Middle Eastern Cinema Explained

Middle Eastern Cinema is an amalgam of multiple film industries of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It can’t be studied as a single entity because each nation has its own film industry with a distinct history and cultural influences. But here also, space is dominated by Egyptian cinema as it has the largest commercial film market in the middle east. In recent years, the Middle East has given some of the finest films to the world. The emergence of the Middle Eastern Film Industry has not only put it on the global lens but has also contributed towards debunking the religious and cultural stereotypes surrounding the Middle East. They have used their films to reclaim their voice and to tell their story from their own perspective. Middle eastern cinema touches upon the issues of gender, identity, the physical and psychological consequences of the wars and conflicts.

Problems Faced by Middle Eastern Film Industry

There is no doubt that  Middle Eastern Cinema has come a long way and is producing some of the finest works. But the road is not easy. The film industry faces a lot of problems because of the political and cultural institutions in the country. The governments in the majority of Arab nations do not consider the film industry as an important sector. Filmmakers with immense talent, often have to struggle because of a lack of opportunities and funds. According to Farida Marei, “The government usually does not give any help or gives a little in rare cases. Cinema is not one of the priorities on their agenda as they look at cinema as pure entertainment and therefore it comes at the bottom of their list”. Lack of government support is one of the main reasons why so many brilliant film ideas don’t materialize as the filmmakers don’t have the necessary means.

Censorship and demonisation of films and the film industry is another major issue that plagues the Middle Eastern film industry. Middle Eastern countries have stringent censorship laws. Countries like Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, censor their media and films heavily. In fact, Turkmenistan runs the third most stringent censorship program in the world and all foreign publications and non-government libraries are banned. These censorship policies apply to the film industry as well. A lot of films fail to get the approval of the government and hence never reach the audiences. According to middle eastern censorship laws, any material dealing with government policies, religion or any kind of sexual activity is prohibited. Farida Marei gives a few examples of the implications of stringent censorship laws- “There are many examples in this direction – the films Five Doors (Khamsah Bab), and The Road of Love (Darb al-Hawa) were both denied approval until the writer removed some intimate scenes. Even after removing them and after the films were ready for screening, they were both banned because there was still too much intimacy (in their opinion)”.

One of the main reasons why these strong censorship laws aren’t going to be relaxed anytime soon is because of the huge support from the masses. In middle eastern countries, religion is very strong and influences the masses. Religion and cultural beliefs could be the major factors why the films are demonised in the middle east by the government and the majority of the population, alike. Northwestern University in Qatar, in partnership with Doha Film Institute, conducted a survey ‘Entertainment Media Use In The Middle East: A Six nation Survey’. The results of this survey are a clear indicator that the people of the middle eastern nations heavily support the censorship laws and the restrictions on the media and entertainment industry. According to the survey-

“The large majority of the people surveyed believe entertainment should be more tightly regulated when it comes to violent and romantic content, and that some scenes should be deleted or whole programs banned if some people find them offensive (about seven in ten agree with each of these statements). Conversely, less than a third expresses the opposing opinion that films and television shows should be shown in their entirety even if some people find the content inappropriate (29%).”

The survey also uncovers the extent to which cultural beliefs influence the censorship laws as- “About eight in ten of those with strong feelings about cultural traditions support the regulation of violent and romantic content and also support banning or deleting offensive content, compared with two-thirds of those who are less concerned with preserving their cultural traditions”.

Conclusion

Even though the situation seems pretty bleak, there is still a ray of hope. Despite the stringent censorship laws and various other restrictions, The Middle Eastern film industry continues to produce some of the most profound and moving films. Even though the filmmakers have to face a lot of problems in order to produce good quality cinema and to ensure that it reaches a wide range of audience, they haven’t given up. A lot of filmmakers have repeatedly challenged the strict laws of the government in court. And a lot of times the results have favoured them. This is a great sign that middle eastern cinema is flourishing and will soon overcome the dilemma of censorship and demonisation to realise its full potential.

Featured Image: Still from Ghadi by Amin Dora

The post THE DILEMMA OF MIDDLE EASTERN CINEMA appeared first on WISER WORLD.

