Hollywood Harems
Egypt | 1999 | 24 minutes | Color | DVD | Subtitled | Order No. 00665
SYNOPSIS
Dr Valerie Hartouni, Director, Critical Gender Studies Program, University of California at San Diego
PRESS
"'Hollywood Harems' is a video demanding that it be viewed twice: once for sheer chuckles and enjoyment, but again to trace the carefully developed themes of Orientalist portrayal of women in Hollywood's past feature films."
"Effectively cuts through to the heart of the matter--the pernicious objectification of women by race and gender. Useful in courses on women and ethnic studies as well as national and world cinema."
"Opens new windows on the shifting, often conflicted set of paradigms that have cast Middle Eastern women in fantastic, romanticized, racist and often destructive roles."
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- North African Women's Film Festival
- Arab and Iranian Film Festival, Seattle, WA
- Women in the Director's Chair
- Reel Women Film Series, Northern Arizona University
- Middle Eastern Studies Association Film Festival
- Walker Art Center Women with Vision Festival
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Tania Kamal-Eldin is an independent filmmaker and educator. Her documentary productions focus on women and Middle Eastern issues with an emphasis on the complex interactions of gender, race and cross-cultural representation. Kamal-Eldin has an MFA in Visual Arts from University of California-San Diego where she was awarded the Jacob Javits Fellowship, as well as a MSC in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. She has taught at the University of California, San Diego, and Palomar College. She has published much fiction including co-authoring a book of short stories. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at American University, School of Communication in Film and Media Arts, in Washington D.C. (8/14)