Contributors
Rasha Salti
Rasha Salti is a free-lance writer and an independent curator. She is also the director of CinemaEast Film Festival, organized by ArteEast, the most recent edition of which took place from November 8th to the 15th, 2007.
Articles
The revolution will not be televised: the changing landscape of film and video production in the Arab world
The situation of Arab cinema today, while it varies from Morocco to Abu Dhabi, is at an interesting turning point due to digital technology and political and economic events. In spite of censorship there are increasingly more film festivals and a burgeoning audience of cinephiles. The 2007 Cinema East Film Festival in New York celebrated independent film production: At a moment when mainstream news seems helplessly captive to global conflicts, the war on terror and the clash of fundamentalisms, independent cinema has come to be regarded as a substitute for representing people, places and their stories. Filmmakers from the region are the most enchanting human rights activists, the most playful analysts, the most imaginative historians but first and foremost, the most generous and emboldening artists.
Fuel for Thought