Uriid dvd!

May 1, 2007 4:19 PM

Yet another Arabic question. A lot of people have mentioned that I should make a point to watch Arabic tv to immerse myself more in the language. I don't have cable, though. Are there are any good spoken-Arabic (subtitled) movies you know of that I might be able to get on Netflix? (Bonus points if any are in modern Egyptian.) Otherwise, does anyone know of anyone who rents Arabic dubbed/subtitled dvds in the Bay area?

When I was in Austria I really got the language into my brain quickly by watching Hollywood videos in German with cc English (or vice versa), so I know it's a good idea. I can't seem to find anyone who rents multilanguage captioned videos here (other than spanish) though. I don't want to own them forever, just view them as a learning/immersion tool. Thanks for the help. :)

posted by miss lynnster to writing & language (6 comments total)

Call up Le Video -they have everything. Or maybe these guys at the Arab Film Festival.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 4:29 PM on May 1, 2007

Use the IMDB advanced search, scroll down to "word search," select "language" and type in 'arabic' in the search field. That should do it.
posted by The White Hat at 4:49 PM on May 1, 2007

Netflix has several films by Youssef Chahine, a renowned Egyptian filmmaker.

Netflix also has The Yacoubian Building, a recent and popular Egyptian film.

You might also enjoy the films of Elia Suleiman. They're actually a little sparse on spoken language, and feature a Palestinian dialect, but might be of interest.

They also have one film with Farid Al Atrache, a very popular Egyptian entertainer.
posted by ciocarlia at 7:32 PM on May 1, 2007

I haven't found a lot here, only occasionally when I've cabbaged on to some that friends brought from home.

So... I signed up on JumpTV for 2M - $10/mo for 1 channel, and I watch online whenever I want. They have movies in Egyptian and Moroccan Arabic all the time, plus all kinds of cheesy serials that are fun, too. The captions are usually in French, though.

P.S. They also have El Mehwar, should you want something more country specific.
posted by Liosliath at 7:36 PM on May 1, 2007

Rent/borrow the 1988 hollywood movie about the Afghan - Soviet war, 'The Beast' -- email in profile -- features a Baldwin brother and subtitles+dubs in english, arabic, and a couple other languages...


You've probably already seen this (via anjamu's most favoured post)
posted by acro at 8:51 PM on May 1, 2007

?
posted by acro at 8:52 PM on May 1, 2007