To open and close this bar, use alt+/
THE ARTS CENTER

Contemporary Arab Cinema

CinemaNA: Three Films by Jocelyne Saab

Presented by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and the NYUAD Film and New Media Program

Monday, Nov 8, 2021 @ 8pm

Past Event

A live talk with Dr. Mathilde Rouxel on Jocelyne Saab’s films. Before the talk, we invite you to watch three of Saab’s films.

Dr. Mathilde Rouxel is a researcher at the New Sorbonne University and an independent curator specializing in Arab cinema.

This ongoing series showcases groundbreaking films alongside discussions with the filmmakers and faculty. Each set of screenings will be available for on-demand viewing on our website, followed by a Q&A.

Watch the trailer:

This month’s films include:

  • Dunia, Kiss Me Not On The Eyes (Age Advisory: 18+)

A meditation on female desire, often a taboo subject, especially in the Egyptian society where the film takes place. Driven by the powerful eroticism of Arab poetry and music, the film talks about love and desire, through the experience of a young woman traditionally and strictly educated. The film leads to the trauma provoked by female genital mutilation (which, according to UNICEF, Amnesty International and PNUD reports, affects 97% of women in Egypt in 2003).

Watch the trailer

  • Beirut, My City / Beyrouth Ma Ville (Age Advisory: 16+: Contains graphic images of War)

In July, 1982, the Israeli army laid siege to Beirut. Four years earlier, Jocelyne Saab saw her 150-year old childhood home go up in flames. She asked herself: when did all this begin? Every place becomes a historical site and every name, a memory.

Watch the trailer

  • The Lady of Saigon / La dame de Saigon

A portrait of Dr. Hoa, an extraordinary woman who was a minister in the South Vietnamese revolutionary government. Her life is a battle, and that battle is a pleasure. During the war she was at times imprisoned, and at times a member of the resistance. She tells Jocelyne Saab about her experiences.

Watch the trailer

Dr. Mathilde Rouxel

Dr. Mathilde Rouxel is a researcher and an independent curator, specialising in Arab cinema. She published the first monograph about the French-Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab (Jocelyne Saab, la mémoire indomptée, Dar an-Nahar, Beirut, 2015). She is currently in charge of her whole artistic heritage, and founded with Jocelyne Saab’s son Nessim Ricardou-Saab the Jocelyne Saab’s Friends Association which aims to the enhancement, the restoration and the wide dissemination of her artistic heritage.

English subtitles available.

  • Dunia, Kiss Me Not On The Eyes
  • Director: Jocelyne Saab
  • Written by: Jocelyne Saab
  • Genre: Drama, Romance
  • Run time: 1hr 52min
  • Age Advisory: 18+
  • Beirut, My City / Beyrouth Ma Ville
  • Director: Jocelyne Saab
  • Written by: Jocelyne Saab
  • Genre: Documentary, Short
  • Run time: 38min
  • The Lady of Saigon / La dame de Saigon
  • Director: Jocelyne Saab
  • Written by: Jocelyne Saab
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Run time: 1hr

    Presented by the NYUAD Film and New Media Program in partnership with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and The Arts Center