Arab Stereotypes in Western Media. Hollywood as an Example: From Silent Movies to the Late 90’s and the Beginning of 2000

Abdelaziz Taleb`s (Arab Media Lab, Morocco) lecture


13.10, 19:00,
The House of Cinema,  Blue Hall
Hollywood films play a large role in creating an incorrect representation of Arab men and women. There is a clear distinction between how Arab men and women are depicted in the media. Arab men are most often portrayed as terrorists, villains, or abusers. On the other hand, Arab women are illustrated as unsophisticated, victimized, and oppressed individuals. The representation of Arab women is often distorted, portraying them as sexual temptresses or suicidal bombers. In this lecture-presentation, Abdelaziz Taleb will try to examine how Hollywood has controlled our perception of Arabs. Through the inaccurate depictions people have formed derogatory opinions about Arabs and have overgeneralized and stereotyped the population.  

Jan Abdelaziz Taleb, born 1973, is a mixed media artist, producer, archival artist and curator. Founder and director of the Arab Media Lab project and Digital Marrakech festival. His films and videos have been selected to film and video festivals such as The Berlinale Talents, Venice International Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen Montpellier, Free Waves Los Angeles, International Short Film Festival – Clermont-Ferrand, CCCB Barcelona, World Museum Rotterdam, Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven. He also gives lectures and master classes on the current media art happenings in the Arab world. He has initiated and curated various projects worldwide which contribute to the circulation of works from the Arab and North African countries in international video and film festivals. Lives and works in Germany.
The Arab Media Lab (Morocco) is an independent media art collective and organization that works to the diffusion of independent audio-visual creation and cinema, and develops actions of education in Morocco and the Arab world. The main activities include Digital Marrakech international festival, Media Art Morocco workshops series and master classes, and Morocco Moving Images archive. The organization operates on the intersection of media art, alternative cinema, creative documentary, music video, multimedia performances, video installations, digital mapping, net art and other interdisciplinary forms.