Caméra arabe

Férid Boughedir’s Caméra arabe traces the emergence of a new Arab cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, when a generation of filmmakers began using cinema to confront the political, social and cultural transformations of the Arab world. Through interviews with leading directors, including Youssef Chahine, Jocelyne Saab, Nouri Bouzid, Merzak Allouache and Michel Khleifi, and vivid extracts from their films, Boughedir explores a cinema searching for new forms of expression and a distinctive Arab identity.

From the aftermath of the Six-Day War to the Lebanese Civil War, the film reveals how major historical events shaped the concerns of filmmakers determined to challenge conventional representations and address the realities of their societies. At once a cinematic history and a passionate defence of politically engaged filmmaking, Caméra arabe remains an essential document of the emergence of modern Arab cinema.