When it comes to making sense of tumultuous recent events, most people are likely to seek answers in the arts rather than academia. In the case of the Arab Spring and the continuing turmoil it has caused much of this region, this process is just beginning.
As we reported yesterday, an early example of artistic interpretation of the Arab Spring is As I Open My Eyes, a film set in Tunisia shortly before the self-immolation of street trader Mohammed Bouazizi helped kick off the protests that overthrew Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Our writer described it as "arguably the best narrative film about the Arab Spring".
Forty years ago, the US underwent a similar process after the war in Vietnam, when filmmakers took their time before addressing the subject on the big screen. Since then, some of the most acclaimed American films have used the conflict as a subject. Is this film the sign of a similar dynamic in our region?
