Whatever Lola wants is a movie by Nabil Ayouch, French director of Moroccan descent. It revolves around Lola, an American young woman, who goes to Egypt to learn belly dancing. 

The movie was shot mainly in English but we also get to hear a couple of words and sentences in Arabic (in dialect that is)

In the interview available on the DVD ,the director explains that he wanted to challenge the stereotypes and prejudices Americans may have about the Arab world, but he wasn’t  about to present an idealized image of it either. He also wanted his Arab viewers to look at what is dysfunctional in their societies.

A scene in the movie has a particular resonance in light of the current events in Egypt, where women recently came out to protest against sexual harassment. There seem to be in the country quite a dreadful pattern in this matter and I thought that was hinted at when Lola, wandering by night on the streets of Cairo, is accosted by a young man who, soon after inquiring about her nationality, asks her for sex.

Obviously, there are other ways this scene can be read: One might say this kind of behavior exists the world over, which is true.

One might also wonder if this young man would have had the same attitude toward an Egyptian woman. I mean, let’s be honest- Americans in particular and Westerners in general may be prejudiced about Arabs, but it also works the other way around. Many Arabs view us Westerners, as people with loose morals, if any, and therefore consider Western women easy prey.

Although not a great movie, Whatever Lola wants is quite entertaining and worth watching, especially if you are interested in intercultural dialogue.

I am now going to try to render into Arabic what I wrote above, but since my Arabic is not nearly as good as my English, this will just be a summary. Corrections and suggestions from people proficient in both languages are welcome.

والآن بالعربية اختصارًا
كل ما تريده لولا فيلم لنبيل عيوش مخرج فرنسي من أصل مغربي
 هذا الفيلم قصة فتاة أمريكية تسافر إلى مصر لتتعلم الرقص الشرقي
 أغلب الفيلم بالانكليزية و لكن فيه أيضًا بعض كلمات و جمل بالعربية
  بين المخرج أن قصده كان أن يغير صورة العالم العربي لدى الأمريكان و لكن لم تكن نيته الزعم أن المجتمعات العربية بدون عيب
كان أيضًا يريد مشاهديه العرب أن يضعوا على أنفسهم نظرًا ناقدًا