In addition to searching by country and language (which will get you the most specific resources), you can try these geographic terms to narrow your subject searches in the catalog. Add these terms after your seach terms (e.g., Popular Culture - Middle East)
Pop Culture in North Africa and the Middle East by
Ideal for students and general readers, this single-volume work serves as a ready-reference guide to pop culture in countries in North Africa and the Middle East, covering subjects ranging from the latest young adult book craze in Egypt to the hottest movies in Saudi Arabia.
Resistance in Contemporary Middle Eastern Cultures by
This study highlights the connections between power, cultural products, resistance, and the artistic strategies through which that resistance is voiced in the Middle East. Exploring cultural displays of dissent in the form of literary works, films, and music, the collection uses the concept of 'cultural resistance' to describe the way culture and cultural creations are used to resist or even change the dominant political, social, economic, and cultural discourses and structures either consciously or unconsciously.
Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook by
This book explores the body and the production process of popular culture in, and on, the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey, and Iran in the first decade of the 21st century, and up to the current historical moment. Essays consider gender, racial, political, and cultural issues in film, cartoons, music, dance, photo-tattoos, graphic novels, fiction, and advertisements.
Ana Lily Amirpour's 2014 A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is "the first Iranian Vampire Western," and was featured in the "Next" program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Critics have lauded the film's genre-bending sensibilities and fresh take on the trope of the vampire love story. Stream the whole film for free on Kanopy (University of Illinois login required), and explore other feature films and documentaries from the Middle East and North Africa.
To find films in the Library catalog, do a subject search for feature films + country. The countries most represented in the library collection include Iran, Israel, Algeria, Egypt, and Turkey.
The Cinema of North Africa and the Middle East by 
Iranian Cinema and Globalization by 
Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film by Hip hop has had a strong influence in the Middle East and North Africa, with the art form influencing social movements across the Arab world. The short film Hip Hop and the Tunisian Revolution, below, explores how Tunisian musicians have used the genre as a way to protest the government and spread their message.
Palestinian rappers are highlighted in the documentary feature Slingshot Hip Hop. Watch the trailer below, and check out the DVD from the library.
Rock in a Hard Place by 
Music and Media in the Arab World by 
Dancing Fear and Desire by The 2008 documentary Zanzibar Soccer Queens follows a group of women in the Muslim nation who fight restrictive gender norms to play soccer. Check out the trailer below and then watch the whole film, available to stream via Alexander Street Press (link goes to the Library catalog).
Shifting Sands: Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa by 
Muslim Women and Sport by 
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by 
Persepolis by 
The Arab of the Future by 
Metro by This interview with Christane Gruber, Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Visual Culture at the University of Michigan and curator of "Creative Dissent," an exhibit that put street art on display at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan in 2013, and Nazeer, an Egyptian street artist whose work was featured in the show, explores the political and creative dimensions of street art. Click on the title above to access a transcript and see a slide show of art from the exhibit.
Revolution Graffiti by
The Egyptian Revolution that began on 25 January 2011 immediately gave rise to a wave of popular political and social expression in the form of graffiti and street art, phenomena that were almost unknown in the country under the old regime. From the simplest hand-written messages, through stencils and martyr portraits, to the elaborate murals of Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the messages on the walls are presented in themed sections - Revolution and Freedom, Egyptian and Proud, Cross and Crescent, Martyrs and Heroes - punctuated by interviews with some of the individual artists whose work has broken fresh ground.
Political Graffiti on the West Bank Wall in Israel/Palestine by
Catalogues images of graffiti in Israel and Palestinian territories. Based on field research conducted by the author in 2008, this book consists of a careful examination of graffiti written on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides of the Israel-built separation wall; and interviews with college students on both sides about the graffiti.
