Written by Anealla Safdar

An overview of the successes of Arab film in 2011

There is one film which stands out this year. For those who have seen it, it’s still in their hearts. For observers of Arab cinema, it’s the first film title that leaves their lips when asked what 2011 meant to them in film.

Nadine Labaki’s emotional tale of religious friction in a small village community, “Where Do We Go Now?”, is reportedly Lebanon’s highest grossing film. It’s the country’s foreign language Oscar entry for the 2012 84th Academy Awards, has swept numerous awards on the festival circuit and the picture received almost unanimous praise from international film critics.

That a film rooted in Lebanon tops this year’s highlights is something of an achievement. It overcame the dominance of Egyptian cinema.

But without taking away any of Labaki’s success, Egypt has had its own troubles to deal with in 2011.

“The total box office revenues fell about 50 per cent in 2011 dropping from $66 million in 2010 to $37million in 2011,” Badar Salem, the editor of Variety Arabia, told DFI. “The number of viewers also dropped from 20 million viewers per year in 2010 and to 10 million viewers in 2011.”

While the revolution may have resulted in fewer visits to the cinema, there has been, as there usually is, some strong output from Egypt.

“Asmaa”, by director Amr Salama, is a real-life story about a widow with HIV who tries to battle prejudice. The protagonist, played by Hend Sabry, is told she can only be cured of the disease if she reveals how she contracted it.

As Ali Jaafar, writing for the BFI, put it, Sabry’s performance is “profoundly moving and ultimately inspirational,” and the film ends on a note “that will leave nary a dry eye in the house.”

During the second Eid holiday this year, Egyptians celebrated by watching actor Ahmed Helmy in “X Large”, a comedy about an obese man in love.

The film “did very well, scoring 13 million Egyptian pounds ($2.1 million) during Eid Al Adha,” at theatres, explained Salem.

There were also, as it has become customary, a sprinkling of firsts this year for the Gulf countries.

In the United Arab Emirates, Image Nation Abu Dhabi produced its first Emirati film, “Sea Shadow”. The coming-of-age feature, directed by Nawaj Al-Janahi, is set in a small seaside neighbourhood. The film marked a new stage in the Emirate’s nascent industry, following on from Emirati director Ali Mostafa’s action packed “City Of Life” which was set in Dubai and released in 2009.

For Qatar, it was “Black Gold” fever which engulfed the local industry. Set ‘somewhere in Arabia’, the classic adventure explores the moment when oil was discovered and its effect on society. It’s DFI’s first major feature, co-produced with Quinta Communications, the company of veteran Tunisian filmmaker Tarak Ben Ammar. Antonio Banderas starred and the film became the first major production to be partly shot in Qatar.