Journalism and Communication Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Journalism and Communication Theses and Dissertations by Author "Abuhmaid, Hadil"

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    “Who am I, without…?” Identity, geopolitics, and Palestinian film in the 21st century: Toward a fifth cinematic period
    (University of Oregon, 2024-08-07) Abuhmaid, Hadil; Martinez, Gabriela
    Since the production of the first Palestinian film in the 1930s, cinema in Palestine has unfolded into four different periods, each shaped by the political climate of its era: (1) Al-Nakba or “Catastrophe” (1935 - 1948); (2) Epoch of Silence (1948 - 1967); (3) Al-Naksa or “Setback” (1968 - 1982) and (4) Palestinian Autor’s Individual Initiatives (1982 – 2020). In this dissertation, I argue that the aftermath of second Intifada of 2000 has marked the beginning of a fifth cinematic period: Palestinian Fictional Realism. In the fifth period, Palestinian filmmakers feature “typical” Palestinians living within the historical map of Palestine. They move the historic trauma of the Nakba to the background and move to the foreground fictional-realistic stories of Palestinians of often problematic attempts to working through Palestinian trauma. In so doing, Palestinian filmmakers enact their agency and that of the Palestinian people by refusing to allow traumatic history or contemporary realities define the present and future. The dissertation is based on four case studies that include semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Muayad Alayan, Maha Haj, Ameen Nayfeh, and Arab Nasser. Each filmmaker’s case represents a theme that is present in many Palestinian films which are as follows: Sumud, collective memory, identity crisis, and lived experience. My research draws from a combination of theoretical frameworks including film theory, collective memory, political economy of communication, and theories of race, trauma, and identity.