Speakers on “Panel 5: Film, Television, & the (Trans)National” will be presenting their work from 2:20–3:35pm in Allard 121.
Emma York (BA, Western Washington U), Distance: A Videographic Essay
In fall 2021, I took a class called Palestinian Cinema. In this class, we watched and analyzed Palestinian short films and feature films weekly. To accompany our film studies, we learned various elements of video editing and sound mixing, in order to create a final project: a structured academic videographic essay on a topic of our choice concerning one or more films we watched in class.
Elia Suleiman is a critically acclaimed Palestinian film writer/director, popular for his mutist style with non-linear narratives. His films Chronicle of a Disappearance (1997) and Divine Intervention (1994) are both mustist, nonlinear films with traces of absurdism, which represents the absurd nature of the occupation of the Israeli people in Palestine. While Israel has destroyed many archives containing Palestinian art and history, Chronicle of a Disappearance and Divine Intervention use both art and historical accounts (both films are somewhat autobiographical) to portray Palestinian trauma.
In my videographic essay, Distance, I will audiovisually explore the cinematic techniques Suleiman uses in these two films to immerse the audience in an experience that forces them to empathize with Palestinian life under occupation. Suleiman uses framing techniques to separate himself from the scene unraveling before him, which also creates distance between the audience and the world of the film. By distancing himself and the audience from the world of the scenes, especially in the Nazareth chapters of each film, he incites the audience to empathize with his relationship to his hometown as well as empathize with the liminality of the Palestinian people.
Basant Ahmed Sayed (MA, UBC), Transnational Consumption of Japanese Popular Culture in Egypt: The Case of Anime and Cosplay Subculture
Today, anime (animation) fans across the world interact and engage with each other through social media and other forms of mass media, creating global fan communities. Japanese anime first came to the attention of Egyptian children and teens in the 1990s, when Arabic dubbed versions of the animated television programs Mazinger-Z and Grindizer aired on the national television network. Japanese anime immediately had a significant influence on Egyptian children, and rapidly gained popularity throughout the Arab world and the Middle East.
With the technological turn of the new millennium and the increased accessibility of the internet and social media in the second decade of the 21st century, Egyptians learned about the broad subculture surrounding anime and manga and seem to have had a growing appetite for it ever since. Egyptian anime fans even call themselves otaku, the same as Japanese “geeks” and anime fans, creating a whole new otaku/anime subculture in Egypt. However, in Egypt, internet access is not widespread, so being a manga and anime fan usually requires that one be fairly financially well off, typically in the upper-middle class and elite class. Egyptian upper-class fans consume transnational products, such as Japanese anime, manga and video games, to establish their cosmopolitan identities. Egyptian upper-class anime fans not only consume media but also use it to engage in play, generate social relationships and even resist institutional authority.
Shehroze Shaikh (MA, SFU), Islam on the Silver Screen: State-Sponsored Historical Dramas and the Formation of Muslim Identity in Pakistan
The holy month of Ramadan in 2020 saw the arrival of the acclaimed Turkish historical drama, Dirilis: Ertugrul, to Pakistani television. The much anticipated broadcast came following direct orders from the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan for the show to be translated into Urdu and broadcasted on state television, so that it may reach wider audiences. Khan has described the show as an important source of fostering Muslim identity and values, and is the centre-piece of his cultural project. While his decision to import historical drama has been lauded as a coup de maiître, it is not the first time such content has appeared on state-television in service to nation-building.
This paper will trace the role of historical dramas in the formation of Muslim identity and collective cultural memory in Pakistan; from its earliest appearance in the 1980s, through its decline in the new millennium, to its recent revival. By analyzing narratives of Islamic history created by state-sponsored historical dramas, the paper will also highlight how these narratives have been a means to reflect the state’s contemporary political stances. Lastly, the paper will posit that these dramas are an important source of understanding the formation of a collective memory of shared history and origins among Pakistani Muslims.