Program

Research Programs: Summer Stipends

Period of Performance

8/1/2015 - 9/30/2015

Funding Totals

$6,000.00 (approved)
$6,000.00 (awarded)


The Films of Togo Mizrahi and Egyptian National Identity in the 1930s and 1940s

FAIN: FT-229565-15

Deborah Ann Starr
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY 14850-2820)

Summer research and writing on Film History and Criticism and Jewish Studies.

I seek an NEH Summer Stipend to support research on a book examining the contribution of cinema to debates about national identity in 1930s and 40s Egypt. Members of Egypt's ethno-religious minority communities figured prominently on and off-screen during these formative years of the Egyptian film industry. "Agent of Exchange" focuses on the output of Studio Togo Mizrahi, the era's most prolific studio, founded by an Egyptian-born Jew of Italian nationality. Analyzing films produced by Studio Mizrahi, I interpret the narratives and images Egyptians received about being modern, national subjects. These films use masquerade and exchange to present identity as performative and mutable. I argue that, in contrast to emerging exclusionary discourses of national identity, these films project a Levantine cinematic idiom, characterized by an ethics of coexistence and a visual language of inclusion. This project also contributes insights into the growing role of mass media in this period.





Associated Products

Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema (Book)
Title: Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema
Author: Deborah Ann Starr
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780520366206
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry (9780520366206)
Publisher: University of California Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780520366206