The Cinema of Muhammad Malas: Visions of a Syrian Auteur Samirah Alkassim 9783319768120

This book provides an in-depth and intimate study of the cinema of Muhammad Malas. One of the well-known auteurs of Arab and Syrian cinema, Malas's distinctive cinematic project has always confronted the social and political issues of his time. From feature films Dreams of the City, The Night, Bab al Maqam (Passion), and Ladder to Damascus to documentaries such as The Dream and Aleppo: Maqamat of Pleasure, Malas's films challenge and explore Arab culture and history. Archival images run through the chapters of this book which combines insightful interviews with excerpts from Malas's literary works and critical explorations of his cinematic style and thematic concerns. The book concludes with Malas's own words, sharing the treatment of his film project Cinema al-Dunya.

Samirah Alkassim teaches film studies at George Mason University, USA. A filmmaker and film scholar, her work includes experimental documentary Far From You (1996) about Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum, the introduction to the English translation of Muhammad Malas's The Dream: A Diary of a Film (AUC Press), and various articles about independent film in the Arab world published in New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, Bidoun, and Nebula.

Nezar Andary is Associate Professor at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, and an independent film and theatre director and producer. He has published in various articles and journals including Jadaliyya, Journal of South Asian and Middle East Studies, Emergences, Banipal and Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics.

"Much scholarship on Arab cinema has been confined to traditional film critical approaches that by and large ignore contemporary theory, which is longstanding within the discipline. ... The Cinema of Muhammad Malas: Visions of a Syrian Auteur is a rare exception to this tendency, as it not only engages theory but rearticulates it to the history and knowledge of Arab culture. For this reason alone, this book deserves to be read and discussed as a model for future scholarship." (Terri Ginsberg Q, Review of Middle East Studies, Vol. 54 (1), 2020)