AMMAN: Along with an endless list of “thank yous,” Oscar winners often use their acceptance speeches to recount the difficult road they took to make their films.
For the Lebanese director of “The Insult,” which has been nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film, the path was rockier than most.
Ziad Doueiri has been arrested, grilled by a military panel, had his film boycotted and risked seeing it banned in his home country.
The controversial filmmaker told Arab News that the Oscar nomination he received last week has vindicated him and his team.
“When I heard the news of the film’s nomination I was extremely happy for Lebanon and for the people who worked so hard with me to make this film a reality,” he said by phone from Paris.
Set in modern day Beirut, “The Insult” tells the story of how a relatively minor personal clash between a Christian and a Palestinian refugee spirals out of control to become a national scandal that reopens the wounds of Lebanon’s civil war.
The film has been the target of censors and campaigners in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region because of the director’s previous work in Israel.
The source of the controversy surrounds an earlier feature film “The Attack,” which Doueiri shot in Tel Aviv. Due to decades of hostility and Israeli military aggression toward Lebanon, Lebanese law forbids its citizens from traveling to Israel. The two countries are still technically in a state of war.
After a heated campaign, that film was banned in Lebanon and his new film is not being shown in the West Bank.
Doueiri, 54, who left Lebanon to study in the US in the 1980s and now lives between Paris and Beirut, said he had to fight tooth and nail just to get people to see “The Insult.”
In September, shortly before the premiere. the director was arrested after he landed in Beirut and questioned by a military court, but was not charged with any offense.
“We were at the edge of being banned in Lebanon and many of my opponents tried to pressure the Lebanese government not to nominate the film (for an Academy Award),” Doueiri said.
The film has also not yet been shown in Jordan. Mohammed Qtaishat, the head of the Jordan Media Commission, told Arab News that the film was approved with the need to edit a short scene.
“The law is very clear that we can’t approve any film or parts of it that can produce civil disturbance that threatens the fabric of society.”
Arab News has learned that the six minutes that the Media Commission wants to cut deals with Black September, the 1970 conflict in Jordan between Palestinian militants and the Jordanian military.
Doueiri has refused to have the film screened anywhere with any of its scenes deleted. He said he hopes the entire film can be shown in Palestine and Jordan and other countries.
“We are now in discussion about the distribution of the film also in Egypt and north Africa and hope to have it also shown in the Gulf region,” he said.
Kamel El-Basha, the lead actor in the film, said he hopes that a solution can be found so that the film can be seen and judged by people rather than held hostage by militants.
“There is so much exaggeration and taking positions without much facts that we are hurting each other for no good reason,” he told Arab News.
The actor, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, became the first Arab to win the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival last year. But he said he has mixed feelings about the Oscar nomination.
“To be honest, I am both happy and sad about this nomination. This is a good film and a nice story with implications further than the Arab world. It talks about the struggle between immigrants and natives, a major topic of discussion around the world today.”
However, El-Basha is sad that Palestinians have not seen the film. The movie was scheduled to be the high point of the Ramallah International Film Festival in October but was withdrawn because of pressure from a small group of campaigners.
“I am sad and pained because of the way politics is affecting art in our region,” El-Basha said.
Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri feels vindicated by Oscar nomination
Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri feels vindicated by Oscar nomination
Resin art shines at third Hail House Festival
- The festival aims to introduce visitors to ancestral lifestyles, showcasing traditional food, clothing, housing and everyday life practices, while also presenting various regional and external folk arts and shows
RIYADH: The resin art pavilion at the “Hail House,” themed “Your Home Away from Home,” now in its third year, has become a major attraction at the Aja Park during its 30-day run.
The Saudi Press Agency reported that visitors of all ages, drawn to this distinctive art form, have flocked to the pavilion amid the festival’s traditional and artistic atmosphere.
Resin art, a modern handcraft, involves blending liquid resin with a hardening agent to create solid, aesthetically pleasing shapes used in various applications.
Artist Layla Saleh Al-Shammari, who has been perfecting the craft for five years, showcased a diverse range of creations including women’s accessories, office and home decor, wall art, pens and serving platters.
HIGHLIGHT
The festival also features popular folk art performances, including the Saudi Ardah and Samri dances.
Her work incorporates techniques such as sea wave and shell imitations, geode stone replications, and the integration of natural materials such as plants and flowers. Al-Shammari also highlighted her use of local elements such as coffee, cardamom and the red sands characteristic of the Hail region, as well as palm fronds and Thamudic inscriptions.
