Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Film maker Jackie Salloum on art of message
Arabs need to embrace art as a medium of expression if they want to be understood by the rest of the world, said the up and coming filmmaker Jackie Salloum.
- By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:17 December 14, 2008
Dubai: Arabs need to embrace art as a medium of expression if they want to be understood by the rest of the world, said the up and coming filmmaker Jackie Salloum.
Salloum speaks from experience. The American born Syrian-Palestinian grew up trying to hide her Arab identity because of the portrayal of Arabs in the media – until she decided to step in and change it.
"I thought it was so horrible to be an Arab. [But then] I thought if I had a positive role model that would have never happened," she said.
Salloum says that Arabs needed to speak out more and express themselves to be understood. "Simple protesting doesn't impact people enough. It's much more affective through film. You need to entertain people. You don't need to hit them over the head with anything," she stresses.
Salloum then made a short film on Arabs in the media called Planet of the Arabs that was inspired by Jack Shaheen's book Reel Bad Arabs. Before she knew it, the film was being screened at the Sundance Film Festival and her latest film, Slingshot Hip Hop, is now making headlines around the world.
The film follows young Palestinians who use hip hop as an expression of their disgruntlement with the Israeli occupation and discrimination.
The filmmaker has already started seeing the effects that Arab art can have on Arabs and non-Arabs alike. "We showed it to a room full of Jewish people, and while some came out irritated the majority said they had never seen anything like it. A lot of them say that it is the first time they can connect with a Palestinian," she says.
But most important is the impact at home. Salloum says that one of the problems with Arab culture is the lack of acceptance of art as a career. "I was told to be a pharmacist or a librarian too. But I did art and it took a while for my parents to accept it [and they did]."
"I see a lot of Arab kids come to the film with their parents, and the best thing is when an Arab parent comes to me and says 'I told my daughter to major in film'," she says.
If Arabs need to make change, she says, they need to take charge and get involved in the arts.
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