News article
Who Killed Lawrence of Arabia? Sussex academic helps shed new light in award-winning documentary
Dr Feras Alkabani, Senior Lecturer in Arabic and Comparative Literature in the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, and Trustee of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), is one of the major contributors to Mark Griffin’s award-winning feature documentary, Who Killed Lawrence of Arabia?.
Released in the UK on 1 November, the film has already won 5 awards at major European film festivals, including Best Feature Documentary at the Paris and Florence Film Awards, and the Milan Gold Awards.
The documentary investigates the motorcycle crash that resulted in the death of T.E. Lawrence, a British archaeological scholar and military strategist, best known for his controversial role in the Arab Revolt during World War I and for his personal narrative of the campaign in his book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926).
Feras said, ‘This has been my third contribution to a documentary film on T.E. Lawrence and Orientalist art and literature. As an established expert in my academic field, I get invited to contribute to similar films, documentaries, political features, etc, which is a great way to engage with the public and disseminate knowledge beyond academia – it’s also fun and rewarding in many ways; I feel I’ve developed new presentational skills through these media engagements. Oh, and I’ve also got an IMDb profile created for me! It’s a perfect way to bridge the gap between academia and general knowledge and I look forward to my next media project.’
The documentary film is currently on a UK tour and there will be a special screening at the University of Sussex on Friday, 15 November 2024, before its release on terrestrial TV and streaming services.
The film release coincides with Dr Alkabani’s publication of his monograph, Richard Burton, T.E. Lawrence and the Culture of Homoerotic Desire , in which he explores Orientalist depictions of the Arab East through the eyes of Sir Richard Burton and T.E. Lawrence. The book (published by Bloomsbury on 17 October 2024), has already received excellent reviews and endorsements from major academics in the field, including Marina Warner, Caroline Rooney and Wen-chin Ouyang. A prestigious launch event has been organised by Bloomsbury and H/Advisors Maitland in central London on 6 November 2024.
Earlier this year, Dr Alkabani was nominated for a ‘Research Impact Award’ and a ‘Teaching to Disrupt Award’ and also published a chapter, ‘Marco: A Levantine Queer Encounter in London’, in the latest Routledge Handbook on Arab Cinema (June 2024).