Al-Shammari outlined the financial viability of her craft due to its high demand, expressing gratitude to the festival organizers for the opportunity to exhibit these handcrafted items in a heritage setting.
The festival also features popular folk art performances, including the Saudi Ardah and Samri dances, which have captivated visitors with their traditional sword dances and chants.
Marsal Al-Marsal, head of the Hail Folk Arts Group, said that “over 30 young performers present eight daily shows, incorporating national themes and traditional instruments like drums and swords.”
The performances showcased traditional Haili arts featuring aerial maneuvers, drums, swords and banners, reaffirming the enduring appeal of Haili folk arts at such festivals among enthusiasts of regional heritage.
The festival aims to introduce visitors to ancestral lifestyles, showcasing traditional food, clothing, housing and everyday life practices, while also presenting various regional and external folk arts and shows.
This year, the Madinah region, represented by Yanbu governorate, is also participating with a special pavilion.
Faisal bin Salem Al-Juhani, the pavilion supervisor, explained that it featured Hijazi architecture, including two 150-year-old houses that demonstrated the distinctive and renowned “rawashin” (projecting oriel windows) of the region. These prominent windows, measuring between 60 cm to more than one meter, not only served ventilation purposes but also enhanced the aesthetic appeal and provided wide vistas for the household members.
The Madinah pavilion includes models of old Madinah neighborhoods, a fully equipped traditional fishing boat representing the western coast, and displays of traditional utensils, clothing and heritage models.
According to Al-Juhani, “the participation aims to promote Saudi cultural heritage, particularly that of the Madinah region.”
Al-Juhani thanked the organizers for providing the platform and opportunity for participation in these well-received events over the past three events. He said that he looked forward to future engagements at Hail House.
Saudi artist Ahmed Mater on his solo show at Christie’s London
- ‘Chronicles’ runs July 17 to August 22 and features a selection of work from the Nineties to the present day
DUBAI: On July 17, Christie’s London will inaugurate a mid-career retrospective of one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant conceptual artists, Ahmed Mater. Showcasing photography, works on paper, and installation art, the “Chronicles” exhibition will feature a selection of Mater’s creations dating back to the Nineties, when he first started experimenting with painting.
“Art is a time machine that everyone is looking for. Art can take us to the past and imagine the future, which is a powerful thing,” Mater tells Arab News.
Mater was born in 1979 and worked as a doctor before rising to prominence in the art world with his X-Ray and magnet artworks, providing social commentary on changes happening within the Kingdom.
“I always admired the work of Dr. Ahmed, who is from my generation and my age,” says the exhibition’s curator, Dr. Ridha Moumni, who is the chairman of Middle East and North Africa at Christie’s. “He’s an introspective artist that works on ideas, rather than mediums.
“He’s an artist who can speak very well about his work, but, for me, he’s an artist who produces work that speaks to everyone in a different language,” Moumni continues. “His process of maturation can be seen on many layers — be it social, cultural, religious or political — that are present in his country and, by extension, in the Arab world.”
Here, Mater discusses five pieces from his show, which runs until August 22.
‘The Book of Magnetism’
This is a new artwork that I wanted to introduce in this exhibition. It is a continuation of an earlier magnet artwork I made, on a small scale, of the Ka’aba in Makkah. For me, “The Book of Magnetism” is important because it tells the story of knowledge and how it shapes our life and culture. The oldest invention known to mankind is the book. I presented this book in a way that emanates the holiness of religious books.
‘Desert of Pharan’
This is one of the pieces in my “Desert of Pharan” series, a project related to Makkah, where I put hundreds of found objects, photographs and video art about the city into a single room. This photograph is called “Nature Morte.” The project as a whole tells the story of Islamic Makkah, one of the most visited cities on Earth, as well as showing a study of urban planning in the city. I’m showing how new urban phenomena has changed the city, and how Makkah will influence the future of Islamic cities around the world. (Image courtesy of the Dalloul Art Foundation.)
‘Ashab Al-Lal’
This project is based on the idea of the mirage. It’s a project I’m creating for Wadi AlFann in AlUla. In the London exhibition, I’m showing this sculptural maquette of this upcoming artwork. It’s a form of public art. It’s a very environmental piece, connected to the land. I usually work with the ideas of exposure, the body and photography. This piece, using mirrors, reflects our bodies to the sky, like a real mirage. The idea is that you go inside a place in the desert, and when you are in the middle of this artwork, our bodies will reflect for other people to see. There is something theatrical about it too. (Image courtesy of the Royal Commission for AlUla.)
