the practice and study of animation in the Middle East, and explores the innovative visions of contemporary animators in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784533267
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/2017
Series:	World Cinema
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Stefanie Van de Peer is a Teaching Fellow in Global Cinema at the University of Stirling in Scotland. She has co-edited two books: Art and Trauma in Africa (IB Tauris, 2013) and Film Festivals and the Middle East (2014). She has also worked behind the scenes of several Arab and African film festivals around the world, among others, the Africa in Motion Film Festival, REEL Festivals, the Middle Eastern Film Festival, and the Boston Palestine Film Festival.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgements ix

Contributors xi

A Note on Referencing, Availability of the Films and Language xv

Introduction: Modelling Local Content for Animation in the Middle East Stefanie Van de Peer 1

1 Restoring Cultural Historical Memories: Animating Folktales to Form New Iraqi Identities Amber Shields 29

2 The Key Frames: Milestones in the Institutional History of Animation in Iran Maryam Ghorbankarimi 51

3 Local Minds, Foreign Hands: Animation in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Omar Adam Sayfo 69

4 Turkish Animation: A Contemporary Reflection of the Karagöz Shadow Play Basak Ürkmez 84

5 From Animated Cartoons to Suspended Animation: A History of Syrian Animation Stefanic Van de Peer 107

6 Cultivating an Arthouse Viewership: Lebanese Animation Audiences Grow Up Lina Ghaibeh George Khoury (Jad) 129

7 Pixelated Intifada: Animating Palestine Under Digital Occupation Colleen Jankovic 150

8 Beyond the Burden of Representation: Israeli Animation Between Escapism and Subversion Yael Friedman 172

9 From the Pioneers to the Revolutionaries: The Art of Animation in Egypt Mohamed Ghazala 196

10 Animating Libya in Shorthand: The Skilful Art of Visualising the Repressed Body Nisrine Mansour 217

11 Cinema Against an Authoritarian Backdrop: A History of Tunisian Animation Maya Ben Ayed 240

12 Animation in Morocco: New Generations and Emerging Communities Paula Callus 262

Bibliography 282

Index 298

Editorial Reviews

"For years the history of animation was understood as the history of the American animated cartoon. This eclectic, informative and insightful collection evidences lesser-known but significant traditions of production in the Middle East. It decodes and champions the aesthetic, creative and political distinctiveness in the region, and is an important contribution in revising assumptions about animation history and culture."

Paul Wells