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The Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema is arranged alphabetically, with text in bold indicating cross-references to other entries, both within and beyond specific national-geographical boundaries, thus mirroring the national, transnational, and international origins and breadth, and the structural parameters and contradictions, of the subject. Included in addition to the alphabetized entries are a chronology of significant events marking the approximate 110-year history of Middle Eastern cinema; a filmography of titles referenced throughout these pages; a bibliography of useful scholarly texts and reviews—arranged by region and country—that inform the material, thinking, and research contained in this volume; and a list of acronyms and abbreviations for the numerous organizations and agencies also referenced.

Insofar as the great majority of the films discussed in this volume hail from the Middle East, they have been produced in languages other than English. Many are in Arabic, a language that varies considerably across the region, while the Iranian and Turkish films are in the national languages, Persian (or Farsi) and Turkish, respectively. Most Israeli films are in Hebrew, while some films from Lebanon and the Maghreb are in French, as are most of the diasporic films referred to collectively as beur cinema. Similarly, films of the Turkish diaspora are frequently produced in German. Other languages heard in Middle Eastern cinema that are not associated with particular states are Kurdish and Berber/Tamazight.

English transliterations of film titles and the names of individuals in those covered languages which do not use the Roman alphabet (namely, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Kurdish, and Tamazight) vary considerably. Whereas all film titles are listed in the entries to this historical dictionary in their English translations, the filmography also supplies those titles in transliteration. In choosing which transliteration systems to adopt, we have tried to adhere as closely and consistently as possible to the most commonly utilized spellings and translations in scholarly texts and in regional and dialectical contexts. Thus, we have, for instance, generally tried to follow Egyptian vernacular usage in the transliterations of Arabic titles from that country, and the Levantine vernacular usage in the transliterations of Arabic titles from Palestine. The glottal stop signified by the hamza is indicated with a diacritical ’; and by the ayn with a ‘. Maghrebi film titles in Arabic are transliterated according to their preponderant Francophone spellings. The filmography lists all non-English-language films in alphabetical order according to the most commonly used English title, with non-English (and alternative English-language) titles in parentheses.

The Arabic definite article markers, el- (mostly Egyptian figures) and al-, are common, and the entries for individuals whose names begin with them should be sought under those markers. Thus, the famous Egyptian comic Naguib El-Rihani is to be found under E rather than R.

Often a key non-English word used in the text of an entry (e.g., hijab) will appear first in italics, transliterated when appropriate, and followed by the English translation parenthesized and in quotation marks. Subsequently in that entry, only the non-English word or transliteration will be used. If a non-English word has acquired common usage in Anglophone contexts (e.g., Nakba), it will appear in the entry first in italics, while subsequently the italics will be dropped. In other instances, non-English words simply follow their English translations, italicized and in parentheses. Non-English names of organizations and agencies are not differentiated with italics, and, excepting entry titles, their translations are only to be found in the Acronyms and Abbreviations section.