The drama of the Dubai International Film Festival

The blockbuster Dubai International Film Festival seems to be going through a bit of turmoil. Andalus Journal received a release on behalf of former director Neil Stephenson stating his issues with DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma and Managing Director Shivani Pandya:

“Stephenson, at the invitation of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum with whom Stephenson had previously worked,  joined TECOM in 2003, and  pulled together a top-flight team of festival professionals and ran three successful editions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before being ousted by Juma in early 2007 after Juma’s appointment as DIFF Chairman. Juma then improperly sought to claim all credit for Stephenson’s central role in the inception, planning and successful launch of DIFF, and then went on, in conjunction with Pandya, to slander Stephenson and besmirch his good reputation in the Arab world.”

The statement was issued in response to articles in the Hollywood Reporter and Emirates Business 24/7 , which claimed Stephenson had dropped his $5 million dollar defamation lawsuit against them.

Stephenson’s release aimed at clarifying his position that not only has the case not been dropped, but apparently it was re-filed in British courts because Stephenson is a British citizen. He was then granted permission to serve Juma and Pandya outside the jurisdiction of England.

According to an email sent by Stephenson this past May, Pandya and Juma were served in Cannes this year.

The festival is definitely one of the best in the Middle East and should be lauded for its endeavors. It would be a shame to see its reputation tarnished. I hope it will all be resolved soon.

Dubai: More than a mall

Content creation in Dubai. It exists.

Read about it here:

More Than A Mall: Inside Dubai’s Art Scene

Iran in Flames…

We predicted that Iran’s recent elections would likely surprise us, but we didn’t imagine such a dramatic turnout. While the violence in Tehran is extremely disheartening, it is amazing to witness people hitting the streets and voicing their opinions about what they see as rigged elections.

For now it seems offers of a recount fall short of protesters demands. What perhaps is most promising is the emergence of senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who took to the internet to issue a public letter that not only reprimands the government for delivering results “no one in their right mind can believe,” but also to support what he saw as peaceful demonstrations.

We have been sent several images taken from Iranian protesters. So far this one is excellent at revealing the details of what exactly is happening on the streets. As the media continues to be jailed and or restricted from reporting, such sites are crucial to understanding what is actually occurring on the ground.

Pictures from the Tehran: http://is.gd/13zW1

Did Obama’s Speech Transform the Outcome of the Lebanese Elections?

The American-aligned coalition beat out the Syria-Iranian aligned opposition today in Lebanon. This was hardly expected. In fact just prior to the announcements, Hezbollah was expected to receive big gains when the Lebanese headed to the polls. In today’s New York Times, Osama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies discussed what he saw as a larger geo-political shift. “Lebanon is a telling case. It is no longer relevant for the extremists to use the anti-American card. It does look like the U.S. is moving onto something new.”

One wonders if the shift will also have an impact on the upcoming elections in Iran–set for this Friday. Will Obama’s foreign policy approach dull the Ahmadinejad edge?

Which ever way you look at it, it would seem most of America’s allies toasted today’s events. Perhaps the anti-American tone in the region is finally quieting down?

Andalusian Journal’s Must Have Book: Arabic Font Specimen

Rich calligraphic traditions have always been a major inspiration for Andalusian Journal (we studied it intensely for two years). At the moment we are sporting two of the best Middle Eastern designers ( Bil Arabi (by Nadine Kanso) and Taalali Oman) take on the word ‘love’ on either wrist. Now, though, a new book has been released which fashions itself as a kind of almanac for Arabic typography: ‘Arabic Font Specimen’.

According to its creators: “The Arabic Font Specimen Book is the first thorough overview of Arabic type available on the market. Though Arabic has a rich calligraphic tradition, its typographic one pales in comparison. There was little documentation about Arabic fonts, making it difficult to find the design or production source of the fonts offered on the market and/or their technical specifications. The goal of this book is to give adequate help in selecting Arabic fonts for use in print and other media. It provides information ranging from historical essays on the development of the designs and related technologies, to guidelines for the design and use of dual-script (Latin & Arabic) fonts in various design applications.”

To order the book go to this LINK.

Domus Magazine’s new cover

Thoughts on the new cover??

Comments welcome.

www.domusweb.it

Khaled Diab on: Israel’s other Arabs

Baghdad Rabbies

This article is an excellent examination of the status of Arab Jews in Israel.  Diab’s discussion was prompted by the publication of ‘Not the Enemy: Israel’s Jews from Arab Lands’ by Rachel Shabi.

Although most of Israel’s leaders are of European descent, Middle Eastern, or Arab Jews, make up a large part of the population.

There aren’t many initiatives that expose Israelis to the Arab origins of their citizens. Yet Iraqi scholar Sasson Somekh–a professor of Modern Arab Literature at Tel Aviv University and 2005 Israel Prize recipient in Middle East studies–has been a major catalyst in explicating the rich Arab Jewry traditions to the State. Somekh is the author of Baghdad, Yesterday: The Making of an Arab Jew and in 2007 he helped to launch the Arabic Language Academy.

Other impressive endeavors include Andalus Publishing House–we like the name–from Yael Lerer. Although temporarily not producing books, we at AJ are hopeful this will soon be remedied.

Jewish music band in Baghdad