Arabic with English subtitles

This video has its roots in back issues of the pan-Arab culture magazine Al-Hilal, which, during the Algerian War, frequently praised the revolutionary and freedom fighter Jamila Bouhired as a model of Arab womanhood. An actress designated to play her role is showing the magazine’s covers to the camera. From the different representations of Jamila in cinema to her assimilation and promotion through the magazine, the film attempts to look at the history of socialist projects in Egypt, anticolonial wars in Algeria, and the way they have promoted and marginalised feminist projects. What does it mean to play the role of the freedom fighter? What does it mean to become an icon? Between role playing and political projects, how does the constitution of the subject serve certain political purposes?

• Sektion Section: Artist in Focus. Marwa Arsanios
• Programm Programme: Programme 5