In this update of the 1998 edition, a freelance film scholar (Popular Egyptian Cinema: Gender, Class, and Nation, 2007)/ filmmaker (the award-winning documentary short The Lemon Tree, 1993)
traces the history and themes of Arab cinema. Recent trends that Shafik discusses include the rising: number of countries involved in full-length feature film production, use of digital video
technology, dependence on Western funding, and melding of popular and auteur films to represent social and political realities. Movie stills span Layla the Bedouin (Bahiga Hafiz, 1937) to One
Minute of Sun Less (Nabil Ayouch, 2002). Distributed in the US by International Publishers Marketing (IPM). Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
