The film A New Day In Old Sana’a (2005) depicts a Westerner’s veritably misogynistic view of women in Yemeni culture. In particular, the film does so through the lens of the narrator of the story, Federico, an Italian photographer who came to Yemen for his work. Supposedly with the aim of capturing Yemeni culture and, correspondingly, understanding the culture better, he instead ends up disrespecting and fetishizing the women therein, all the while romanticizing and portraying himself as an innocent outsider with a job to do.
Lina Khatib states that one representation of Middle Eastern women from the Western world is that of the, “silent, veiled woman who symbolizes the oppression of Islamic fundamentalism” (Khatib 81). This statement is magnified by the narration of Federico, as he can be noted remarking in the film how Yemen is the “most reluctant in romantic cities,” followed by him regarding a single glimpse of a Yemeni woman’s eyes enough to ‘captivate any man’ (A New Day In Old Sana’a). In this scenario, Federico all at once fetishizes Yemeni women and implies how Islamic culture oppresses them in a way the pushes the envelope of orientalism, thus demeaning the culture as a whole.
Early on in the film, Federico is seen on several occasions taking pictures of women without their permission, knowing that they prefer not to be photographed. His reaction to this is that of frustration and bewilderment. He responds by trying harder and more secretively, thus blatantly disrespecting their cultural needs and personal space. Khatib states about the film The Other (1999), “this representation of women as objects to be desired and controlled ascribes Islamic fundamentalism an Orientalist status where women are constructed as other” (Khatib 89). This example can be applied here, as well, though to a different degree than The Other, but in the way that resembles it very much. Namely, that Federico looks at the women as objects to be desired and controlled for his work and, as previously stated, without their knowledge.
What also makes this particular character rather alarming is the history that the western world has with portraying women from the Middle East in photography. For instance, as Basuli Deb states about historical images taken by the British in the earlier 20th century, “their images literally turn Arab women into still-life objects subjected to violent representation, to be archived as social history of the Arab people” (Deb 167). They go into detail about other ways that the Western world has historically subjugated areas of the Middle East for profit and in more exploitative ways having to do with voyeurism. It is no secret that Muslims in many cultures hold their privacy dear, “Guarding privacy and protecting intimate spaces from the gaze of outsiders is indeed a very important component of Muslim cultures” (Costa 68), and surely Federico would have known this.
The character Federico has more than established himself as a misogynist who fetishizes Yemeni women and has little respect for the culture. He seems to only ever assert his own beliefs and feelings about the situations represented in the film the same way the western culture has involved itself in the Middle East for centuries, as Shafik points out, “It (the Middle East) is dominated by a cultural concept which crystallizes in what Michael R. Real calls the CWAWMP,” which stands for the capitalist, western, adult, white, male, print-oriented person (Shafik 7).
Work Cited
A New Day In Old Sana’a, Directed by Bader Ben Hirsi, Performance by Nabil Saber, Dania
Hammoud, Paolo Romano, Felix Film Entertainment, 2006
Costa, Elisabetta. “Visual Posting: Showing off and Shifting Boundaries between
Private and Public.” Social Media in Southeast Turkey, 1st ed., vol. 3, UCL Press, London,
2016, pp. 49–80, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1g69z14.7.
Deb, Basuli. “Cutting across Imperial Feminisms toward Transnational Feminist
Solidarities.” Meridians, vol. 13, no. 2, 2016, pp. 164–188.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/meridians.13.2.09.
Khatib, Lina. Filming the modern Middle East: Politics in the cinemas of Hollywood and the
Arab world. Vol. 57. IB Tauris, 2006.
Shafik, Viola. Arab cinema: History and cultural identity. American Univ in Cairo Press, 2007.
Through an Arabic Lens: the Intersection of Film and Culture 
I agree with your argument completely. I hadn’t realized the extent that Hirsi absolves Federico of any blame until I read your post. I would like to believe that the director, Bader Ben Hirsi, intentionally made Federico such an uneducated outsider, but I’m wary that this gives Hirsi too much credit.
