Harems were a popular motif in an imaginary “Orient” in American films.  They provided an erotic and exotic space on the silver screen from the advent of American cinema until the mid-sixties.  The documentary, Hollywood Harems (USA, 1999, 24 mins.),  is a collage of several film clips depicting Middle Eastern women in American films. Most of these women (who, in fact, were not Middle Eastern actresses) were relegated to roles of harem girls.  After reviewing numerous films, the topoi that emerged included erotic dance performances, courtship and seduction, and abduction/rape and rescue.  These motifs were conducive to narratives motivated by Western male fantasies and projected for American moviegoers. After screening the documentary, I will discuss the making of the documentary, Hollywood Harems, the paradigm I used for collecting and collating clips, and the representation of the Middle East in Western visual media in general.

Tania Kamal-Eldin is an Egyptian/American independent filmmaker and educator. Her productions are screened in competitive festivals in the United States and internationally.  In addition to documentaries, she produces short films, educational, music and theatrical performance videos. Kamal-Eldin has an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego, UCSD, where she was a Jacob Javits Fellow.  She also has a MSc from the London School of Economics. For more info about the documentary, and a trailer: see http://www.herwayproductions.com/documentaries/documentaries.html