Films of Hope
Better for your brain than the stuff you get for free in the New York Times.
Category: Film
Youssef Chahine is Dead
via Hawg Blawg, I see that Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine is dead. I haven’t seen his earlier work, but I am a fan of al-Massir (Destiny). It’s protagonist is Ibn Rushd, and it’s a reflection of the rise of authoritarianism and the loss of knowledge. There are a couple of sub-plots that I really appreciated in the film, including mystical authoritarianism, which people don’t often associate together, and the power of music to represent freedom. Youssef Chahine
Pakistan, Peace, and the Arts
Got an email today about a group in Pakistan that is attempting to bring about peaceful change through the arts. The group is ALAAP, and their peace declaration is an interesting read. art, Literature, Music, Pakistan, Poetry, peace
Ben Kingsley born a Muslim, part deux
See previous post for basics. See this page for more details. He apparently kept his birth name, Bhanji, for several of his children.
Mira Nair and Uganda
Great piece, continuing in the vein of Asians and East Africa. If you haven’t seen Mississippi Masala, I do recommend it as it is the only film I know of that deals with the twice-migrant Asian community. Technorati Tags: Asians in East Africa, Uganda
Disturbing and Sad
A film that might prove objectionable to some is not being released. Now I understand that this is not a universal rejection, just in the South, and there are commercial interests involved. However, from commercial interests to implicit censorship is not a far stone’s throw. We saw it with Buster the Rabbit. How far will this go? At what point to stop being creative for fear of offending? At what point do we stop being thought provoking? At what point do we become soylent green?
Film on Muslim Homosexuals
I think it’s a necessary film, because the reality is that they do exist, and how do we as a religious community deal with them, especially when the issue of religion and homosexuality is getting more important internationally as it becomes a wedge issue in the US. I like his last point, an obvious one, about a vocal minority hijacking the faith. Unfortunately, it will be this same vocal minority who will scream “Zionist conspiracy,” and “Jews trying to destroy Islam,” because of his work with a Jewish director.
What do these things have in common?
What do the movies The Passion of Christ and American Pie have in common? I saw a report on CNN the other day about a new DVD player that edits movies on the fly to remove objectionable material. The story was recently posted on CNN.com. I thought it was worth mentioning because they interviewed a spokesperson for the company, and he said something that caught my attention, but that didn’t make it into the print story. When the violence or language is integral to the story, it won’t be edited. So The Passion and American Pie have integrated the objectionable…