An analysis of seven films by female directors from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Examined within their economic, cultural, and political context, the work of women Maghrebi filmmakers forms a cohesive body of work. Florence Martin examines the intersections of nation and gender in seven films, showing how directors turn around the politics of the gaze as they play with the various meanings of the Arabic term hijab (veil, curtain, screen). Martin analyzes these films on their own theoretical terms, developing the notion of "transvergence" to examine how Maghrebi women's cinema is flexible, playful, and transgressive in its themes, aesthetics, narratives, and modes of address. These are distinctive films that traverse multiple cultures, both borrowing from and resisting the discourses these cultures propose.
"Produced by a diverse group of women filmmakers-Assia Djebar, Farida Benlyazid, Yamina Bachir-Chouikh, Raja Amari, Naida El Fani, Yasmine Kassari, and Selma Baccar-these movies reflect the Algerian civil war, colonialism, patriarchy, undocumented immigrants, sexuality, identity, and the social mores that have dominated the political, social, and economic spheres in the Maghreb.... This book inscribes a new chapter in women filmmaking on the Maghreb; it makes an important contribution to cinema, literature, and cultural studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - Choice
"An excellent presentation and analysis of women's filmmaking from North Africa.... Its attention to contemporary film theory is matched by its presentation of materials derived from Martin's interviews with filmmakers, interviews that reveal a sincere engagement with the filmmakers and a deep understanding of contemporary production. In short, this is a fine book that will be of interest to anyone working on or teaching film and gender studies in North African and Middle Eastern studies, and beyond." - Journal of Arabic Literature, Issue 44, 2013

The cinematic vision of North African women directors

Florence Martin is Professor of French and Francophone Literature and Cinema at Goucher College and Associate Editor of Studies in French Cinema. She is author of Bessie Smith, of De la Guyane à la diaspora africaine (with Isabelle Favre), and of A vous de voir! (with Maryse Fauvel and Stéphanie Martin).

Examined within their economic, cultural, and political context, the work of women Maghrebi filmmakers forms a cohesive body of work. Florence Martin examines the intersections of nation and gender in seven films, showing how directors turn around the politics of the gaze as they play with the various meanings of the Arabic term hijab (veil, curtain, screen). Martin analyzes these films on their own theoretical terms, developing the notion of "transvergence" to examine how Maghrebi women's cinema is flexible, playful, and transgressive in its themes, aesthetics, narratives, and modes of address. These are distinctive films that traverse multiple cultures, both borrowing from and resisting the discourses these cultures propose.

Overture: Maghrebi Women's Transvergent Cinema
Act I: Transnational Feminist Storytellers: Shahrazad, Assia, and Farida
1. Assia Djebar's Transvergent Narrative in The Nuba of the Women of Mount Chenoua (Algeria, 1978)
2. Farida Benlyazid's Initiated Audiences in A Door to the Sky (Morocco, 1998)
Act II: Screens & Veils
3. Yamina Bachir-Chouikh's Transvergent Echoes in Rachida (Algeria, 2002)
4. Raja Amari's Screen of the Haptic in Red Satin (Tunisia, 2002)
5. Nadia El Fani's Multiple Screens and Veils in Bedwin Hacker (Tunisia, 2002)
Act III: From Dunyazad to Transvergent Audiences
6. Yasmina Kassari's "Burning" Screens in The Sleeping Child (Morocco, 2004)
7. Selma Baccar's Transvergent Spectatorship in Khochkhach (Tunisia, 2006)
Coda
Appendix A: Political and Cinematic Chronology
Appendix B: Primary Filmography
Bibliography