Love and Resistance in the Films of Mai Masri (Palgrave Studies in Arab Cinema)

"A panoramic primer on the films of Mai Masri, renowned for their sensitive and honest visualization, through the eyes of women and children, of the everyday intimacy, dignity, courage, and fragile humanity amidst the searing pain of war and the relentless grinding of structural violence. In sparing prose fortified by long periods spent with Mai and her closest collaborators, Brittain's walk-throughs of the films create an irresistible urge to (re)experience these extraordinary works of art." --Professor Beshara Doumani, Brown University "The trailblazing Palestinian cinema of Mai Masri is at last introduced to the English reader in this riveting homage by journalist Victoria Brittain. In chronicling films produced since the 1980s to the present, the book offers a much-needed overview of Masri's engaged documentation of war in ways that reveal its intimate dimension of loss and grief, highlighting the 'poetry of everyday life.'" -Ella Shohat, author of On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements "All Palestinian voices are important, and Mai Masri's is among the most eloquent, through her beautiful films. Victoria Brittain is supremely qualified to tell her story." --Ken Loach, film director "I love Mai's work. In fact, she is one of the reasons I became a director myself." --Hany Abu-Assad, film director This book covers Mai Masri's three decades documenting iconic moments of Palestinian and Lebanese linked history. Her films, unique for giving agency to her subjects, tell much about the untold, unseen people, namely women and children, who lived these experiences of war and occupation. Former Lebanese political prisoner Soha Bechara praised her feature film 3000 Nights as "the 'Lest we forget' of Palestine." Her focus on the social and political climates of the vivid lives of unseen people connects to the deepening violence in Palestine today. Victoria Brittain, a former foreign correspondent and Associate Foreign Editor of The Guardian, has reported from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and contributed to many media. Her latest book was Shadow Lives: The Forgotten Women of the War on Terror Preface 1 Preface 2 Bibliography Acknowledgements Timeline of Some Lebanese/Palestinian Events Related to Mai Masri’s Films Praise for Love and Resistance in the Films of Mai Masri Contents List of Figures 1 A True Story: 3000 Nights (2015) Layal’s Transformation Metaphors of Society The Cast, Creative Team, and Musicians Challenges and Producers The Film Released Bibliography 2 The Israelis and My Home—Nablus and Shatila: Under the Rubble (1983); Children of Fire (1990) A New Phase in Palestinian History, the First Intifada A Visit Home 12 Years Earlier In Nablus Again During the Intifada Scenes of Old Nablus Community Life Bibliography 3 Torture and Love in South Lebanon: Wild Flowers—Women of South Lebanon 1986; Women Beyond Borders 2004 A Unique Film Khadijeh, Mother and Women’s Leader When Torture Was Part of Life Kifah and Soha, a Friendship Forged in Code Khiam Bombed Flat, but Never Effaced Bibliography 4 The Green Line: War Generation—Beirut (1989) Two Sides of a 12-Year-Old Boy Times of Hopelessness Bibliography 5 The Disappeared: Suspended Dreams (1992); Lanterns of Memory (2009) Where Enemies Became Friends Kidnapped How the Issue of the Disappeared Became a Movement Return to Beirut After 27 Years in Israeli Prisons Bibliography 6 My Palestine, Shatila:Children of Shatila (1998) Children Film Their Own Stories The Palestine Cinema Institute and Its Lost Archive A Child’s Rich Life of Dream and Fantasy The Context of Family Life Bibliography 7 It Is My Country: Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (2001) Historic Border Meetings How the Children’s Links Were Built Mona in Shatila Manar in the West Bank Bibliography 8 Museum of Memory: Beirut Diaries (2006) The Cedar Revolution Layers of Memories Bibliography 9 “Let the Arabs See”: 33 Days (2007) Flight from the South Theatre Refuge The TV Station Community Bibliography 10 Keeping Going: Hanan Ashrawi—A Woman of Her Time (1995) Madrid and Oslo A Lost World The Post-Oslo Years Bibliography Conclusion Against the Dominant Narrative Palestinian Colleagues Aesthetics and Symbols Profound Engagement Bibliography Filmography Filmography as Director Bibliography Index "This book covers Mai Masri's three decades documenting iconic moments of Palestinian and Lebanese linked history. Her films, unique for giving agency to her subjects, tell much about the untold, unseen people, namely women and children, who lived these experiences of war and occupation. Former Lebanese political prisoner Soha Bechara praised her feature film 3000 Nights as "the 'Lest we forget' of Palestine." Her focus on the social and political climates of the vivid lives of unseen people connects to the deepening violence in Palestine today."-- Provided by publisher