Description
Book SynopsisThis topical and innovative study is the first book on Algerian cinema to be published in English since the 1970s. At a time when North African and Islamic cultures are of increasing political significance, Algerian National Cinema presents a dynamic, detailed and up to date analysis of how film has represented this often misunderstood nation.
Algerian National Cinema explores key films from The Battle of Algiers (1966) to Mascarades (2007). Introductions to Algerian history and to the national film industry are followed by chapters on the essential genres and themes of filmmaking in Algeria, including films of anti-colonial struggle, representations of gender, Berber cinema, and filming the ‘black decade’ of the 1990s. This thoughtful and timely book will appeal to all interested in world cinemas, in North African and Islamic cultures, and in the role of cinema as a vehicle for the expression of contested identities. By the author of the critically-acclaimed Contemporary French Cinema.
Table of Contents1. An introduction to modern Algerian history and politics
2. A brief history of Algerian cinema
3. The war of liberation on screen: trauma, history, myth
4. Representing gender: tradition and taboo
5. Berber cinema, historical and ahistorical
6. After 'Black October': mourning and melancholia
7. Screening the 'invisible war'
8. Memory and identity: from lost sites to reclaimed images
9.Conclusion: Algerian national cinemas
Filmography
Index
