Arab Spring blossoming in cinema

With Arab countries making history, the Arab Spring is now making its own revolution in cinema, too. Film festivals around the world, including Turkey, now have an obligatory Arab Spring section. The theme in all of these films is the personal journeys of inspiration

There’s something intrinsically ironic about the nature of Arab Spring, about the relationship between how the West looks down on the Arab world for lagging behind in civilization, and how the Arab world has popularized a movement for freedom with the use of new media tools, the epitome of a new age in Western civilization.

When Arab communities successfully used social media, mobile phones and amateur videos for a revolutionary wave that would leave its mark on history, intellectuals worldwide celebrated this new, powerful way to communicate, organize and, eventually, stage uprisings.

Another celebration of the Arab Spring was soon seen in the establishment of cinema. First, feature films, shorts and documentaries on the civil resistance among Arab societies began gracing festival programs. Later, examples from the cinemas of Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and even Turkey, long preceding the Arab Spring, started becoming integral parts of film festivals, as well as hot topics in film discussions.

Click here for full article (Hürriyet Daily News)