‘Lightning Land’
“Lightning Land” is a photograph that has a very nice landscape with lightning happening in the middle. I took this photograph on the way to Dammam in Saudi Arabia. I was actually just taking a picture of the oil refinery and tent that you see in the image. On that afternoon, it was stormy and dusty, and I wanted to this take a picture for a dramatic effect. I didn’t edit anything. I kept it as it was. When the lightning happened, it felt like a good gift. It’s an image that says a lot. The image is poetic evidence of the transformation that is happening in Saudi Arabia.
‘Our Mother House’
This is an old, patterned artwork that the curator Dr. Ridha found in my studio and decided to show in the exhibition. It’s not my painting, but my mother’s. She is a mural painter of ‘Al-qatt al-Asiri’ — painting on the walls of homes, which women do in the southern part of the Kingdom. It’s very symbolic and decorative. Each mural elegantly tells the story of a family and its social background.
‘The Bear’ — still a great dish, but in danger of going to waste
- Season three of the acclaimed drama delivers high-quality performances again, but little progress
DUBAI: Season one of ‘The Bear’ was one of television’s greatest surprise hits. A show about the minutiae of everyday life in a restaurant kitchen shouldn’t have been this good, and certainly shouldn’t have appealed to both critics and audiences on such a large scale.
That it did was largely because it’s not really about that. It’s about the sacrifices often required to fulfill creative potential — to become truly great at something. In this case, that creative endeavor happens to be cooking.
It’s also about more than that: Grief, friendship, family, kindness, mental health, love in all its forms… the list goes on.
Season three continues all these themes. And the storytelling techniques remain excellent, from the acting to the dialogue and the cinematography. And it’s as tense, claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing as ever. But the story itself? That doesn’t really move on. And that’s a problem.
Carmen (Jeremy Allen White), the driving force behind the titular restaurant, spends most of the season close to breaking point, driven both by his split from season two love interest Claire (Molly Gordon — seen only in flashbacks for the majority of this season) and the self-doubt that he blames largely on his time working for an abusive former boss Chef David Fields (Joel McHale). Episode one is largely spent on a flashback story of that time, and the finale gives Carmen a chance to confront his tormentor, a showdown that brings Carmen little relief.
Throughout the season, we see Carmen bringing much of the same toxicity into his own kitchen in his quest for the Michelin star he has promised his protégé Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) they will attain. Syd, lest we forget, is supposed to be a partner in the venture, but the will-she-sign-won’t-she-sign-the-agreement story is somehow dragged out over all 10 episodes without being resolved.
That’s typical of the series as a whole. The characters are seemingly all stuck (and if that’s some kind of commentary on the creative process from the writers, then they’ve really overdone it). It’s still a compelling watch — thanks largely to the cast’s obvious love for the work; once again Ebon Moss-Bachrach is a standout as Carmen’s ‘cousin’ Richie, but all the regulars are great — but in terms of forward progress, season three is severely lacking. A large percentage of it consists of flashbacks. And yes, it’s nice to learn more about some of the characters’ backgrounds, but much of that could have been done in far less screentime, and maybe then the show could have looked to the future.
At the moment, “The Bear” feels like a (very good) show treading water. And even the most talented of swimmers can only do that for so long before they need to start going somewhere again. Or sink.
Social media star Islam Afro adds local flavor to Arabic-dub of ‘Despicable Me 4’
DUBAI: Egyptian social media star Islam Afro is bringing the laughs in the Arabic dub of “Despicable Me 4,” showing in cinemas across the Middle East from July 4.
The Dubai-based star voices Sensei O’Sullivan, a karate instructor. In an interview with Arab News, Afro said: “Sensei is a bit tough on kids and loves discipline. I recorded my voice for other characters; however, when I got the opportunity to do Sensei’s role, I felt it was the best fit and I am so glad the studio thought the same.
“We both have curly hair so that is a plus. I think Sensei is a unique character. I had to practice a lot (to ensure) that I hit the right pitch of voice for the character. The team in the studio helped and guided me to deliver in the best way possible.”
A lifelong film buff, Afro said he was over the moon to enter the world of cinema with Illumination, the production team behind “Despicable Me 4.”
“I was given such an amazing opportunity and was guided professionally throughout. I also want to highlight the efforts of the director and producer of the dubbing house in Egypt. They helped me deliver the character in the best way possible,” he said.
He said the biggest challenge about voice dubbing was “having to repeat the voice multiple times and using different voice pitches. I had to excel in that because with animation your voice is the star. People can’t see your face, movement or body language.”
