29 Apr Moroccan Cinema and Political Reform
Najib Bounahai (Professor of Higher Education, Ibn Tofail University, Morocco)
Friday, April 29th / 1:00 PM *please note new time and location*
2017 SSMS
The talk is about the interplay between cinema and politics in Morocco over the last ten years. Morocco has initiated several ambitious and bold reforms as well as actions considered progressive by regional standards. It started with gouvernement d’alternance in the late nineties; and having parties of the left in government was a major turnaround in the history of Moroccan politics. This government launched an overhauling of the family code, unanimously approved by state apparatus, parliament, public authorities and welcomed by liberal and radical groups, but obviously resented by Islamic groups who could see in such a move a challenge to Islamic doctrine. In its substantially revised version, the new family code significantly empowered women and polarized the Moroccan society. Inconsistent and oftentimes conflicting discourses on women quickly found their way to the screen, inscribing Moroccan cinema as an important agent of political and social change.
Najib Bounahai is a Professor of Higher Education at Ibn Tofail University in Morocco. He received his Ph. D in Drama from Tufts University in 2001. He received his Diploma in Dramatic Art from Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London in 1990. He received his Masters in Drama from Essex University, Great Britain in 1986.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Film and Media Studies, the IHC, the CMES, the Multicultural Center, and the Mellichamp Chair of Global Studies.