A birthing center is a healthcare facility, staffed by nurse midwives, midwives and/or obstetricians, for mothers in labor, who may be assisted by doulas and coaches. The midwives monitor the labor, and well-being of the mother and the baby during birth. Doulas can assist the midwives and make the birth easier. Should additional medical assistance be required, the mother can be transferred to a hospital. This transfer is more likely if an epidural is needed, there is meconium staining, it is a prolonged labor, or the newborn needs intensive care. Some hospitals have birth centers as an alternative to the usual high tech maternity wards.
"New queer cinema" is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in Sight & Sound magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s.
Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively. His films Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture. Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012.
Father of the Bride Part II is a 1995 American comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, and Martin Short. It is a sequel to Father of the Bride, remake of the 1951 film Father's Little Dividend which was the sequel to the original 1950 titular film, and fourth installment overall in the Father of the Bride franchise.
South Korean films have been heavily influenced by such events and forces as the Korea under Japanese rule, the Korean War, government censorship, the business sector, globalization, and the democratization of South Korea.
Nadine Labaki is a Lebanese and Canadian actress, director, and activist. Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s. Her filmmaking career began in 2007 after the release of her debut film, Caramel, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. She is known for demonstrating everyday aspects of Lebanese life and covering a range of political issues such as war, poverty, and feminism. She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film for third directorial effort, Capernaum (2018).
James L. Gelvin is an American scholar of Middle Eastern history. He has been a faculty member in the department of history at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) since 1995 and has written extensively on the history of the modern Middle East, with particular emphasis on nationalism and the social and cultural history of the modern Middle East.
The cinema of Yemen is relatively obscure, but it has seen glimpses of influence and representation throughout the years. Since the 1920s, when expeditions from Europe arrived in Yemen, the country has been featured in various documentaries and travelogues. These early films introduced audiences to the landscapes, architecture, and culture of Yemen, providing a window into a world they might not have otherwise experienced.
The cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian Roy Armes, is the only other cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, beside Egypt's, that could amount to a national cinema. Cinema in Lebanon has been in existence since the 1920s, and the country has produced more than 500 films.
Céline Sciamma is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), Girlhood (2014), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and Petite Maman (2021). Sciamma has won many nominations and awards for her films.
The modern South Korean LGBT rights movement arose in the 1990s, with several small organizations seeking to combat sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
Thomas Waugh is a Canadian critic, lecturer, author, actor, and activist, best known for his extensive work on documentary film and eroticism in the history of LGBT cinema and art. A professor emeritus at Concordia University, he taught 41 years in the film studies program of the School of Cinema and held a research chair in documentary film and sexual representation. He was also the director of the Concordia HIV/AIDS Project, 1993-2017, a program providing a platform for research and conversations involving HIV/AIDS in the Montréal area.
Sam Abbas is an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is noted for his artfully composed, poetic, and incident-light tableaus film style.
The Wedding is a 2018 film directed by Sam Abbas and starring Nikohl Boosheri, Sam Abbas, Harry Aspinwall, James Penfold, and Hend Ayoub.
Maha Al-Saati is a Saudi Arabian female filmmaker, university assistant professor and graduate of Simon Fraser University who has taught both in Vancouver, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Her academic research covers the representation of architectural spaces, education through the use of film, and the influence of religion and culture on media. She is also an alum of the TIFF filmmaker lab 2020, TIFF Writers Studio 2021, and recipient of the TIFF Share Her Journey award 2020. She is of mixed Arab and Uzbek heritage.
Alia's Birth is a 2021 independent drama film by Sam Abbas starring Poorna Jagannathan, Nikohl Boosheri, Maya Kazan, and Samuel H. Levine.
Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann are film writers and directors who have made five films together. Buck is also an actress and has directed the documentary Best Kept Secret solo. They are best known for the 2019 film Sister Aimee.
Erēmīta (Anthologies) is an arthouse documentary anthology featuring short films composed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The anthology curated by Sam Abbas interweaves the literature of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Hakima Abbas is a political scientist, feminist activist, writer and researcher. She is currently co-executive director of Association for Women's Rights in Development. During the COVID-19 pandemic she advocated for a Just Recovery that includes women. Previously, she was executive director of Fahamu.
Alina Khan is a Pakistani actress known for her lead roles in the short film Darling in 2019 and the feature film Joyland in 2022. She is the first transgender person to have a lead role in a major Pakistani film. In May 2023, she was crowned Miss Trans Pakistan 2023 in Lahore, Pakistan.
