From the TCM website Movie News:
From UPI:Arab Images on Film in TCM's Race & Hollywood Initiative in July
Turner Classic Movies is preparing to launch Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film, a month-long movie event that focuses on the diverse portrayals of Arabs in cinema. Tuesday and Thursday nights in July, TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by internationally acclaimed professor, author and Middle East media consultant Dr. Jack G. Shaheen to introduce a wide range of films and provide extensive insight into Hollywood's ever-changing attitude toward Arab people.
TCM's Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film is the sixth installment of TCM's far-reaching and culturally significant Race & Hollywood project, an ongoing exploration of cinematic portrayals of different racial and cultural groups. Each Tuesday and Thursday evening in July will focus on a different topic, including early films, epic stories, depictions of Arab sheiks and Arab women, Arabs portrayed as villains or the subject of ridicule and movies that provide an even-handed look at Arab culture. The series will close on Thursday, July 28, with a night of films made outside Hollywood.
Among the notable works featured in the Arab Images on Film collection are 14 TCM premieres, including the award-winning Gulf War action drama Three Kings (1999), starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube; the romantic comedy-adventure Jewel of the Nile (1985), starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas; the Libya-set dramas Lion of the Desert (1981), starring Anthony Quinn; The Black Tent (1956), with Donald Sinden; the adventure films Tarzan the Fearless (1933), with Buster Crabbe; and the silent classic The Sheik (1921), starring Rudolph Valentino. The July lineup will also include David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Kismet (1944), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and several animated shorts featuring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Popeye and other famous characters. A full schedule is included below.
"TCM is committed not only to preserving and celebrating classic films but also to digging deeper into the events and attitudes that have shaped how Hollywood depicts the world around us," Osborne said. "With Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film, we're setting out to track the history of Hollywood's relationship with Arabs in cinema and how it has evolved to where it is today. We hope this series provides a thought-provoking look at a very timely and important topic."
In his book Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Dr. Shaheen writes, "When colleagues ask whether today's reel Arabs are more stereotypical than yesteryear's, I can't say the celluloid Arab has changed. He is what he has always been - the cultural 'other.' Arabs have too often been viewed as backward, barbaric and dangerously different through Hollywood's distorted lens. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are now deeply ingrained in American cinema."
As Shaheen points out, not all cinematic portrayals of Arabs are negative. "While it is true that some filmmakers have vilified the Arabs, others have not," he writes. "Some contested harmful stereotypes, displaying positive images - that is, casting an Arab as a regular person...to paraphrase an Arab proverb, Eed wahdehm a fiha tza'if, one hand alone cannot clap. Believe me, by working together, we will shatter the stereotype."
Dr. Shaheen is the world's foremost authority on images of Arabs and Muslims in American popular culture. He is the author of several award-winning books, including Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People and, most recently, Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs after 9/11, which was named Book of the Year by ForeWord magazine. Shaheen is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar with New York University and a former news consultant on Middle Eastern affairs for CBS News. He regularly appears on national programs such as Nightline, Good Morning America, 48 Hours and The Today Show. Shaheen regularly serves as a consultant with television and motion picture companies, including Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Hanna-Barbera and Showtime. He also consulted on the George Clooney films Three Kings (1999) and Syriana (2005).
LOS ANGELES, May 24 (UPI) -- Turner Classic Movies says it is preparing to air a month-long movie event called "Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film."
TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined Tuesday and Thursday nights in July by author and Middle East media consultant Jack G. Shaheen to introduce a wide range of films and offer insight into Hollywood's changing attitude toward Arab people, the cable network said in a news release Monday.
Shaheen is the author of "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People."
"TCM's 'Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film' is the sixth installment of TCM's far-reaching and culturally significant 'Race & Hollywood' project, an ongoing exploration of cinematic portrayals of different racial and cultural groups," TCM said. "Each Tuesday and Thursday evening in July will focus on a different topic, including early films, epic stories, depictions of Arab sheiks and Arab women, Arabs portrayed as villains or the subject of ridicule and movies that provide an even-handed look at Arab culture. The series will close on July 28, with a night of films made outside Hollywood."
Scheduled to be shown on the network as part of the programming slate are "Three Kings," "Jewel of the Nile," "Lion of the Desert," "The Black Tent," "Tarzan the Fearless," "The Sheik," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Caesar and Cleopatra," "Kismet," "The Thief of Bagdad" and several animated shorts featuring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Popeye and other famous characters.
"TCM is committed not only to preserving and celebrating classic films but also to digging deeper into the events and attitudes that have shaped how Hollywood depicts the world around us," Osborne said in a statement. "With 'Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film,' we're setting out to track the history of Hollywood's relationship with Arabs in cinema and how it has evolved to where it is today. We hope this series provides a thought-provoking look at a very timely and important topic."
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