Jericho, NY, May 19, 2003 – As the current conflict reveals divergent impressions between Muslim countries and the United States, AMC will air an original documentary that explores the Muslim world's perception of American culture, and how these perceptions shape its society. An AMC original documentary, THE AMC PROJECT: HOLLYWOOD AND THE MUSLIM WORLD premieres commercial free on July 14, 2003 at 10:00 PM. The special will air as part of AMC's ongoing documentary showcase, THE AMC PROJECT, a monthly experimental series that provides fresh, unconventional perspectives on the evolution and impact of Hollywood culture.
Muslim countries are increasingly saturated with American-produced films and television programs. These countries are struggling to cope with a cultural phenomenon that continues to seep into even the most protected markets via American movies and television. In a riveting and revealing documentary, AMC probes a variety of Muslim viewpoints on this issue to share them with American audiences.
As satellite television and movies invade the homes of Muslims in the Middle East, many perceive it as an insidious cultural invasion by the U.S. — overt propaganda created to undermine their religious and cultural identity. From the overt homosexuality of Will & Grace, to the exaggerated violence of American action films, these powerful images project a value system that can inspire, as one Egyptian television executive states, "a kind of shock and rejection and hatred."
Yet many Muslims can't take their eyes off these images, as they've become virtually impossible to ignore. In Kurdistan, students say that American films reflect a people with greater freedom of expression and choice. "Our youth are being affected by these media products. They are enjoying it, they are consuming it, and they are imitating what they see," says Angy Ghannam, a news editor for Islam Online in Cairo, Egypt.
Shot on location in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Qatar, THE AMC PROJECT: HOLLYWOOD AND THE MUSLIM WORLD raises questions and gives answers about the cultural and political impact of American culture on Arab identity. The special includes a tour of the television network Al Jazeera and features a discussion about the power of television images with two of the organization's more popular correspondents. Illustrated by telling interviews with a broad spectrum of Muslim society, from ordinary teenagers, to an executive at Hezbollah's Al Manar Television, to Egypt's very own "Oprah," the one-hour special offers a fresh perspective on the American-Muslim media wars.
THE AMC PROJECT: HOLLYWOOD AND THE MUSLIM WORLD is an original production for AMC that was written, produced and directed by Charlie Stuart of Stuart Television Productions. For over fourteen years, Stuart Television has specialized in producing award-winning news and investigative documentaries for leading public and commercial networks, including PBS (Frontline), DISCOVERY, HBO, CNN and others. Recipient of six national Emmy® awards, two Dupont awards and various national awards for producing, reporting and writing, Stuart has over twenty-five years experience in television and filmmaking and previously created the AMC original special INTO THE SHADOWS: THE CIA IN HOLLYWOOD.
AMC is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 84,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and an increasingly visible, critically- acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. AMC has more than doubled its original programming over the past three years and garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including seven Emmy awards. AMC is "TV for movie people."
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow owns and manages AMC, WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT, IFC (The Independent Film Channel), FUSE, Mag Rack, Rainbow Sports Networks, News 12 Networks, and MetroChannels as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow is a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net and has a strategic partnership with MGM, which owns a 20 percent stake in three of Rainbow's national networks: AMC, WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT, and IFC.