Caramel

Directed by Nadine Labaki (New York, NY: Lionsgate Films, 2008)

Description: (from back cover) A Beirut beauty salon becomes a treasured meeting place for several generations of women from various walks of life, to talk, seek advice, and confide in one another. English subtitles.

 

Islamic Societies in Practice

By Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004)

Description: (from back cover) Originally written in the wake of the Gulf War, Islamic Societies in Practice introduced the West to Arab-Islamic cultures and societies. It ventured behind the headlines to offer a positive, constructive view of Islam and Muslims, showing how Islam is lived and practiced in daily life. Now revised and expanded in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this new edition embraces the breadth of global Islam with significant new material on Islam in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States, as well as the Middle East. Discussion focuses on family, gender, race, law, democracy, and human rights in these Muslim communities. New maps and illustrations detail the diversity and representation of Islam and Muslims worldwide. Ultimately, in stark contrast to typical Western media images, Fluehr-Lobban seeks to clarify the complexity, humanity, and vastness of the Muslim world.

Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape

*winner, 2008 Orwell Prize By Raja Shehadeh (London: Profile, 2007)

Description: Raja Shehadeh navigates recent Palestinian history by walking from Ayn Kenya to the Shukba Caves, the Ramallah hills and the Dead Sea. Britain's Independent Sunday says, "Intensely political while avoiding the excesses of pure polemic, Shehadeh's account of six different Palestinian walks continually grapples with misconceptions and misinformation... Shehadeh is always engaging. There's such an eccentricity to his approach, commenting on dinosaur footprints in the rock one moment, challenging Israeli law the next... it's a remarkable way of going about things, delivering what many activists neglect to mention: the odd, slightly absurd details that really touch people; things that appear off-camera, away from news reports - things that seem real."

Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon

Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Sony, 2005).

Description: (from www.barnesandnoble.com) "Continuing their explorations on Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble go even deeper into cross-cultural studies on this 2005 soundtrack album. Produced for a 10-part series on Japan's NHK television network, the CD's 15 tracks are arranged in three suites, entitled Enchantment, Origins, and New Beginnings. The musicians tap into the variously overlapping musical styles of lands stretching from China and India to Iran and Turkey, and the arrangements by Zhao Jiping and Zhao Lin include a mix of instruments from around the world, to add greater color and sonic dimensions."

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