As a Palestinian, I can’t set aside my identity for two hours and root for an actor who spoke up for violence against people like me.
Why I’m (Reluctantly) Sitting Out ‘Wonder Woman’
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Film
Review: Cultures of Resistance
Resistance doesn’t always involve roadside bombs or military operations. Sometimes it is sprayed on a Tehran wall or rapped in a hip-hop song in Gaza. It can be a poem in Medellin, Colombia, or come from a guitar shaped like an AK-47. In short, there are few boundaries or strictures when it comes to the imagination and creativity that people bring to the act of defiance.
Review: Tahrir 2011
In the recent documentary Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad & The Politician, three directors present varying perspectives on the Egyptian Uprising and provide a comprehensive overview of what was happening on Tahrir Square, and why. The documentary is divided into three sections: The Good, directed by Tamer Ezzat, The Bad, directed by Ayten Amin, and The Politician, directed by Amr Salama. Executed in a cinematic style, each section includes visuals, live footage of protests, and interviews, as well as considerable wit and sophistication, to tell the story of the Egyptian Spring.
Cuba’s Culture of Dissent
When the Cuban government released a number of dissidents earlier this year, human rights groups applauded the decision. But critics also took the occasion to paint Cuba once again as a society where a single word of criticism gets you shipped off to a dungeon, from which you will never return, reduced to being a statistic in an Amnesty International report. This belief may contain a kernel of truth. But in many ways it provides a cartoon version of Cuba, one that misses altogether the texture and reality of Cuban life, particularly its politics and its culture of dissent. And there is a culture of dissent.
Demystifying Iran
Science Fiction From Below
Tapping into a long tradition of politicized science fiction, the young, New-York-based filmmaker Alex Rivera has brought to theaters a movie that reflects in new ways on the disquieting realities of the global economy. Sleep Dealer, his first feature film, has opened in New York and Los Angeles, and will show in 25 cities throughout the country this spring.