CBC radio’s weekly documentary program, Dispatches, recently ran a documentary by Natasha Fatah on Nia Dinata, one of Indonesia’s best known film directors. In the documentary, entitled Cinema, censorship and sex, Fatah speaks with the internationally acclaimed director about her latest film, Chants of Lotus, as well as her experiences with film making in Indonesia. […]

Spoiler alert: this post discusses important plot points. This past weekend I finally went to see Slumdog Millionaire. I have to admit that I loved the film and Jamal’s rags-to -riches tale. The film has a fairytale bent that makes it likable (who doesn’t like for the beat up hero to overcome and be happy […]

This was written by Cycads and originally published at her blog. Come into my parlour: A scene from Nadine Labaki’s ‘Caramel’ (2007) The depiction of liberal Muslim women in film is a moment made of groundbreaking stuff. In a time where the veil is a symbol of subjugation, films about Muslim women like ‘Caramel‘ (2007) […]

Guess what? Hollywood is making a film with a female Muslim protagonist! Yes, that’s right. A female Muslim protagonist. The main character in the film is a Muslim woman. For the first time. And what is the name of the film, you may ask? Guess. Just take a quick guess. What’s that? Did you say […]