OneWeb, previously known as WorldVu Satellites Ltd is a global communications company building a capability to deliver broadband satellite internet services to a geographically global demographic. Greg Wyler founded the company in 2012. In 2020, the company entered bankruptcy after failing to raise the requisite capital to complete the build and deployment of the remaining 90% of the network. The company laid off approximately 85% of its approximately 500 employees but retained the capability to control its operational satellites during the period of court protection. The company recently came into news as it was revived under the joint ownership of the UK government and Bharti Global.

Recent Developments in OneWeb

After the revival, the company will proceed with its satellite constellation plan.  OneWeb has recently gained a lot of funding. According to the ExecutiveBiz, OneWeb has now raised $1.4B in total funding after it received additional investments from Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group. This funding will enable OneWeb to realise their plan of having a constellation consisting of 648 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2022. The main aim behind this is that it will enable broadband connectivity and low-latency communication services to people all around the globe. Despite gaining a significant amount of funding, they are still only halfway through. This is probably why the company has decided to cut back on the number of constellations. But the company insists that despite the drop in numbers, the constellation architecture will remain the same.

“This solidification of OneWeb’s constellation demonstrates the commitment and vision of OneWeb’s new owners, the UK Government and Bharti Global who are dedicated to deploying a cost-effective, responsible, and groundbreaking satellite network to deliver global broadband.

OneWeb remains focused on launching its first-generation system of 648 satellites and is on track to start regional commercial services within a year. Today’s streamlining activities highlight OneWeb’s plan for global connectivity services and for future generations and possibilities for the network.”

Aim of OneWeb

The main aim of OneWeb is to “deliver broadband connectivity worldwide to bridge the global Digital Divide by offering everyone, everywhere access including to the Internet of Things (IoT) future and a pathway to 5G”.

By mid-2022, OneWeb plans to launch high-speed internet in India as well. Mittal, the owner, stated that “For rural broadband, I would say Africa, India and less developed countries will benefit from OneWeb’s satellite network. They will have the biggest benefit. For critical applications such as defence, the ministry of defence in the UK is already engaging with us because they need connectivity in very remote areas”. The satellite network will prove advantageous for the 5G network as it will penetrate even the areas fibre and radio waves could not reach. 

Starlink

Just like OneWeb, Starlink is another satellite internet constellation. It is being constructed by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), working in combination with ground transceivers. SpaceX plans to sell some of the satellites for military, scientific, or exploratory purposes. The estimated cost of this project is US$10 billion. The company has already launched 1000 satellites and people are eager to enjoy the high-speed internet.

Recent Developments in Starlink

Starlink has launched a number of satellites, and there are now roughly 960 functioning satellites in orbit, heralding an age of mega-constellations that have prompted worries about visual pollution for astronomers. But SpaceX claims that the compact architectural design of Starlink satellites and the company following all the regulatory and industry standards will enable them to keep the space clean. SpaceX has permission from regulators to launch up to 12,000 satellites and has been planning to send up 42 batches of 60 satellites in a year, to add to its commercial constellation. Right at the beginning of this year, SpaceX launched the 17th batch, consisting of 60 Starlink Satellites using a Falcon 9 rocket. They plan to launch many more to reach their goal soon. Starlink has constantly been testing their satellite internet connection. On 4 November 2020, SpaceX conducted its one-millionth Starlink test and doubled the connection speed. Starlink beta testers have been reporting speeds over 150 megabits per second, above the range announced for the public beta test.

Aim of Starlink

SpaceX intends to provide satellite internet connectivity to underserved areas of the planet, as well as provide competitively priced service to urban areas. According to ElectronicsWeekly, “The goal (of SpaceX) is to build a high-speed global satellite internet service, for which Elon Musk’s company is in competition with the likes of Amazon and OneWeb. With download speeds of up to 50MBps, the aim is to support gaming-level Internet access.”  SpaceX claims that “During the beta, users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system.”

Apart from the goal of high-speed internet, SpaceX also plans to develop a similar satellite communication for Mars.

