JORDAN: Controversial drama wins an Emmy award

An impossible romance between an Arab and an Israeli set against destruction and chaos was the main theme of a Jordanian-produced TV series that won a prestigious television award in New York this week.

"Al-Ijtiyah" (The invasion), which tells love stories at the time of the Israeli incursion into a West Bank city in 2002, became the first Arab production to win the International Emmy Award.

The series, produced at an estimated cost of $3 million and praised for its artistic and technical achievements, was named best new telenovela from among 40 nominees from 16 countries.

ABU DHABI: Challenging Muslim stereotypes

Why are Muslims often portrayed in Hollywood films as lunatic terrorists plotting to plant bombs? How come they're almost never depicted as athletes or lawyers?

These questions were at the center of this year’s Middle East Film Festival last week in Abu Dhabi, which is trying to market itself as a cinema hub for the Arab region and the Persian Gulf.

Some U.S. stars present at the festival made a point of showing their appreciation of Arab culture. Actress Susan Sarandon, who appeared at the festival wearing an Arabian style dress (Abaya), spoke to reporters about the importance of movies in educating the general public about the different parts of the world:

We have a limited view of what is going on in this part of the world. The American media and Internet, for all its good points, are increasingly unreliable sources of information. ... Hollywood is a bunch of big corporations who make movies which are marketable, not that will make a difference.

Sarandon, who is known for her role in the ground-breaking road movie "Thelma and Louise," was presenting the documentary "The Shape of Water," in which she narrates the challenges faced by women in the Middle East.

IRAN: 'Body of Lies' hot in Tehran, causes headache for actress

The Ridley Scott action-spy flick "Body of Lies" just hit the silver screen in the United States. But on the streets of Tehran, the Iranian capital, the movie is already selling wildly as a boot-legged DVD, and it's not just because women want to swoon over stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe.

Golshifteh Farahani, Iran's red-hot young actress du jour, plays the love interest in the movie, as Aisha, a Jordanian nurse who is the object of the attentions of an American spy, played by DiCaprio.

It may mark the first time in memory that a bona fide Iranian actress who made a mark in Iran's lively film scene has crossed over to Hollywood. And it may have caused her a bit of unwanted Middle East-style intrigue: Because of the movie, she' might have some troubles in her own country.

Farahani, a 25-year-old former music student with a million-dollar smile and a breezy laugh, has already starred 17 movies in her home country.

She was already a big star in the Islamic Republic. But after appearing opposite DiCaprio, she's become huge.

Over the last few days in Tehran, street-side book and DVD vendors have begun selling copies of the movie.

"Come see Golshifteh and Mr. DiCaprio!" the barkers holler. "Buy and watch with Farsi subtitles! Hollywood quality film! Come before they're sold out."

SAUDI ARABIA: Kill the immoral TV executives

Watch out, TV executives peddling promiscuous, Western-style programming. A leading Saudi cleric has sanctioned the killing of media tycoons he blames for causing the “deviance of thousands of people.”

Sheikh Saleh Lihedan, a top Saudi judiciary official, may not have to look too far for the purveyors of what he regards as immoral broadcasting. A number of Middle East networks, including those featuring Hollywood movies and music videos, are managed by members of the Saudi royal family or those with palace connections.

The Associated Press reported that Al-Lihedan’s fatwa, or edict, was made during a religious radio program called Light in the Path. The cleric, responding to a call in question about TV programming, was quoted as saying:

“I want to advise the owners of these channels, who broadcast calls for such indecency and impudence ... and I warn them of the consequences. What does the owner of these networks think, when he provides seduction, obscenity and vulgarity?” He added: “This calling for corrupt beliefs; certainly it is permissible to kill them.” 

EGYPT: Sex and jealousy

Despite its emphasis on sexuality, Aiten Amin’s first short movie, “Her Man,” has gained wide acclaim among movie fans and several critics in Egypt. The rising director surprised many Muslim viewers with an unflinching glimpse into the sexual and moral codes of Egypt’s urban poor.

Given her economic dependency on her husband, Zeina, the movie’s leading character, was forced to submit to the latter’s decision to take a younger bride for his second wife and move her into the same house. Yet Zeina’s submission was not complete. Here lies the most incendiary component of the story: To oust her adversary, she slept with her, leaving a mark on her breast to make their common husband, Sobhi, think that his new wife was cheating on him.

“I liked the story because it is so dramatic and it reflects human complexity,” said Amin.

