Nihal El Aasar examines the filmography of Lebanese director Heiny Srour, whose cinema of Arab resistance placed the efforts of women front and center. From The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived to Leila and the Wolves, filmmaker Heiny Srour puts women at the center of her revolutionary narratives.

Released in 1984, Leila and the Wolves, her sole feature, highlights the role women played in both Palestinian and Lebanese struggles for self-determination. “While the main contradiction in the region is imperialism,” El Aasar writes, “Srour was willing to address what needed to be done to combat the liberation movement’s internal weaknesses.” The Pan-Arab dream had shattered by the time her films were released, but they carry its revolutionary spirit—a helpful reminder that art can offer a path forward even in a moment of defeat.

An interesting story https://thebaffler.com/latest/ideology-ruled-her-camera-el-aasar