Afro said he was excited for movie fans across the Middle East to enjoy the film in its dubbed format.
“Having this sequel dubbed in Arabic and Egyptian dialect is a massive win for the industry. I would love for people to watch it in Arabic and to check how amazing the quality is, and the voices are,” he told Arab News. “The dialect and script chosen for the character is just perfect and the comedy side of the film is highlighted in a very nice way.”
A social media star known for his comedy sketches, Afro hopes to further progress in the movie industry.
“I am currently working on a mini album, which I am super excited about and hope my audience will enjoy as we are using different styles this time around,” he said. “And after ‘Despicable Me 4’ and my role as Sensei, (I hope to) ultimately get into the movie scene and get more acting opportunities.”
Ismail Kadare: A bright light in Albania’s darkest days
- Ismail Kadare: ‘Literature has often produced magnificent works in dark ages as if it was seeking to remedy the misfortune inflicted on people’
- Kadare was often tipped to win a Nobel prize for his towering body of work which delved into his country’s myths and history
TIRANA: Novelist Ismail Kadare — who has died aged 88 — used his pen as a stealth weapon to survive Albania’s paranoid communist dictator Enver Hoxha.
His sophisticated storytelling — often likened to that of George Orwell or Franz Kafka — used metaphor and irony to reveal the nature of tyranny under Hoxha, who ruled Albania from 1946 until his death in 1985.
“Dark times bring unpleasant but beautiful surprises,” Kadare told AFP.
“Literature has often produced magnificent works in dark ages as if it was seeking to remedy the misfortune inflicted on people,” he said.
He was often tipped to win a Nobel prize for his towering body of work which delved into his country’s myths and history to dissect the mechanisms of totalitarianism.
Kadare’s novels, essays and poems have been translated into more than 40 languages, making him the Balkans’ best-known modern novelist.
The prolific writer broke ranks with isolated Albania’s communists and fled to Paris a few months before the government collapsed in the early 1990s.
He wrote about his disillusionment in his book “The Albanian Spring — The Anatomy of Tyranny.”
Born in Gjirokaster in southern Albania on January 28, 1936, Kadare was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” as a child and counted the playwright, as well as Dante and Cervantes, among his heroes.
Ironically, the dictator Hoxha hailed from the same mountain town.
Kadare studied languages and literature in Tirana before attending the Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow.
After returning to Albania in 1960, he initially won acclaim as a poet before publishing his first novel “The General of the Dead Army” in 1963, a tragicomic tale that was later translated into dozens of other languages.
His second novel, “The Monster,” about townspeople who live in a permanent state of anxiety and paranoia after a wooden Trojan horse appears outside the town, was banned.
His 1977 novel “The Great Winter,” though somewhat favorable toward the regime, angered Hoxha devotees who deemed it insufficiently laudatory and demanded the “bourgeois” writer’s execution.
Yet while some writers and other artists were imprisoned — or even killed — by the government, Kadare was spared.
Hoxha’s widow Nexhmije said in her memoirs that the Albanian leader, who prided himself on a fondness for literature, saved the internationally acclaimed author several times.
Archives from the Hoxha era show that Kadare was often close to being arrested, and after his poem “Red Pashas” was published in 1975 he was banished to a remote village for more than a year.
Kadare, for his part, denied any special relationship with the brutal dictator.
“Against whom was Enver Hoxha protecting me? Against Enver Hoxha?” Kadare told AFP in 2016.
Academics have often pondered whether Kadare was a darling of Hoxha or a brave author risking prison and death?
“Both are true,” suggested French publisher Francois Maspero, who raised the question in his book “Balkans-Transit.”
Writing such work under a government in which a single word could be turned against its author “requires, above all, determination and courage,” Maspero wrote.
“My work obeyed only the laws of literature, it obeyed no other law,” Kadare said.
In one of his last interviews in October, when he was clearly frail, Kadare told AFP that writing transformed “the hell of communism... into a life force, a force which helped you survive and hold your head up and win out over dictatorship.
“I am so grateful for literature, because it gives me the chance to overcome the impossible.”
In 2005 Kadare won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize for his life’s work. He was described by judge John Carey as “a universal writer in a tradition of storytelling that goes back to Homer.”
A father of two, Kadare told AFP that he enjoyed seeing his name “mentioned among the candidates” for the Nobel prize, even if the topic “embarrasses” him.
“I am not modest because... during the totalitarian regime, modesty was a call to submission. Writers don’t have to bow their heads.”
