Cinema and the Arab World
On these pages you will find a range of services of free-lance author, curator and scholar Irit Neidhardt in the field of Cinema and the Arab World. For requests, please contact me at the address below.
I deal with questions of production, presentation and reception of films with regards to aspects of Arab societies and politics, the European gaze on its neighboring region in the southern and eastern Mediterranean as well as facets of European-Arab cooperation, including historical periods of Arab filmmaking in Germany.
This includes subjects as the cooperation of both German States with the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO in the 1970s and 1980s; the genre of the music video which is very popular in the Arab World; the critical-analytical examination of European funding of Arab movies; Arab women films from the years before the uprisings that started in Tunisia in 2010 or the question about the origin of the images we see from and about the war in Syria.
Since 2012 I have been compiling the Funding Guide for Arab Filmmakers and Producers on behalf of Aflamuna (formerly Beirut DC) which is by now accessible online.
To get a more precise idea about my services with regard to
- curating of film programs
- lectures and film talks
- workshops and tutorials
- panel discussions
- moderations
- publications
you are invited to browse around this homepage. In each section you will find examples and references to previous activities.
Learn about mec film, the distribution and sales company for films by Arab directors which I run or find information about me.
Lecture
10.7.2025 at 19.00h at Lettrétage in ACUD, Veteranenstr. 21, 10119 Berlin
The Orientalisation of the Holy Land. The Holy Land – A Real Place? IMAGES OF PALESTINE (in German)
Everyone has an image of Palestine, be it photographic, cinematic, political, religious or a very private memory. Images from or about Palestine appeal to many people emotionally. When Palestine is brought up at private or public gatherings, debates in Germany - if they are allowed to take place - are usually more heated than discussions about other countries, more so than ever in light of the current war of annihilation against Gaza. Where does this close connection come from, and what does it have to do with the images we grew up with and which continue to surround us today?
But where is “the Holy Land” actually located? continue (in German)
curated & moderated by Cora Josting
Previous entries were moved to the News Archive.