Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. Terri Ginsberg
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in the Gulf region. Lebanon: The first Lebanese Civil War breaks out between Christian nationalists and pan-Arab secularists.
1959 Egypt: The Higher Cinema Institute, a training center, is established in Cairo; The Nightingale’s Prayer, the most famous of the collaborations between director Henri Barakat and star Faten Hamama, is released. Iraq: The General Organization of Cinema and Television (GOCT) is founded.
1960 Turkey: The 1960 military intervention changes the course of social and political life in Turkey, as Yeşilçam filmmaking undergoes growth and development.
1961 Algeria: 17 October: French police kill 200 Algerian demonstrators in Paris, as depicted in Living in Paradise (1998). Iran: The Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), or Kanoon, is founded. Morocco: Hassan II becomes king, thus beginning the repressive “Years of Lead” that included much film censorship. Turkey: The “high” Yeşilçam era begins with the production of 113 films in one year.
1962 Algeria: 5 July: Independence from French colonialism is achieved. The Radio Télévision Algérienne (RTA) is established to train film professionals and fund state coproductions. Iran: The House Is Black, Forough Farrokhzad’s highly influential documentary, set in a Tabriz leper colony, appears. Lebanon: October: The first of three annual Round Table Conferences on Arab Cinema and Culture is held in Beirut, under the auspices of UNESCO, to assess the state of cinema in the Arab region.
1963 Algeria: The Office des Actualités Algériennes (OAA) is established as a newsreel production organization. Egypt: Nationalization of the Egyptian film industry takes many people by surprise. It leads to the production of a number of quality films by the public sector, which is, however, effectively bankrupt by 1970. The situation compels many Egyptian filmmakers and actors to relocate film production to Lebanon.
1964 Lebanon: The National Center for Cinema and Television is established by the government. Palestine: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed. Tunisia: The Festival International du Film Non Professionel de Kelibia is founded to exhibit works by amateur North African filmmakers. Turkey: Metin Erksan’s Dry Summer (1963) wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The flagship festival of Turkish domestic cinema, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, is launched.
1965 Lebanon: UNESCO establishes the Arab Cinema Liaison Center in Beirut.
1966 Algeria: Gillo Pontecorvo’s landmark film about the Algerian War, The Battle of Algiers, is released. Iraq: The first Baghdad Film Festival is held. Tunisia: Gammarth Studios are established as part of SATPEC. The Carthage Film Festival is founded by Tahar Cheriaa.
1967 Algeria: The Centre National du Cinéma (CNC) and the Institut National Cinéma (INC) are dissolved into the Office National pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Cinématographiques (ONCIC) as the central agency for administering Algerian film production. Bahrain: The Bahrain Cinema Company is established. Egypt/Israel/Jordan/Palestine/Syria: 5–10 June: The Six-Day War takes place, marking the beginning of the expanded Israeli occupation. Iran: The International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults is held for the first time.
1968 Egypt: Shadi Abdel-Salam’s sole feature, The Night of Counting the Years (aka The Mummy), is released. France: May: Students and workers, including many from the North African diaspora, strike in France against oppression and exploitation under the conservative administration of Charles de Gaulle. Iraq: The Ba‘th Party comes to power. Morocco: Conquer to Live, codirected by Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi and Ahmed Mesnaoui, becomes the first postindependence Moroccan feature. Palestine: The Palestine Film Unit is established in Jordan. Tunisia: The Dawn, directed by Omar Khlifi, becomes the first postindependence Tunisian feature. United Arab Emirates: The Deira Cinema opens in Dubai, becoming the first film theater in the UAE.
1969 Algeria: ONCIC takes over film distribution and exhibition. Iran: The beginnings of the Iranian New Wave are signaled by the release of The Cow (Dariush Mehrjui) and Qeysar (Masud Kimiai); Abbas Kiarostami is instrumental in setting up the cinematic affairs department of the IIDCYA (Kanoon) and will make many of his short films and early features there over the following years. Syria: The National Film Organization (NFO) is founded.
1970 Egypt: Death of Nasser and succession of Anwar Sadat to the presidency. Jordan/Palestine: The events of Black September result in thousands of Palestinian deaths and lead to the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon, where Palestinian Revolution Cinema blossoms.
1971 Bahrain: Hamad and the Pirates: The Phantom Dhow, directed by Roy Edward Disney, becomes the first narrative feature produced in Bahrain. Iran: The lavish celebration of 2,500 years of monarchy in Iran is held at Persepolis, Cyrus the Great’s ancient city, in an attempt to legitimate and glorify the shah’s rule. Kuwait: The Cruel Sea, directed by Khalid M. Al Siddiq, becomes the first narrative feature produced in Kuwait. Palestine: The first Palestinian film, With Our Souls, with Our Blood, produced by the Palestine Film Unit, is released.
1972 Egypt: The immensely popular Souad Hosni vehicle Watch Out for Zuzu (Hassan El-Imam) is released. Syria: The first Damascus International Film Festival is held. Turkey: Yeşilçam peaks with an annual production of 300 films.
1973 Egypt/Israel/Palestine/Syria: 6 October: The Yom Kippur–Ramadan War begins.
1974 Algeria: The OAA is integrated into ONCIC. Algerian distributors boycott ONCIC to protest state control of distribution and exhibition. Israel: The Israel Film Archive is opened. Syria: The Damascus Cinema Club is founded.
1975 Algeria: The Algiers Charter on African Cinema is adopted at the Second Congress of the Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes (FEPACI). Chronicle of the Years of Embers, directed by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, an epic film about the decades-long anticolonial struggle in Algeria, is released; it marks the most expensive and extravagant Algerian film to date and puts Algerian cinema on the international map. Lebanon: 13 April: The second Lebanese Civil War begins and will last 15 years, disrupting the “golden age” of Lebanese cinema. Morocco/Western Sahara: November: The Green March sees Moroccan troops and civilians enter the former Spanish Sahara, to claim the land as part of a Greater Morocco.
1976 Algeria: The release of Omar Gatlato, directed by Merzak Allouache, marks a turning point in Algerian cinema from revolutionary cinéma moujahid to contemporary cinéma djidid. Tunisia: Fatma 75, directed by Selma Baccar, becomes the first Tunisian film directed by a woman.
1977 Iraq: The Iraqi film industry is nationalized by the Ba‘th government.
1978 Algeria: The “Nouba” of the Women of the Chenoua, directed by Assia Djebar, becomes the first Algerian film directed by a woman. Israel/Lebanon: 14 March: Israel invades southern Lebanon (Operation Litani).
1979 Iran: The shah is overthrown during the Iranian Revolution, and an Islamic government under the control of the Aytollah Ruhollah Khomeini is gradually instituted. Israel: The Fund for the Promotion of Israeli Quality Films, a revision of the Bill for the Promotion of Israeli Films, is established. Menachem Golan’s Cannon Films becomes the first genuinely transnational film production company.
1980 Iran/Iraq: The Iran–Iraq War begins, provoking a new genre of “sacred defense” war films in Iran. Turkey: The 12 September 1980 military intervention