An Accented Cinema : Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking

In An Accented Cinema , Hamid Naficy offers an engaging overview of an important trend—the filmmaking of postcolonial, Third World, and other displaced individuals living in the West. How their personal experiences of exile or diaspora translate into cinema is a key focus of Naficy's work. Although the experience of expatriation varies greatly from one person to the next, the films themselves exhibit stylistic similarities, from their open- and closed-form aesthetics to their nostalgic and memory-driven multilingual narratives, and from their emphasis on political agency to their concern with identity and transgression of identity. The author explores such features while considering the specific histories of individuals and groups that engender divergent experiences, institutions, and modes of cultural production and consumption. Treating creativity as a social practice, he demonstrates that the films are in dialogue not only with the home and host societies but also with audiences, many of whom are also situated astride cultures and whose desires and fears the filmmakers wish to express. Comparing these films to Hollywood films, Naficy calls them "accented." Their accent results from the displacement of the filmmakers, their alternative production modes, and their style. Accented cinema is an emerging genre, one that requires new sets of viewing skills on the part of audiences. Its significance continues to grow in terms of output, stylistic variety, cultural diversity, and social impact. This book offers the first comprehensive and global coverage of this genre while presenting a framework in which to understand its intricacies. Cover ......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 List of Illustrations......Page 14 Introduction......Page 20 Accented Filmmakers......Page 27 Exilic Filmmakers......Page 28 Diasporic Filmmakers......Page 30 Postcolonial Ethnic and Identity Filmmakers......Page 32 Close-Up: Middle Eastern and North African Filmmakers......Page 34 The Stylistic Approach......Page 36 Language, Voice, Address......Page 39 Accented Structures of Feeling......Page 43 Tactile Optics......Page 45 Third Cinema Aesthetics......Page 47 Border Effects, Border Writing......Page 48 Authorship and Autobiographical Inscription......Page 50 Close-Up: Atom Egoyans Accented Style......Page 53 Postindustrial Mode of Production......Page 57 Accented Mode of Production......Page 60 Interstitial Mode of Production......Page 63 Close-Up: Atom Egoyan......Page 73 Close-Up: Michel Khleifi......Page 75 Close-Up: Women Make Movies......Page 77 Ethnic Collectives: Asian Pacific American Film Collectives......Page 80 Close-Up: Nancy Tong and Christine Choys In the Nameof the Emperor (1995)......Page 83 Close-Up: Mira Nairs Salaam Bombay! (1988)......Page 85 Close-Up: Trinh T. Minh-ha......Page 87 Close-Up: Marva Nabili s Nightsongs (1984)......Page 90 Interstitial Production......Page 91 Close-Up: Ghasem Ebrahimians The Suitors (Khastegaran, 1989)......Page 98 Collective Exhibition and Exile Festivals......Page 100 British Postcolonial Workshops and Collectives......Page 104 Beur Cinema in France......Page 112 Mode of Address......Page 118 Communitarianism......Page 122 Close-Up: Fernando Ezequiel "Pino" So/anas......Page 123 Close-Up: ChantalAkerman......Page 128 Inhibition and Prohibition......Page 132 Close-Up: Elia Suleiman......Page 133 Close-Up: Mona Hatoum......Page 135 Orality and Acousticity......Page 137 Calligraphic Texts......Page 139 Close-Up: Trinh T. Minh-has Surname Viet Given Name Nam (1985)......Page 140 Daughter-Texts......Page 144 Simultaneity, Multifocalityy and Paranoia......Page 149 Close-Up: Fernando Solanas's Tangos: Exile of Gardel (1985)......Page 150 Close-Up: Amir Naderts Manhattan by Numbers (1993)......Page 151 Close-Up: Atom Egoyans Calendar (1993)......Page 153 Close- Up: Jonas Mekas......Page 158 Close-Up: Chris Marker......Page 163 5. Chronotopes of Imagined Homeland......Page 169 Nature......Page 172 Close-Up: Gregory Navas El Norte (1983)......Page 173 Mountain, Monument......Page 177 Close-Up: Nizamettin Aric's A Song for Beko......Page 178 Home Land......Page 183 