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
Saturday, September 13, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, zuka solicafé at the Youth Center, Uhlandstraße 2, 79102 Freiburg (Germany)
Pioneers, Divas, Visionaries – The Women of Arab Cinema
Since the first film with a fully Arab and African crew and cast, Zohra – screenplay, editor, and lead actress Haydée Samama Chikly Tamzali – was released in Tunis exactly 100 years ago, women have played a crucial role in Arab filmmaking. They were among the very first producers, introduced the star system, took their cameras to the front lines of too many wars, founded cinemas, shaped the sound, gave and continue to give voice to various groups in their societies, tell history, and imagine the future. This lecture provides an overview of Arab film history according to its female workers. (in German)
This event is part of the film festival "HerStories - Arab Film Pioneers" from September 12-14 at the Municipal Cinema and the Youth Center and is a collaboration between Cine Arab, the Municipal Cinema, and "zusammen leben" (living together).
Previous entries were moved to the News Archive.