ABU DHABI, November 3, 2010 -- Kalima, the translation project of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), published the Arabic translation of Federico Fellini's Fare un Film (Making a Film). The Italian film director's book highlights the significant role that was played by Fellini (1920-1993), one of the most important filmmakers of his time. Fellini is used as a point of reference by filmmakers and cinema lovers alike. He represented a cinematic phenomenon that blended rich fantasy with live reality and explored the depths of human emotions and the triviality of forms, madness and wisdom. The 231-page book is comprised of four chapters bearing the titles: "The self-witnessing of scenes"; "The film industry"; "An interesting book" and "A list of films." The book enjoys such importance as it came along at a time when cinema was influencing a large audience. This enabled the filmmaker to determine the thought-processes, characters and psychological climates that affected entire countries. It also gave him the opportunity to examine the reactions of large groups of people as they were being exposed to the barrage of images projected from these film screens on a daily basis.

The importance of the book lies in the inclusion of a series of films directed by Fellini, including La Dolce Vita, 8˝, Nights of Cabiria, Satyricon and Casanova. These movies reflected the importance of the art of cinema, and its role as a living witness and historian to the development of events. Fellini’s films highlighted the history of the reign of fascism in Italy. They illustrate his distinctive style that blends laughter with ridicule, and anger with disgust. These emotions were portrayed in an honest, inclusive and realistic social and historical analysis. Italian director and screenwriter Fellini is considered to be one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers in the world. For over four decades his films have been characterized by their biographic nature and have won several awards. He has achieved great fame from films like La Dolce Vita and Amarcord. He began his career in the field of art journalism.

Fare un Film was translated by Naji Rizq and Suhaila Taibi. Born in Cairo and living in Rome, Rizq is a translator and filmmaker. He currently works for the Italian TV channel Rai. Rizq studied to be a film director at several Italian universities and has made a variety of TV programmes and films. Suhaila Taibi is an Algerian journalist and writer living in Rome. She monitors the situation of Arab women in the Diaspora covered by the Italian press. She has had several studies published on the same subject.