Cinematically, Arabs have long been portrayed by Hollywood through various stereotypes—including terrorists, scantily clad harems, camels, and more—but from the outset, Cannes Film Festival has provided a platform for Arab filmmakers to tell their stories. To wit: Dunia, directed by Egyptian Mohamed Karim, was included as an official selection in 1946, the festival’s inaugural year.
In 1975, the highly charged Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Chronique des Années de Braise) by Mohammad Lakhdar-Hammina, was awarded the Arab world’s first and only Palme d’Or to date, the festival’s most prestigious juried prize. The film’s narrative follows a peasant’s struggle with poverty and land reform, against the backdrop of Algeria’s war of independence from the French.
Fast-forward twenty years and legendary Egyptian director Youssef Chahine was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to the world of cinema, including The Sparrow (1972) and An Egyptian Story (1982). Chahine is also widely credited for discovering leading actor Omar Sharif, who is perhaps best known for his lead role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki charmed audiences in 2007 with the premiere of Caramel, which revolved around the sensual world of five women, all from different walks of life, and their encounters at a beauty salon. Distributed in more than 40 countries, Caramel is still perhaps the most internationally recognized Lebanese movie, providing an alternative lens to the war and destruction Lebanon is often associated with in the Western world.
At the 2013 edition of Cannes, Omar brought the heartbreak of the Palestinian conflict to the forefront with Hany Abu Assad’s love story about a man mixed up in a web of dangerous plots, all the while just wanting to settle down with the young and naïve girl of his dreams, Nadia. Awarded the Cannes Jury Prize, this film also became a nominee for the 2014 Academy Awards.
This year, the region’s hopes are pinned on Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s short film, The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375. The film is an adaptation of the short story “Death of a Government Clerk” by Anton Chekhov, which tells the tale of a man who is so paralyzed by his own fears that he dies. This is only Zohairy’s second film, and also his graduation project for Egypt’s High Cinema Institute; the film will mark the first time Egypt is in the running for the Cinéfondation short film competition at Cannes.
The 2014 Cannes Film Festival began yesterday. We’ll be providing red carpet highlights and more from this year’s festival—stay tuned.
