ongoing

Don't know about you, but when I was in high school my history courses concerned the US and Western Civilization. There was almost the unspoken agreement that nothing else mattered and, as a kid, I didn't really question it. Didn't all that matter concern these areas? Hopelessly naive and stupid, I know. But I'll also confess I didn't get much more world history in college - that's when we specialize, y'know - and what I've picked up I've done on my own. I'm kind of enjoying Newsweeks new, more worldly focus - even if the articles are brief, there's acknowledgment that in this self-absorbed land of ours, other places and people matter. I bring this up because I went to the opening party/screening at the Museum of Science for the film "Arabia," where 2000 years of Arabian history is compressed into a 45-minute film. Sumptuously so, as it's at the Omni IMAX Theatre, which means you climb the steep stairs, sit down, gaze up and around in wonder as this panoramic world surrounds you. Saudi-Arabaian film-maker Hamzah Jamjoom, 24, was there at the opening to share his views on being hired first as an assistant cameraman and then, when director/producer David MacGillivray discovered what he knew about the culture and how he spoke, he became one of the key narrators. (British actress Helen Mirren also lends her voice.) Hamzah is a bilingual film student at DePaul. When McGillivray asked if he wanted a bigger role, Hamzah said, "Bring it on!"

He introduced the film by saying one goal was "to separate myth from reality, to be honest about representing this culture." He noted, "We do not ride camels anymore." (Well, some people do, but it's not exactly the main mode of transportation.) He talked about the heat of filming - 120 degrees in the desert - the two years it took.
There is lot of information and dazzling images packed into a short film.  It takes us back to ancient Arabia and up to modern Saudi Arabia. (There's animation and live footage, much of it breathtaking.) The Bedoins and the sheiks all show up. The camels, the ultra-modern architecture. The devotion to the Muslim faith is explained - and the shots of the Muslims during hajj to Mecca. (As an agnostic, I just kind of sit back and not be judgemental. It's where I try to keep my own thoughts out of it. An ex-Catholic I have trouble with pretty much any religion and Islam is the focus of the latter part of this film. Bowing five times a day, facing Mecca, kissing the Grand Mosque. Reminded me of some of the Catholic rituals I ditched a long time ago. Hamzah referenced 9/11 and the fact that the beliefs that led to that attack were not the beliefs of Muslims - and there's an estimated one billion - worldwide.)

What we learned, though: That there were two Golden Ages of Islam - and maybe a third on the way. We learned about the science that came before the Renaissance, the territory that was conquered ... the empire collapsed and isolation started. Things began to change in 1930 when oil was discovered; and the Saudi king had the attention and audience of FDR, and formed a US-Saudi alliance. In Riyadh, the Saudis have built the massive Higher Education Center. Watching "Arabia," you'll find some questions unanswered but you'll also find a world, past and present, opening up. The 3-D CGI is terrfic. Admission: $9.

1 Science Park, 617-723-2500 www.mos.org