LEBANON: Beirut nightlife again starts to sizzle

Beirut will be back on the world map and, this time, it will be for good reasons. That was the message behind the relaunching party of Time Out magazine’s Beirut edition, after a two-year hiatus, at the Riviera Beach Lounge along the capital's seafront.

With fireworks and champagne bottles in sparkling boxes, the party was designed to mirror the reemerging face of Beirut: a city of glitz and glamour boasting many trendy open-air rooftop nightspots, underground nightclubs and funky bars.

EGYPT: Nation still annoyed by Iranian film

It seems that Egypt will take too much time until it turns the page on a recent Iranian documentary that condemned the late President Anwar Sadat as a traitor and celebrated his assassination.

In a new move in protest of the movie "Execution of the Pharaoh," Egypt canceled last week a friendly football match with Iran that was set for Aug. 20 in the United Arab Emirates.

"We have decided to cancel the match because of tensions in relations," said Samir Zaher, president of the Egyptian Football federation as quoted in the local press.

On its turn, the Iranian football federation vowed to file a complaint against Egypt with the FIFA, the federation governing football worldwide.

"This is a political issue, and we will mention to FIFA that the Egyptians are mixing political issues with sports," said Ali Kafashian, the head of Iran's Football Federation.

Zaher downplayed Iranian threats and affirmed that the Egyptian decision was driven by fears of the eruption of violence between Egyptian and Iranian supporters over the movie during the game.

Since the Egyptian press first reported its release a couple of weeks ago, the Iranian movie has provoked several angry reactions in Egypt, including a harsher media campaign against Iran and the annoucement of an anti-Ayatollah Khomeini movie. Simialar reactions may be still in the pipelines. 

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo from left: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Sadat in Camp David, where they concluded accords that led to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in the late 1970s.

EGYPT: War on the silverscreen

As a rebuttal to the recent Iranian documentary in which late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is shrugged off as a traitor, an Egyptian writer announced that he was putting together a movie script that dismisses Ayatollah Khomeini as a “terrorist.”

“This movie aims to glorify President Sadat and show that the ideas, advanced by Khomeini, stood behind his assassination,” said Mohamed Hassan El-Alfy, screenwriter. “Khomeini’s ideas sowed the seeds of terrorism and extremism in the region.” 

El-Alfy said he was already working on his script “The Imam of Bood” (in reference to Khomeini) long before the Iranian documentary “Execution of the Pharaoh” came out. “However, the fury that I and many Egyptians felt made me rush to finish the script and produce the movie.” added El-Alfy, who expects his feature movie to be out in a few months.

EGYPT: Egyptian fury over Iranian film

An Iranian film dismissing former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat as a "traitor" has elicited a storm of anger in Egyptian circles, a development that further reduces prospects of rapprochement between the two countries.

The Egyptian press quoted the Iranian newspaper Jomhuri Islami as saying that the recent movie "Assassination of the Pharaoh" rejected Sadat as a "traitor" for his 1979 peace accord with Israel. The film, which has has been screened in Iran, praises the assassination of Sadat and calls his radical Islamist killer a "martyr," according to the Egyptian press.

The film comes at a critical juncture as Iran is seeking to resume diplomatic relations with Egypt in an attempt to penetrate the lines of U.S. allies in the region. Diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt have been broken since 1980 after Egypt had recognized the state of Israel and hosted the ousted Iranian shah. Egypt remains averse to any hasty rapprochement with the Shiite state that still names one of its streets after Sadat's main assassin.

EGYPT: Groups accuse Muslim actor Adel Imam of apostasy

The legendary Muslim movie star Adel Imam has been accused of apostasy by Facebook activists over his role as a Coptic Christian priest in the upcoming production "Hassan and Marcos," according to news reports.

Under the slogan "A call to all Muslims, boycott Christian Adel Imam," a Facebook group has recently launched a smear campaign against the actor. The group accuses him of promoting Christianity and discourages Muslims from attending the big-budget movie, which is expected to be released in early July, according to a report posted on the website of the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Arabiya.

“This man is promoting conversion to Christianity and I am calling upon you to boycott him,” read the group’s mission statement. Another group was also created for the same purpose under the slogan “Boycott Imam’s new movie.”

The film, ironically, promotes national unity between Coptic Christians and Muslims through the relationship between a Coptic priest (Marcos), played by Imam, and a Muslim cleric (Hassan), played by Academy-Award nominated Omar Sharif. The criticism of Imam comes in a tense atmosphere marked by violent clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt.

-- Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Actor Adel Imam (center) dresses for his part in "Hassan and Marcos." He is flanked by two Coptic Christian priests. Credit: Al Arabiya