In keeping with our mission of bringing forth opportunities to write about socially important topics, Open Screenplay is pleased to announce the launch of a 5 min short film screenwriting contest and production deal in partnership with the Canadian Arab Institute titled “Arab Stories: Debunking Arab Myths”.

For decades, the mainstream media in the West has systematically stereotyped and vilified people of Arab origin. In over 900 Hollywood films, Arabs have been depicted as brute murders, brute murderers, religious fanatics, oil-rich dimwits or abusers of women, not to mention quintessential villains. Such degradation of an entire people ultimately leads to their dehumanization. Today, Arabs in the West are constantly required to face racist stereotypes, profiling at airports, suspicious glares on the subway, and struggle to express a historic language, identity, and culture of immense depth and diversity.

It is time to correct this narrative and dispel the various myths and stereotypes that have long unjustly followed this rich and diverse community. We want you to write a screenplay that speaks to this topic and advances the discourse in a creative and meaningful way. Here are some common myths and stereotypes to consider:

Myth #1: Arabs are all the same (i.e. different languages, cultures, ethnicities, and intersectionality of Blackness, Jewishness, etc)

Myth #2: There is no Arab world (i.e. the landscape of Arab peoples, their histories, inventors)

Myth #3: The Angry Arab (i.e. debunking the over-zealous, irrational and “too” passionate)

Myth #4: All Arabs are Muslim (i.e. beyond the lens of Islam)

Myth #5: The fixed, immutable Arab (i.e. problematic media depictions, fixations of Arabs beyond business people)

Myth #6: The uncivilized Arab (i.e. existed alongside Indigenouse peoples, developed partnerships and relations in historically contributing to what is known as Canada today)

Myth #7: The oppressed, fetishized woman (i.e. feminist lens, cultural framework and critical readings to dismantling notions around “powerless”, “submissive” and/or ‘exotic” woman

Myth #8: The Heterosexual Arab (i.e. homosexuality and other gender identities and orientations exist in the Arab world, and there is support and solidarity work beind done)

Myth #9: The Integrated Arab (i.e. refugees, newcomers, and the resettlement processes around integration in Canada, experiences of assimilation and narratives of resilience)

The above are just some ideas to get you started, but we can’t wait to read your unique stories.

Contest Entry Fee: Free

About our Contest Partner:

The Canadian Arab Institute is a national non-partisan organization that focuses on issues and interests of the Canadian Arab community through research, policy, programming and community engagement. CAI celebrates and encourages Arab Canadians' participation in all social, political, cultural and economic aspects of Canadian society

Canadian Arab Institute

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