Afghan Women: A History of Struggle (Afghanistan)
2006 60 min. Special
Preview Screening for MESA FilmFest 2006. Director:
Kathleen Foster. A fiscally-sponsored
project of the New York Foundation of the Arts. In
Pashto and English with English subtitles and narration.
Courtesy of the filmmaker. (Cineforum)
At last, a concise, well-made documentary
chronicling the history of women’s struggle for their
rights in Afghanistan. Excellent historic footage of pre-Taliban
and Soviet era Afghanistan. Filmmaker Kathleen Foster (Point
of Attack) casts her journalistic eye to provide insight
and a holistic view of the history of the Afghan women’s
movement.
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All About
Darfur (Sudan/United Kingdom) 2005 82 min.
Director/Producer: Taghreed Elsanhouri. In Arabic
and English with English subtitles. Distributor:
California Newsreel.
Director Taghreed Elsanhouri made this film “out
of a passionate belief that I was uniquely qualified to
tell a story of race because as a northerner in Sudan I
know what it is to belong to a dominant group and as a
black woman in Britain living with racism I know what it
must be like to live marginalized as a minority in Sudan.
It is this double consciousness that informs my story.” She
returns to Sudan to see how the seemingly racially harmonious
country of her memories could have become the scene of
not one but two of the worst instances of ethnic cleansing
in recent African history.
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Arab American Comedy Tour (USA)
2005 90 min. In English. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution.
Following on the heels of the successful Comedy, Middle
Eastern Style (FilmFest
2005), this year’s comedy tour cuts even deeper into what it means to be
Arab and/or Arab American in the current political climate. This DVD features
live performances by comedians Ahmed Ahmed (22), Dean Obeidallah (40), and Maysoon
Zayid (29). FilmFest will screen Ahmed Ahmed’s and Maysoon Zayid’s
routines. See Ahmed Ahmed also in Just Your Average Arab.
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Arabs and
Terrorism (USA) 2006 135 min. 3 episodes of
45 min. each. Director: Bassam Haddad; Producer:
John Warner for Quilting Point Productions. With
English subtitles and English narration. Courtesy
of the filmmaker. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution.
Episode 1: “Terrorism”;
Episode 2: “State Terrorism”; Episode 3: “Terrorism
and Resistance”. FilmFest will screen Episode
2.
This documentary project critically examines the dominant discourse in the
West, particularly in the United States, about the supposed relationship between
Arabs and Terrorism. The project is divided into three miniseries filmed across
the globe (USA, France, UK, Netherlands, Spain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine,
and Israel). It includes 95 distinguished interviewees in 10 countries, and
dozens of street interviews.
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Battle for Islam (All
Middle East) 2006 63 min. A BBCW Production. In English
with English narration and subtitles. Distributor:
Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
This program follows scholar Ziauddin Sardar
on a journey covering Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan,
Malaysia and Indonesia with a particular focus of
Islam after 9/11. He encounters a wide variety of
opinions and interpretations of Sharia. A useful
teaching tool to confront the myth of a monolithic “Islam.”
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The Battle
of Algiers (Algeria) 1966 121 min. Director:
Gillo Pontecorvo. Distributor:
The Criterion Collection.
An anniversary “encore” presentation,
aka “The Terrorist Manifesto.” Named “one
of the most influential political films in history,” The
Battle of Algiers was privately screened in August for
military personnel by the Pentagon as a field guide to
fighting terrorism.
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Be Fruitful and Multiply (Israel/USA)
2006 52 min. Director/Writer: Shoshi Shlam; Producers:
Shoshi Shlam and Marek Rozenbaum. In English, Hebrew
with English subtitles. Distributor:
First Run Icarus Films.
Interviews with and a window into a “day in the life” of
three Jewish women with their mandate of consecutive
childbearing. How do they cope with the
sheer numbers of children, religious rules regulating fertility, and the physical
and psychological toll on themselves, the families and society? A dilemma for
some, a blessing for others. Who gets to choose?
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CAIRO STATION (Bab
el Hadid) (Egypt) 1958 74 min. Director: Yousef Chahine.
In Arabic with English subtitles.
Distributor: Arab Film
Distribution.
In this beautiful classic film, Cairo’s main
railroad station is used to represent all of Egyptian society.
A crippled newspaper dealer, Kinawi (Chahine himself),
falls in love with the beautiful but indifferent Hanuma,
a lemonade seller who only has eyes for the handsome Abu
Sri’. Swept away by his obsessive desire, Kinawi
kidnaps the object of his passion, with terrible consequences.
