Call for Papers

Symposium and Screening: From The Battle of Algiers to No Other Land. 60 Years of Decolonization in the Arab Screens

Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, September 5-6, 2026

Organizers

Wissam Mouawad, PhD, Abu Dhabi University, UAE

Jairo Lugo-Ocando, PhD, University of Sharjah, UAE

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the film The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) and 30 years of Chronicle of a Disappearance (Elia Suleiman, 1996), which has been called a masterpiece of historical accuracy (von Tunzelmann, 2009; Abu-Remaileh, 2008). The film has been also referred to by several of the most important film directors as “the greatest war movie ever” and one of the most influential in their own careers (Studio Binder, 2025). Framed within the school of Italian realism and situated within a wider practice of emerging anticolonial filmmaking in the region, the film had paramount impact upon the collective imagination around colonialism by portraying the brutality of French occupation.

After more than a half century of the first screening of this masterpiece, the film continues to project its influence across regions. Originally banned in France, the film has been followed by many other movies that depict colonialism and power struggle in the Arab world, including Elia Suleiman's debut film Chronicle of a Disappearance (1966) to the most recent Oscar-winning film No Other Land (Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, 2024), which many distributors have refused to screen in the USA and Europe. Indeed, decolonization in the Arab screen is today more present than ever because is more needed than ever.

To celebrate the 60 years of The Battle of Algiers, and the emergence of anticolonial filmmaking in the Arab world, The University of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi University are organizing a joint symposium around the legacy of these films in terms of politics, popular culture, and film language. Accepted papers will be considered for a special issue of the Scopus-indexed journal Film International. Journal of World Cinema (Intellect) and potentially an edited book collection. Among the possible topics we suggest but not limited to:

• Endurance and legacy of The Battle of Algiers in the cinematic world.
• Arab films, decolonization, and resistance
• The cinematic aesthetics of colonialism and decolonization in the Arab screen
• Film language of colonial power and resistance
• Historicism and accuracy when depicting colonial violence
• Censorship and film in the colonial and post-colonial Arab settings
• Neo-colonial hegemony in film and the struggle to reclaim the discourse
• Other related topics

Abstract of 200 words should be sent by February 12, 2026 to (battleofalgiers1966 /at/ gmail.com).

Best papers will be considered for the journal Film International - https://www.intellectbooks.com/film-international-journal-of-world-cinema

Participation is free

Free event registration:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/symposium-60-years-of-the-battle-of-algiers-tickets-1976623679635?aff=oddtdtcreator

References

Abu-Remaileh, R. (2008). Palestinian anti-narratives in the films of Elia Suleiman. /Arab Media and Society/, 5, 1-29.

Studio Binder. (2025). (104) Why Do Filmmakers Call 'This The Greatest War Movie Ever?' - /YouTube/. YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW7DeYFbIWI<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW7DeYFbIWI>

von Tunzelmann, A. (2009). The Battle of Algiers: A masterpiece of historical accuracy [News]. /The Guardian/. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/26/the-battle-of-algiers-film-historical-accuracy <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/26/the-battle-of-algiers-film-historical-accuracy>