The goal of this conference is to foster a thoughtful and critical reflection on the principles of innovative aesthetic practices, social foundations, and cultural expressions in Arab Cinema. The conference will approach Arab cinema as both a social and artistic institution that affirms, contests, and reflects Arab realities in the 20 th century. In order to highlight how Arab cinema expresses but potentially also challenges dominant ideologies (literary, artistic, political, and historical) in Arab societies, the conference will focus on three themes: cinema, literature, and the arts; cinema and nationalism; and cinema and gender.

The interplay and contradictions between the images and the realities of the Arab World continue to raise concerns both of representation and cultural dialogues. Arguably, one of the most misrepresented and least understood areas in the world, the Arab World is a region whose historical, cultural, and geographical sweep is vast, diverse, and complex. From Morocco to Iraq , the Arab World has been a cradle for world traditions, from art to philosophy, which have contributed to and shaped global civilizations. In addition to being one of the great historical cosmopolitan centers, the Arab world has been the home for some of the earliest and most dynamic cinematic productions in the world.

It has been documented that by 1896, only a year after their first screening in Paris, the Lumière brothers earliest cinematic footage was shown in Egypt; and by 1917 there were over 65 cinema houses in Cairo alone. And although small in number, Arab women directors played a major role in film production as early as the 1930s and 1940s, many years before European women were systematically involved in the industry.

By the end of the twentieth century, Arab cinema had produced over 4500 films in feature lengths alone, not including documentaries and short films. However, like many other cultural and artistic productions from the Arab World, few studies and little attention have been devoted to this topic.

The goal of this conference is to foster a thoughtful and critical reflection about the principles of innovative aesthetic practices, social foundations, and cultural expressions in Arab Cinema. The conference will approach Arab cinema as both a social and artistic institution that affirms, contests, and reflects Arab realities in the 20 th century. In order to highlight how Arab cinema expresses but potentially also challenges dominant ideologies (literary, artistic, political, and historical) in Arab societies, the conference will focus on three themes: cinema, literature, and the arts, cinema and nationalism, and cinema and gender.

To account for the broad and multi-layered forms and representations of Arab cinema, we intend to bring together scholars from a wide variety of fields (such as film, history, gender studies, literature, sociology, and anthropology) to focus on these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.

In addition to the scholarly panels whose discussions will take place at the University of Minnesota campus, we intend to screen 12 films that represent the breadth of cinematic expression in the Arab world. Those films will be screened at the Walker Art Center and some of the films will be accompanied by their directors.

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