Firat Oruc | Petro-Documentaries & Colonial Anxiety Over Gulf Cinema
"In this last episode in 3 Kawalis podcast special zooming in on cinema in the Gulf, Alia Younis hosts associate professor of Culture and Politics at Georgetown Qatar, Firat Oruc, to explore the history of cinema in the Arab Gulf region. Firat delves into the colonial emergence of cinema in the 1930s, highlighting the peculiar British regulations and colonial anxieties tied to film exposure. The discussion covers the significant role of oil companies in establishing cinemas, producing petro-documentaries aimed at showcasing their version of development and modernization. Firat shares his journey of discovering archival documents that shed light on the historical and contemporary aspects of Gulf cinema. Join us as we uncover how cinema has been a powerful force in shaping cultural and political narratives in the Gulf.
Firat Oruc is an associate professor of Culture and Theory at Georgetown University and is currently working on two book projects: one on world literature and the making of modern Turkey, and the other on the cultural and political history of film in the Arabian Peninsula. He is the editor of Sites of Pluralism: Community Politics in the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2019) and co-editor of Indian Ocean Literary Circularities (Duke University Press, 2022). He is also the author of journal articles that have appeared in Comparative Literature, Film History, HAWWA: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, Journal of World Literature, Criticism, Postcolonial Text, and English Language Notes. At GU-Q, he is co-lead of the Energy Humanities Research Initiative at the Center for International and Regional Studies and Director of the Certificate in Media and Politics program. He is the recipient of research grants from the Qatar National Research Fund, the Doyle Engaging Difference Program, and the Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Summer Institute. He has served as a visiting assistant professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Comparative Literary Studies program at Northwestern University. Professor Oruc received his Ph.D. in literature from Duke University.
Hosted by Alia Yunis
Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is also a visiting associate professor of film and heritage studies at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.
🔊 Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani
#GulfCinema #ArabFilms #afikraKawalis #FiratOruc #AliaYunis #Colonialism
Kawalis
This series dives into the performing arts, from the Arab world’s best stages to the small and big screens. We zoom in on the work of some of the most noteworthy Arab actors, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, stage designers, producers, and crew behind some of the best productions from the region.
