Arab American Television Archive
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AATVarchive (YouTube Channel)Arab American Television (AATV) was a Los Angeles-based media syndicate that produced a bilingual, magazine-style broadcast program from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. AATV aired over-the-air throughout southern California on KSCI Channel 18. In the 1990s, it spread nationally via the International Channel on cable systems. It was founded by Wahid Boctor.
In this video, professor William Youmans explains the origins, process and goals of the AATV Archive.
Documentaries on Depictions of Arabs in Hollywood
Selected documentaries that explore the ways Arabs and other ethnic minorities are depicted in American film and television.
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Casting Calls / produced by Running Down Dreams Productions for Discovery Times Channel ; producer/writer, Lauren F. Cardillo.Does Hollywood's portrayal of villains reinforce racial stereotypes or does the industry give the public what it wants? This program explores the history of film's ethnic "bad guy," looking at sociopolitical and economic forces that create, perpetuate, and rehabilitate these characters. Special attention is paid to current depictions of Muslims. Film clips from "Birth of a Nation" to "The Sopranos" provide examples, while actors, screenwriters, film reviewers, and other Hollywood professionals lend their perspectives.
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Hollywood HaremsA documentary taking critical aim at Hollywood's abiding fascination with and fantasies about all things eastern. Juxtaposing film clips from the 20s through the 80s, HOLLYWOOD HAREMS explores the organization of gender, race, and sexuality in Hollywood's portrayal of the exotic east an indiscriminate fusion of things Arab, Persian, Chinese and Indian. In abridging cultural plurality and difference, these technicolor fantasies have worked both to shape and reinforce often derogative assumptions about peoples of the east while at the same time reinscribing the moral, spiritual, and cultural supremacy of the Anglo-European west. Official Selection at the Arab and Iranian Film Festival
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Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People / a Media Education Foundation production ; directed by Sut Jhally ; produced by Jeremy EarpThis groundbreaking documentary takes aim at a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged from the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs, from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-toting terrorists. Along the way, it offers devastating insights into the origin of these sterotypical images and their development at key points in U.S. history. By inspiring critical thinking about the social and political effects of these Hollywood caricatures, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counternarratives. Ideal for film studies, sociology, and anthropology classes, among others.
Film and Video from Arab American Film Makers
Selected documentaries and films by Arab American directors that depict the experiences of Arab communities in the United States.
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American Arab dir. by Usama AlshaibiA 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. The film emphasizes the diverse and complex array of voices and cultures within the Arab-American community.
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Amreeka dir. by Cherien DabisMuna Farah, a Palestinian single mom, struggles to maintain her optimistic spirit in the daily grind of intimidating West Bank checkpoints, the constant nagging of a controlling mother, and the haunting shadows of a failed marriage. Everything changes one day when she receives a letter informing her that her family has been granted a U.S. green card, and she moves with her teenage son to small town Illinois.
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Breaking Fast dir. by Mike MosallamMo, a practicing Muslim living in West Hollywood, is learning to navigate life post heartbreak. Enter Kal, an All-American guy who surprises Mo by offering to break fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan.
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Driving to Zigiland dir. by Nicole BallivianDriving to Zigzigland is a chronicle of a day in the life of Bashar, a Palestinian taxi driver living in Los Angeles who dreams of becoming a Hollywood actor. When Bashar realizes that he has twenty-four hours to earn the money for his utilities bills, he undertakes a marathon shift that brings an unceasing flow of taxi passengers who give Bashar the run-around on issues such as suicide bombers, George Bush, Cat Stevens, the Iraq war, Rai music and world geography. Bashar’s effort to pay his bills is won - until he realizes he must choose between the Department of Homeland Security and his own family.
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The Feeling of Being Watched dir. by Assia BoundaoiIn the Arab-American neighborhood outside of Chicago where journalist and filmmaker Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. While investigating their experiences, Assia uncovers tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents that prove her hometown was the subject of one of the largest counter terrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named "Operation Vulgar Betrayal." With unprecedented access, THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED weaves the personal and the political as it follows the filmmaker’s examination of why her community-including her own family-fell under blanket government surveillance.
