Preserving feminist film history: Reflections on three Arab and African restoration projects

A seminar by Stefanie Van de Peer (Film Studies, TCD) as part of the School of Creative Arts Research Forum.

In this presentation, Dr Van de Peer will reflect critically on the work she has done in restoration projects of feminist films from the African continent and the Arab World, and the exhibition of these films on the global festival network. Thinking through the consequences of employing decolonial and anti-racist methodologies, this presentation critiques funding streams and ownership issues, while deconstructing ideas around authorship and the “pioneer paradigm” (Armatage, 2024).
When the World Cinema Project (WCP) and FEPACI announced in 2017 that they would restore 50 African films with the African Film Heritage Project, their aim was to include representative works from across the continent. However, many of the women’s films considered for inclusion in this project have remained inaccessible due to European and American gatekeepers that have actively prevented the restoration of the films. In addition, WCP’s selection points to a common issue in the history of world cinema: the Western canonisation of male filmmakers ’work and the fetishisation of auteurship and for the pioneering role of “first” filmmakers. The African Film Heritage Project did not acquire a single woman’s film until September 2021, when Sambizanga (Maldoror, Angola, 1972) was restored, and this is still the only film by a woman on the project.
This paper explores how the past lives of Arab and African women’s cinema function in our contemporary world. Through 3 case studies Dr Van de Peer will present a feminist and anti-colonial approach to canonisation, archiving, curating and restoration, with the aim to move the personal legacies of these filmmakers into a shared global film heritage.

About the Speaker:
Stefanie Van de Peer is Assistant Professor in Film Studies. As a film historian, she specialises in feminist cinema from the Global South. Her research focuses on Arab and African women's contributions to cinema history and women's solidarity networks. She is also a film festival organiser, with over 18 years of experience as a curator and programmer.
Her latest book Stretching the Archives: Towards a Global Women’s Film Heritage was published with Archive Books in 2025. Before that, she wrote Negotiating Dissidence: The Pioneering Women of Arab Documentary (EUP, 2017), Animation in the Middle East (Bloomsbury 2017), Women in African Cinema (with Bisschoff, Routledge, 2020) and The Films of Annemarie Jacir (with Cheema, EUP, 2023).

Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: klineh@tcd.ie