film

By Whitney Shylee May, The University of Texas at Austin | – Images of the protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, in Iran and reports of the government’s brutal crackdown have circulated widely on social media. This flow of information comes despite efforts by the Iranian regime […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian State Arrests Popular Actress Taraneh Alidoosti, star of Academy-Award-Winning Film, for Protesting Executions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian authorities arrested renowned actress Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, on Saturday for an Instagram post in which she denounced the execution last week of the first of this fall’s protesters to be put to death by the Iranian government. Her instagram account, which had 8 million followers, has been suspended. She […]

film

Jordan’s official Oscar entry Farha grants the Palestinian Diaspora Permission to Narrate

Middle East Monitor

By Suja Sawafta | – ( Middle East Monitor) – On 1 December, Netflix began streaming Farha (2021) worldwide, despite immense pressure directed at the platform to prevent its debut. The film is director Darin J. Sallam’s first full-length feature and chronicles the coming-of-age story of its heroine, Farha, a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager who possesses […]

Authoritarianism

Great Car Fight Movie Scenes Reminiscent of Trump’s attack on Agent Bobby Engel on Jan. 6

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Cassidy Hutchinson testified on Tuesday that Trump grew violent in the presidential limousine, nicknamed the beast, toward a member of his Secret Service detail. Trump had orchestrated the attack on the Capitol by the Oath Keeper and Proud Boys white nationalist militias and had promised them he would lead them […]

African-Americans

Sidney Poitier – Hollywood’s first Black leading man reflected the civil rights movement on screen

The Conversation

By Aram Goudsouzian | – In the summer of 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. introduced the keynote speaker for the 10th-anniversary convention banquet of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Their guest, he said, was his “soul brother.” “He has carved for himself an imperishable niche in the annals of our nation’s history,” King told the […]

Climate Crisis

‘Don’t Look Up’: Hollywood’s primer on climate denial illustrates 5 myths that fuel rejection of science

The Conversation

By Gale Sinatra and Barbara K. Hofer | – Every disaster movie seems to open with a scientist being ignored. “Don’t Look Up” is no exception – in fact, people ignoring or flat out denying scientific evidence is the point. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers who make a literally Earth-shattering discovery and then […]

Featured

Emma Watson of Harry Potter Fame expresses Solidarity with Palestinians, is Smeared as Anti-Semite by Far-Right Likudnik

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – British actress Emma Watson, 31, whom many remember from her childhood role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, is all grown up. And she made big waves on the internet by posting an image to Instagram that showed Palestinians protesting, waving the Palestinian flag, and demanding a “free […]

Culture

Why ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is a lesson in Restorative Justice needed by our Vindictive Politics

Waging Nonviolence

Raven Yamamoto | – This article contains spoilers for “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” ( Waging Nonviolence) – I went into “Spider-Man: No Way Home” thinking it was going to be another feel-good film about one of my favorite characters to come out of Marvel’s long list of heroes. But I was happily surprised to find […]

Authoritarianism

House censures defiant Rep. Gosar for Video in Which he Murders AOC, strips Committee Posts

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Ulysse Bex | – ( Cronkite News) – WASHINGTON – The House censured Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, Wednesday and stripped him of his committee assignments as punishment for a violent cartoon he posted that appeared to show him killing a liberal Democratic member and threatening the president. Gosar, speaking to the full House, said […]