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Jaddoland dir. by Nadia ShihabJaddoland explores diasporic longing and the meaning of home across generations. When the filmmaker returns to her hometown in the Texas panhandle to visit her mother, an artist from Iraq, she turns her lens on her mother's increasingly isolated life, as well as the beauty and solace that emerge through her creative process
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Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf dir. Susan YoussefA teenager in Arkansas searches for identity in the headscarf and a motorcycle in the aftermath of her father’s imprisonment on dubious terrorist-related charges. Set in 2006, in the aftermath of 9/11, the film explores the results of Arab and Muslim Americans being increasingly detained for “guilt by association”.
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Pomegranates and Myrrh dir. by Najwa NajjarAfter her newlywed husband was captured by the Israeli army, the young dancer Kamar has to run the family's olive farm. She suffers from the fact that she can no longer pursue her passion, modern dance.
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A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans dir. by Abe KasboA Thousand And One Journeys: The Arab Americans is the untold story of almost 200 years of the contributions of those who immigrated to the United States from the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf have made to the American fabric. The film vividly paints a portrait of the Arab-American immigrant experience through the stories of people who, like all Americans, immigrated in pursuit of the American Dream, including Senator George Mitchell, Jamie Farr, General John Abizaid, Anthony Shadid, Helen Thomas and more. With historical immigration patterns as background, the film explores the personal stories of Arab-Americans and how they have contributed to the collective American experience.
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Three Veils dir. by Rolla SelbakThree Veils is the story of three young Muslim women whose lives unexpectedly intersect as they deal with issues of sexuality, tradition, and identity. To the outside world, they seem to be typical young college students dealing with the challenges of growing up and finding ones place in the world. But each girl has a story that, behind the veil, is brimming with desire.
Selected Streaming Media
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Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Villifies a People (dir. Sut Jhally, 2006)UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Kanopy. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
This groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged from the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs - from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists" - along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today.
Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and international policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
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Salt of This Sea (dir. Annemarie Jacir, 2008)UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Kanopy. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
Annemarie Jacir's politically charged feature debut is the story of Soraya, a Brooklyn-born woman who travels to Palestine to retrieve her grandfather's savings, frozen in a Jaffa bank account after his 1948 exile. Her status as a dispossessed exile and encounter with contemporary politics provides a rare glimpse in to the Middle East of today.
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May in the Summer (dir. Cherien Dabis, 2013)May Brennan has it all - intelligence, looks, rave reviews for her recently published book and a loving fiancé. But immediately upon returning to her hometown of Amman, Jordan for the wedding, the cracks in her seemingly perfect life begin to show.
Confronted with the wounds of her parents' long-broken relationship, coupled with the unavoidable clash of old-world and modern values, May is led to question the direction her life is taking. Her once carefully structured world appears to unravel as she grapples with her own truths in this fresh look at a woman caught in the crossroads between tradition and choice.
UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Kanopy. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
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Namour (dir. Heidi Saman, 2016)NAMOUR is a film about why life can feel like it's passing us by. Chronicling the unraveling of Steven Bassem (Karim Saleh), a valet driver for a trendy Los Angeles restaurant caught between his dead-end job and the demands of his Arab-American immigrant family.
UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Kanopy. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
Choke (dir. Rolla Selbak, 2018): A rising MMA star hides her refugee status from her small American town, and the world.
Ramy (a streaming series on Hulu) follows first-generation, Egyptian-American Ramy Hassan (Youssef) who is on a spiritual journey in his politically-divided New Jersey neighborhood. RAMY brings a new perspective to the screen as it explores the challenges of what it’s like to be caught between a religious community who believes life is a moral test, and a millennial generation that doubts an afterlife even exists.