I thought your example about the history of the Western world in portraying women from the Middle East through photography was really interesting, and really effectively supported your characterization of Federico’s fetishized attitudes towards Yemeni women. I think it could also be interesting to consider the parallels between modern Western photography and earlier schools of European painting, one of which was actually called “Orientalism.”
I agree, Federico was awful. He stalked women and was disrespectful toward their religion. He justified his disregard for saying that the women were oppressed and deserved to be photographed. His views did nothing expect make him look dumb and aloof. Federico in this film is represented as an outsider who was originally accepted purely because of his status and wealth.
I am glad to see that you so vehemently opposed Federico in this film because I did as well. Federico was a real sleezeball and since the director seemed to be just fine with Federico and his actions, it was up to us as the viewers to call Federico out for his loathsome qualities. Your final quote involving the “CWAWMP” was interesting to me because I had never heard the term before.
I could not agree more: Federico is the absolute worst. His narrating of the film is what speaks the most to Orientalism. Although Federico may state remarks “eloquently”, the content of his remarks are of a Western man judging and Eastern culture. The acronym “CWAWMP” could not be more fitting for Federico, as his very role is to fulfill these qualities.
I agree that Federico is a terrible person who had no regard for the rules and customs of the people. He seemed more curious than offensive though in my opinion. Like he didn’t know why any of the thing that occurred did, he was an uneducated person who had no idea what was going on or how to respect others views whether he meant to be disrespectful or not.
I think these are all useful points about Federico, but I tend to think that the director characterized him in this way on purpose. The critique he makes may be subtle, but I think the fact that he tries to understand Yemeni culture and literally capture it on camera and his inevitable inability to do so due to his preconceived stereotypes and beliefs makes the audience critically examine how they interact with other cultures.
Your analysis was very intriguing and well supported. I thoroughly enjoyed how you selected specific themes to convey the disrespect of a culture through a western lens. Federico embodies everything wrong with the intrusion of foreigners into the private space depicted in the film, as he misconstrues the appreciation of a culture and the exploitation of it.
I would like to see a more clear connection between Federico and the outside intrusions to Islamic culture he represents. The magnitude of his offenses were clear, however, and are an important representation of how the Middle East feels intruded upon by Eurocentric perspectives. The blog was focused completely on the reasons why Federico’s photography was inappropriate and provided a thorough explanation.
I think this film portrays Federico as a person who takes photos and shares his thoughts on the culture that he is submerges. In not necessary bad, is just a way to represent how a person from the western would feel in there. He takes picture of women because he knows that is his job and he does not really obey the rules. The film purpose was not to chow Yemeni culture it more how a foreign perceives Yemeni culture.
I found your analysis very entertaining, as well as being extremely enlightening. While viewing this film I could not help but be disgusted by how ignorant and terrible Federico was throughout the film, and I had not even picked up on all of the same things you did. I agree entirely with the title of your piece, as well as the body. Federico as a representation of the West is sadly accurate in my experience, I am glad that watching this film could potentially enlighten some to their ignorant beliefs and behaviors.
What a great post! I think though that it is very interesting how directed this movie was at the outsider(non-Yemeni) to the point where the basic culture had to be explained Sesame Street style. A great example of this is the moment where they explained what nagsh was. A yemeni person would not need this to be explained.
I think you did a great job arguing your point. You made a broad, yet accusatory statement as your main argument but provided specific, sound examples to back it up. You also did a good job tying your argument into the film mentioned by Khatib called “The Other.” This comparison worked fluidly into your dialogue.
Honestly, I could not have agreed more. Just the title alone resonates with me as a viewer. It was great to see you specifically mention each scene in which he displays himself being a horrible person, and why he is one to begin with. I especially like how you mentioned that he fetishes the Yemeni women, which I personally found to be disgusting.
I like that you took a stance against a character who was obviously extremely offensive to anyone who cares about women. By taking pictures and making comments throughout the film, his character created a great argument for this post. The things that he does to carry this misogynistic attitude was well interpreted in your analysis.