Close-Up: Michel Khleifis Wedding in Galilee (Urs bil Galil 1987......Page 184 Close-Up: Amos Gitai's House (Bait, 1980)......Page 186 Close-Up: Andrei Tarkovsky......Page 190 Close-Up: Atom Egoyans The Adjuster (1991......Page 195 Close-up: Yilmaz Guney......Page 198 6. Chronotopes of Life in Exile: Claustrophobia, Contemporaneity......Page 205 Turkish Films in Germany......Page 208 Close-Up: Tevfik Baser......Page 210 Close-Up: Yilmaz Arslaris Passages (Langer Gang, 1992)......Page 214 Close-Up: Sohrab Shahid Saless......Page 216 Close-Up: Houchang Allahyaris Fear of Heights (Hohenangst, 1994)......Page 224 Close-Up: Erica Jordan and Shirin Etessam ys Walls of Sand (1994)......Page 225 Close-Up: Jonas Mekass The Brig (1964......Page 227 Thirdspace Play of Open and Closed Chronotopes......Page 229 Close-Up: Nina Menkes s The Great Sadness of Zohara (1983)......Page 231 Close-Up: Joris Ivenss A Tale of the Wind (Une histoire de vende, 1988)......Page 233 Journey and Journeying......Page 239 Home-Seeking Journey......Page 240 Journey of Homelessness......Page 242 Close-Up: Emir Kusturica's Time of the Gypsies (Dom za Vesanje, 1989......Page 243 Homecoming Journey......Page 246 Close-Up: Fernando Solanass South (Sur, 1988) andThe Journey (El Viaje, 1992)......Page 247 Close-Up: Ann Hms Song of the Exile (Ketu Qiuhen, 1990......Page 250 Borders and Border Crossings......Page 254 Close-Up: Amir Naderiys The Runner (Davandeh, 1985......Page 260 Close-Up: Ghasem Ebrahimians The Suitors (Khastegaran, 1989)......Page 263 Border and Chicano Films......Page 255 Close-Up: Gregory Nava's El Norte (1983)......Page 257 Hotels and Motels......Page 265 Close-Up: Reza Allamehzadeh's The Guests of Hotel Astoria (Mehmanan-e Hotel-e Astoria, 1989)......Page 266 Close-Up: Atom Egoyans Speaking Parts (1989)......Page 269 Close-Up: Caveh Zahedis I Don't Hate Las Vegas Anymore (1994)......Page 270 Trains and Buses......Page 274 Close-Up: Par viz Sayyad's Checkpoint (Sarhad, 1987)......Page 275 Suitcase......Page 278 Close-Up: Atom Egoyans Next of Kin (1984)......Page 279 Close-Up: Mitra Tabrizians The Third Woman (1991)......Page 283 The Ethics and Politics of Performed Identity......Page 286 Diegetic Staging......Page 288 Doppelgangers, Doubling, Duplicity......Page 289 Self-Reflexivity......Page 293 Self-Inscription......Page 294 Close-Up: Miguel Littin s General Statement on Chile(Acta General de Chile, 1986)......Page 296 Film as Performance......Page 299 Close-Up: Atom Egoyan s Films as Performance of Identity......Page 300 Appendix A......Page 306 Appendix B......Page 310 Notes......Page 312 Bibliography......Page 334 Index......Page 366 In An Accented Cinema, Hamid Naficy offers an engaging overview of an important trend - the filmmaking of postcolonial, Third World, and other displaced individuals living in the West. How their personal experiences of exile or diaspora translate into cinema is a key focus of Naficy's work. Although the experience of expatriation varies greatly from one person to the next, the films themselves exhibit stylistic similarities, from their open- and closed-form aesthetics to their nostalgic and memory-driven multilingual narratives, and from their emphasis on political agency to their concern with identity and transgression of identity. The author explores such features while considering the specific histories of individuals and groups that engender divergent experiences, institutions, and modes of cultural production and consumption. Treating creativity as a social practice, he demonstrates that the films are in dialogue not only with the home and host societies but also with audiences, many of whom are also situated astride cultures and whose desires and fears the filmmakers wish to express. Comparing these films to Hollywood films, Naficy calls them "accented." Offers an overview of the filmmaking of postcolonial, Third World, and other displaced individuals living in the West. This book offers global coverage of the genre of Accented cinema while presenting a framework in which to understand its intricacies. The exilic and diasporic filmmakers discussed here are "situated but universal" figures who work in the interstices of social formations and cinematic practices.