Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Media

Listening to the Jazira—Songs as Counter Archives in Northeast Syria
Syrian Kurdish men, women and children dance the dabke in a meadow to celebrate the spring holiday of Nowruz near the town of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, March 2020. Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images
Syria

Listening to the Jazira—Songs as Counter Archives in Northeast Syria

Local shaabi music legend Khader al Nasser calls himself the “master” as he professes to teach a group of young women about love while plucking chickens in an old music video circulating on YouTube. Eventually a group of women elders kick him out for his mischievousness. It is ridiculous, endearing
Heidi S. Affi • 11 min read
The Kurdish Women's Movement and Turkey's Transnational 'Feminicide'
Demonstrators hold portraits of victims of the December 23, 2022 Enghien Street shooting in Paris, as well as those of the La Fayette street murders in 2013, to express solidarity with the Kurdish community, Paris, December 26, 2022. Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

The Kurdish Women's Movement and Turkey's Transnational 'Feminicide'

[su_dropcap style="simple" size="4"]O[/su_dropcap]n January 9, 2023, thousands of demonstrators from across Europe gathered in Paris to participate in marches organized by Kurdish groups. Demonstrators were mourning a triple killing of Kurdish activists that occurred in Paris just two weeks
Elif Genc, Anna Özbek • 14 min read
Reporting from Tunis
Members of the Tunisian Journalists Union support imprisoned Moroccan journalists Omar Radi and Souleimane Raissouni, on World Press Freedom Day, 2021. Jdidi Wassim/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Reporting from Tunis

In the aftermath of the 2011 revolution, Tunisian journalist Bassam Bounenni published an article on the dissident digital news site, Nawaat. In it, he criticized the media’s practices under fallen dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben ‘Ali (1987-2011). For the media to play a role in the new political
Thomas Serres • 11 min read
Rethinking Informal Labor Through the Lens of Film Production in Cairo
Technicians installing light defusing frames in preparation for filming, Egypt 2021. Maged NaderResidents peak from their balconies to watch the filming. Shoubra, Egypt, 2020. Mariz KeladaPlacing lighting reflectors on top of the actor’s caravans saved the time and money it would have cost for a professional, more secure, setup. It was only possible because of good relations between the different crews. Heliopolis, Egypt, 2020. Mariz KeladaCrowds gather around to watch filming, downtown Cairo, 2019. Mariz Kelada
MER Article

Rethinking Informal Labor Through the Lens of Film Production in Cairo

Many movies, television shows and advertisements film on location in the busy and crowded streets of Cairo. Mariz Kelada explains with ethnographic detail the complex and multilayered work of production assistants, fixers and sub-fixers to create the right conditions and relationships for filming in
Mariz Kelada • 13 min read
Rethinking Informal Labor Through the Lens of Film Production in Cairo
Technicians installing light defusing frames in preparation for filming, Egypt 2021. Maged NaderResidents peak from their balconies to watch the filming. Shoubra, Egypt, 2020. Mariz KeladaPlacing lighting reflectors on top of the actor’s caravans saved the time and money it would have cost for a professional, more secure, setup. It was only possible because of good relations between the different crews. Heliopolis, Egypt, 2020. Mariz KeladaCrowds gather around to watch filming, downtown Cairo, 2019. Mariz Kelada
Current Analysis

Rethinking Informal Labor Through the Lens of Film Production in Cairo

Many movies, television shows and advertisements film on location in the busy and crowded streets of Cairo. Mariz Kelada explains with ethnographic detail the complex and multilayered work of production assistants, fixers and sub-fixers to create the right conditions and relationships for filming in
Mariz Kelada • 13 min read