Screens and Veils

Florence Martin is Professor of French and Francophone Literature and Cinema at Goucher College and Associate Editor of Studies in French Cinema. She is author of Bessie Smith, of De la Guyane à la diaspora africaine (with Isabelle Favre), and of A vous de voir! (with Maryse Fauvel and Stéphanie Martin).

"Martin (Goucher) studies seven distinctive cinematic works from three nations of the Maghreb: Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Produced by a diverse group of women filmmakers—Assia Djebar, Farida Benlyazid, Yamina Bachir-Chouikh, Raja Amari, Naida El Fani, Yasmine Kassari, and Selma Baccar—these movies reflect the Algerian civil war, colonialism, patriarchy, undocumented immigrants, sexuality, identity, and the social mores that have dominated the political, social, and economic spheres in the Maghreb. The author delineates the complex negotiations that have played a role in the emergence of this cinema. Adopting various theoretical approaches, particularly the notion of 'transvergence'—characterized by its crossings, fluidity, and unpredictability in all facets of film production—Martin examines how women directors steer their transgressive filmmaking careers across national, regional, and transnational boundaries by resisting censorship and the constant gaze of both local authorities and Western critics. Through borrowings and inventions, these filmmakers draw on Western models as well as their cultural roots to forge their own identity. This book inscribes a new chapter in women filmmaking on the Maghreb; it makes an important contribution to cinema, literature, and cultural studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. —Choice"— H. Bahri, York College, CUNY, May 2012"Florence Martin's Screens and Veils . . . manages to effectively shed a light on the diverse yet underrepresented cinema of Maghrebi women.5.1 2014"—Transnational Cinemas"'Screens and Veils' provides an excellent presentation and analysis of women's filmmaking from North Africa. . . Its attention to contemporary film theory is matched by its presentation of materials derived from Martin's interviews with filmmakers, interviews that reveal a sincere engagement with the filmmakers and a deep understanding of contemporary production. In short, this is a fine book that will be of interest to anyone working on or teaching film and gender studies in North African and Middle Eastern studies, and beyond.44 2013"—Journal of Arabic Literature"[T]his study constitutes an important and timely addition to the study of Francophone cinemas and of Maghrebi cinemas in particular.86.2"—FRENCH REVIEW"Martin's 'Screens and Veils' provides a welcome addition to the rapidly expanding field of Maghrebi film studies. . . Martin is at once a creative and complete commentator of films, and her book stands to become a staple for novices and experts of the filmic Maghreb alike."—Film Criticism"Screens and Veils: Maghrebi Women's Cinema . . . offers an insightful and novel alternative to the usual postcolonial feminist approaches to Maghrebi women's film studies. Rather than providing the reader with an encyclopedic summary, or a historical accounting of the topic, Martin's work argues for a transnational feminist reading of Maghrebi cinema that speaks to the fluid interplay between various cultural systems, narrative structures, and aesthetic forms across borders and among diverse cultural audiences."—Research in African Literatures"This book inscribes a new chapter in women filmmaking on the Maghreb; it makes an important contribution to cinema, literature, and cultural studies. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

• Overture: Maghrebi Women's Transvergent CinemaAct I: Transnational Feminist Storytellers: Shahrazad, Assia, and Farida1. Assia Djebar's Transvergent Narrative in The Nuba of the Women of Mount Chenoua (Algeria, 1978)2. Farida Benlyazid's Initiated Audiences in A Door to the Sky (Morocco, 1998)Act II: Screens & Veils3. Yamina Bachir-Chouikh's Transvergent Echoes in Rachida (Algeria, 2002)4. Raja Amari's Screen of the Haptic in Red Satin (Tunisia, 2002)5. Nadia El Fani's Multiple Screens and Veils in Bedwin Hacker (Tunisia, 2002)Act III: From Dunyazad to Transvergent Audiences6. Yasmina Kassari's "Burning" Screens in The Sleeping Child (Morocco, 2004)7. Selma Baccar's Transvergent Spectatorship in Khochkhach (Tunisia, 2006)CodaAppendix A: Political and Cinematic ChronologyAppendix B: Primary FilmographyBibliography