Middle Eastern Studies


THE ACCUSED: Damned or Devoted
THE ACCUSED: Damned or Devoted

2021  Criminal & Law  Cultural Studies  Economics  Education  Islamic Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Religion & Spirituality  World History  2022 

There is a divide in Pakistan over its blasphemy law, which if broken can lead to a death sentence for those accused. Cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, has one mission: to preserve Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and now he’s running for the highest office in the country.  Now everyone,  those that oppose him and even his followers,  are just pawns in his quest for absolute power.


SO DEAR, SO LOVELY
SO DEAR, SO LOVELY

2021  Directed by Women  Middle Eastern Studies  Sociology  Short Films  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Peace & Conflict  Cinema Studies  2022 

In this two-part tour through the streets of Lebanon, a colorful Palestinian cab driver offers offhand insight into the region’s fraught political and social climate through boisterous serenades and excitable outbursts.

SUNLESS SHADOWS
SUNLESS SHADOWS

2020  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Women's Studies  Children & Young Adult 

A picture of life in an Iranian juvenile detention center, where a group of adolescent girls serve their sentence for murdering a male member of their family. Alone with the camera, they reveal their thoughts, feelings and doubts. Mehrdad Oskouei's follow-up to Starless Dreams



ALSO KNOWN AS JIHADI
ALSO KNOWN AS JIHADI

2019  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Flaherty Collection  Middle Eastern Studies  World History  Urban Studies  Terrorism Studies 

Pulling from real events and court documents in the wake of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, Also Known As Jihadi follows a young man's journey to radicalism not through his actions, but through his surroundings. 

THE WILD PEAR TREE
THE WILD PEAR TREE

2019  Family Relations  Islamic Studies  Literature  Narrative Films  Psychology & Psychiatry  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies 

Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree follows in the great tradition of family dramas like Death of a Salesman and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and weaves an evocative tale of creative struggle and familial responsibility with inspired performances, sumptuous imagery and surprising bursts of humor. 

LAILA AT THE BRIDGE
LAILA AT THE BRIDGE

Asian Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Health  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies  Women's Studies  2018  2019 

Laila at the Bridge takes the viewer on a harrowing journey to Kabul’s dark underpass, following a woman who attempts to save as many drug addicts as she can.


KIDS OF THE ROCKET SIREN
KIDS OF THE ROCKET SIREN

2017  Children & Young Adult  Jewish Studies  Loud Roar Productions  Middle Eastern Studies  Peace & Conflict  Short Films 

Reality for the kids who live in Sderot, an Israeli town that neighbors the Gaza strip, is a constant reminder that they are in the midst of a deadly conflict. Kids of the Rocket Siren melds verite, interviews and archival to document the kids who have grown up with rocket shelters, sirens and deadly blasts.

YOUTH BEHIND BARS: The Iran Trilogy
YOUTH BEHIND BARS: The Iran Trilogy

Middle Eastern Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Sociology  Cultural Studies  Family Relations  Children & Young Adult  Peace & Conflict  2017 

A groundbreaking documentary trilogy directed by Iran's most prominent documentary filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei, Youth Behind Bars: The Iran Trilogy, with incredible humanity, captures the lives, dreams and hopes of Iran's imprisoned youth.

STARLESS DREAMS
STARLESS DREAMS

Middle Eastern Studies  Women's Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Family Relations  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  2017 

A stark testimonial of the previously unseen and unheard, award-winning Starless Dreams plunges us into the lives of young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and correction center on the outskirts of Tehran. An unforgettable cinematic portrayal of restored innocence and humanity Starless Dreams is the last installment of the groundbreaking documentary trilogy Youth Behind Bars: The Iran Trilogy.

THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER
THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER

2016  Criminal & Law  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies  Psychology & Psychiatry  Family Relations  Anthropology  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Islamic Studies 

Following his harrowing documentary, It's Always Late for Freedom, director Mehrdad Oskouei continues his exploration of a male juvenile detention facility near Tehran. Last Days of Winter follows these young men in the days leading up to the Iranian New Year, as they take stock of their lives.

