Yamustafa!

Young African filmmakers listen to master Gerima Click here to see more photos by Egyptian photographer Hasan Amin The Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) concluded its second edition Sunday March 24th 2013 in the historic Luxor city in Egypt. The festival ran in several venues in the city. It was characterized by workshops on filmmaking presented by Egyptian filmmakers under the guidance of Tunisian filmmaker Mr. Reda Elbahi. A fourth workshop was conducted by world-renowned Ethiopian master filmmaker Haile Gerima (maker of Teza , Sankofa etc.) Here is what LAFF organizers had to say about Gerima's contribution: ".. Haile Gerima's Workshop in Luxor is a big African and international occurrence. Youth of Africa will get an opportunity to gather and get to know more about each other; to discover their imaginations, perceptions and common issues and problems. As a result, a new generation of filmmakers will appear in our mother continent Africa. Accordin...

Movie Critic Article: Part Three The Imperialist Design of Khartoum Summary and Film Specifics: Khartoum (1966) UK, 127 min. Color. Cinerama (wide screen). Available DVD and VHS. United Artists. Director Basil Dearden ; Producer Julian Blaustein; Screenplay Robert Ardrey ; Camera Edward Scaife; Editor Fergus McDonell; Music Frank Cordell ; Art Director John Howell. Khartoum has a prestige cast made of great actors: Charlton Heston as General Gordon, Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi, Richard Johnson and Ralph Richardson as Gladstone the British prime minister. 1966: Academy Award Nomination: Best Original Story & Screenplay. Set in the year 1884, filmed in Egypt and finished in England, Khartoum is a masterpiece both  in cinematography and acting. The historical twist to allow for a dramatically impactful  meeting of the two main characters, although artistically justifiable, was used to mal-represent  the character of the Mahdi and depict him as a...

Shades of Philosophy in 'The Last Airbender' Original Article by Muhsin Khalid*  Part One Muhsin Khalid "The Last Airbender" stands out among recent American movies as a distinct work of art that is loaded with aesthetic and philosophical revelations.  Upon reflecting, I see its importance as arising mainly from the complex intellectual grounds that lay the foundations for various shades of meaning in the course of events of the movie. These foundations are only visible through very delicate encodings concealed in the techniques employed in the making of the film. Such techniques that are unique par excellence allow us to glimpse through the film components into the visual and the audible and to grasp the idea that stitches these components neatly together in a grand intellectual design and aesthetic cinematography that is stunningly well-conceived and beautiful. The hero of the movie, a twelve year old child portrayed by Noah Ringer , is the last a...