Conclusion

With the upcoming OneWeb and Starlink satellite constellations, we surely are headed towards a new era. These projects will revolutionize the world of telecommunications. High-speed satellite internet, in even the remotest corners of the world, is a dream that will be realized soon. With consistent launches, Starlink is making huge leaps towards its goal. Needless to say, it has the capability to provide a tough competition to the OneWeb satellite constellation. With OneWeb scaling back its number of satellites, Starlink has an upper hand as they show no sign of slowing down.

The post OneWeb and Starlink: Steps Towards Revolutionizing Connectivity? appeared first on WISER WORLD.

Lack of Women Identity and Agency in Bollywood

The female protagonists in Bollywood films often lack a voice and agency. The story narrated is always that of the male hero and the female protagonist is a mere appendage. According to psychoanalytic theory, this could be termed as phallocentrism. Laura Mulvey in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ states that “the paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestations is that it depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world”.

The only role of the female characters is to further the plot of the story and to aid the hero in the process of identity-formation. Women, be it the sister, the mother or the love interest of the hero, are always secondary characters. Bollywood films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Pardes and the recent ones like Dabangg, Zero are a great example of this. It is always the hero who is shown in Bollywood movies to go through a journey and the women either are a cause of that journey or help him on his way. Rarely do we see independent women characters with well carved out identities.

Kareena Kapoor’s character in Chameli is one of such few examples of a well written, round female character. In the film, she emerges as a strong female character who does not need a male figure to rush to her rescue, every time she is in a problem. In fact, the film subverts the expectations of the audience in a scene where it is actually the street smart prostitute who rescues the hero.

In a more recent film, Thappad, the issue of domestic violence, which has been plaguing our society since centuries, is addressed. Taapsee Punnu’s character stands against physical abuse. She refuses to bow down to the patriarchal ideas and in her journey, challenges the ‘sacred’ institutions of marriage and family. The film charts her growth from a dependent, almost subservient house-wife to an independent woman and a single mother. The film also breaks the stereotype that domestic violence is an issue only for the lower sections of society. In Thappad, we see how physical and mental abuse is as prevalent in urban, educated and rich families as among the poor, rural society.

Male Gaze

In most of our films, the gaze of the camera is also predominantly male and to a large extent, determines how we perceive the female characters. The male gaze of the camera is probably the result of the fact that the majority of the films are written, directed and shot by men. The male gaze of the camera, combined with the male gaze of the hero, commodifies and fetishises female characters. John Berger in Ways of Seeing points out that in the films, “Men act, women appear. Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at.” The sexist and selective male gaze of the camera is focused on selective parts of the female body. Bindu Nair in her essay- “Female Bodies and the Male Gaze” explains how women are turned into a ‘spectacle’-

“The gaze is invited to certain parts of the body selectively considered sexual – the eyes, the lips, the breasts, the navel, the buttocks and the legs…All these add up in objectifying and sexualising the body of the woman for the benefit of the (male) viewer.”

Nair, 2009

The famous “item songs” in our films are a great example of the male gaze at play.  The songs like ‘Tip Tip Barsa’ or ‘Fevicol Se’ show how the camera angles, the costumes, the makeup and even the actions of the female characters in these songs fetishise female body and cater to male pleasure, i.e. the pleasure of the hero and the male audience.

Conclusion

This problematic depiction of women in Bollywood films translates to real life as well. The impressionable minds of youth accept this sexist and misogynistic portrayal as the norm. This could be an important reason why women in our society face a lot of backlashes if they stray from the stereotypical idea of femininity and try to assert their voice and freedom. Films borrow from reality but they also influence our reality. Therefore, in a society where films largely shape our way of thinking, we need more films with strong and independent female characters. The need of the hour is good films which tackle the rampant misogyny in our society, and not increase it by projecting stereotypical and regressive ideas of femininity. We are definitely on the path of change and progress, but we are not there yet. The Hindi Film industry is waking up to the importance of this issue, but there is still a long way to go.

The post WOMEN AND BOLLYWOOD: PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN INDIAN CINEMA appeared first on WISER WORLD.