IT’S ALWAYS LATE FOR FREEDOM
IT’S ALWAYS LATE FOR FREEDOM

2016  Middle Eastern Studies  Criminal & Law  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Psychology & Psychiatry  Family Relations  Anthropology 

Acclaimed filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei provides a rare glimpse into an all-male juvenile detention facility in Iran. It's Always Late for Freedom is the first film of Oskouei's trilogy documenting troubled youth in Iran, preceding The Last Days of Winter (2011) and Starless Dreams (2016).

50 FEET FROM SYRIA
50 FEET FROM SYRIA

2016  Short Films  Peace & Conflict  Disabilities  Medicine  Middle Eastern Studies  Death & Dying 

A gripping and timely snapshot that provides a glimpse into the plight of Syrian refugees, 50 Feet from Syria uncovers the humanitarian efforts of a Syrian-American orthopedic surgeon who travels to the Turkish border to volunteer to operate on victims of the civil war.

THE MULBERRY HOUSE
THE MULBERRY HOUSE

2015  Middle Eastern Studies  Women's Studies  Family Relations  The Arab Spring  Directed by Women 

Arriving at the heart of an emerging revolution after living abroad for ten years, a young female filmmaker redefines her place in Yemeni society, as well as her relationships with her father and grandfather. In a unique examination of the uprisings in Yemen, The Mulberry House shifts the focus from events on the streets to the impact of the revolution on the lives of one family. An incredibly moving and intimate story by the director of Academy Award nominated Karama Has No Walls.

FROM IRAN: A SEPARATION
FROM IRAN: A SEPARATION

2015  Cinema Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Media Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women 

A gripping and moving story that illustrates the impact cosmopolitan recognition has on an isolated population, From Iran: A Separation details the reception of the speech Asghar Farhadi (About Elly) gave when his film A Separation won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

ABOUT ELLY (narrative)
ABOUT ELLY (narrative)

2015  Narrative Films  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies 

With the return of their friend Ahmad from Germany, a group of old college pals (two married couples and a brother and sister, along with three young kids) decide to reunite for a weekend outing by the Caspian Sea. The fun starts right away as they quickly catch on to the plan of lively Sepideh, who has brought along Elly, her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, in hopes of setting her up with recently divorced Ahmad.

THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES
THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES

2014  Terrorism Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Media Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Flaherty Collection 

Mixing personal stories, political history, revolutionary propaganda and film theory, artist Eric Baudelaire illuminates the idealism and radicalism of left-wing extremist movements of the 1970s by interweaving the stories of two of its protagonists: May Shigenobu, daughter of the founder of the Japanese Red Army, and Masao Adachi, the revered Japanese director who gave up cinema to take up arms.

TERRACE OF THE SEA
TERRACE OF THE SEA

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Photography  Middle Eastern Studies  Anthropology  2014  Art History  Directed by Women 

Filmed in an unofficial Palestinian Bedouin camp that was established in 1948 on a stretch of beach in South Lebanon, Terrace of the Sea uses a collection of family photographs taken over three generations as a prism through which to reflect on memory, loss and history.

STILL LIFE
STILL LIFE

Sensory Ethnography Lab  2014  Anthropology  Photography  Aging / Gerontology  Middle Eastern Studies  Art History  Directed by Women 

"The Arab governments pushed us out of our homes… I was twelve years old… I’ve been here for 60 years." A beautiful, poignant, documentary, Still Life examines the effect a collection of personal photos showing life in Palestine before the 1948 displacement have on an elderly Palestinian fisherman living in exile in Lebanon.

AMERICAN ARAB
AMERICAN ARAB

Islamic Studies  American Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Kartemquin Films  2014  Immigration 

A provocative look at the complexities of Arab identity in post 9/11 America, American Arab interweaves filmmaker Usama Alshaibi's own story, and that of his family, as well as other Arab Americans to thoughtfully explore the values, passions, hopes and perceptions of his community, from inside and out.

KARAMA HAS NO WALLS
KARAMA HAS NO WALLS

Middle Eastern Studies  Political Science  World History  Media Studies  Peace & Conflict  Short Films  2014  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  The Arab Spring  Directed by Women 

2014 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Karama Has No Walls is a gripping, eye-witness account of a tragic day that changed the course of the revolution in Yemen; when pro-government snipers opened fired on a peaceful gathering of protesters, sparking national outrage and ultimately leading to the end of 33 years of autocratic rule.

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