Chahine received international recognition when this masterpiece
of sexuality, repression, madness and violence among society’s
marginalized played at the Berlin Film Festival, where
it was nominated for a Golden Bear in 1958.
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Crossing the Bridge: The Sound
of Istanbul (Turkey) 2006 90 min. Director:
Fatih Akin. In Turkish with English subtitles. Distributor:
Strand Releasing.
This film by critically acclaimed director Fatih Akin
(Head On ) presents
an “infectiously enjoyable” survey of contemporary Turkish music.
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Encomium (Turkey) 2002
9 min. Director: Levent Arslan; Producer: Gl Gurkan.
In Turkish with English subtitles. Distributor:
Metin Gunay, MG Film.
A lovingly produced, poetic tour of Istanbul through the eyes of master photojournalist,
Ara Guler, and conversations with Enis Batur.
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The Fabulous
Samia Gamal (Egypt) 2003 84 min. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution
This film collection features some of the “national
dancer of Egypt”, Samia Gamal’s most celebrated
performances. MESA FilmFest will screen short segments
throughout the Fest as time permits.
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Faces
of the Other (USA) 2006 5 min. Director: Tania
Kamal-Eldin. In English. Courtesy of the filmmaker.
A video art piece with the focus on the individual as
compared to the stereotype
of “the other”.
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FREE ZONE (Israel/Palestine)
2005 91 min. Director/Filmmaker: Amos Gitai. In Arabic,
English, Hebrew with English subtitles. Distributor:
New Yorker Films.
Two women embark on an eight-hour drive across borders
with a trunk full of someone
else’s baggage–an apt metaphor for the region. Director Amos Gitai
takes the viewer on a claustrophobic road trip where uncertainty is certain and
emotions run high. Come along for a ride of discovery as experienced by three
powerful women actors.
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The Genocide
in Me (Canada/Armenia/Turkey) 2005 53 min.
Director/filmmaker: Araz Artinian; Producer: Inform
Action, L’Amour en l’an 2000 Inc./Twenty
Voices. In Armenian/English with English subtitles
and narration. Distributor:
Twenty Voices.
The film is a somewhat autobiographical journey in which Canadian-Armenian
filmmaker Araz Artinian confronts the reality of her ethnicity within the Canadian
melting pot of cultures. Examines and highlights the enormous effort to keep
a culture alive and intact.
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Grass: A Nation’s Battle
for Life (Persia/USA) 1925 70 min. Directors/Producers:
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack and Marguerite
Harrison. Distributor:
Milestone Film and Video.
An anniversary “encore” presentation of
the 1925 silent documentary film which follows a branch
of the Bakhtiari tribe of Iran as they and their
herds make their seasonal journey to better pastures. The film has since been
remastered in high definition; with higher quality tinting and toning based on
the original nitrate, and features an enhanced soundtrack. Taffy Bodman championed
this film from its first release.
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Hats of Jerusalem (Israel)
2005 52 min. Director: Nati Adler. In Arabic, Armenian,
Hebrew with English subtitles and narration. Distributor:
First Run Icarus Films.
A visitor to Jerusalem is immediately struck by the incredible
variety of people–of
different ethnicities, nationalities and religions who throng the narrow passageways
of the old city. It soon becomes clear that specific groups within this crowd,
almost all of whom sport headgear of varying shapes, sizes, textures and colors,
can be distinguished by their hats. This film delightfully touches on the various
communities of Jerusalem from rock-playing Armenian monks to the most orthodox
of Jews.
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Hide Your Words (Iran)
2003 (released 2006) 27 min. Director: Behnam Behzadi.
In Persian with English subtitles. Distributor:
The Cinema Guild, Inc.
This film is an intimate look at a modern Bakhtiari family, trying to preserve
a traditional way of life. Using a seemingly straightforward approach, director
Behnam Behzadi talks to the family members still living at home: husband, wife,
focusing on the two youngest daughters, while their visiting elder brother looks
on. The interviews reveal the dilemmas the family faces in their struggle to
reconcile tribal life versus modernity.
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Impasse (Canada) 2006
10 min. Director/Filmmaker: Aliaa
Khachouk. In Arabic and English with English subtitles.
Courtesy of the filmmaker.
A conversation among immigrant friends of their variety of responses to opportunity
(or the lack thereof), discrimination and their common Arabic cultural identity.
What do success and failure mean in the context of old world, new world?
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I Named Her Angel (Turkey)
2006 27 min. Director/Filmmaker: Nefin
Dinc. In Turkish with English subtitles. Courtesy
of the filmmaker. (Cineforum)
This documentary follows 12-year-old Turkish girl, Elif, as she learns the basics
of Mevlevism. It follows Elif through the course of a year, witnessing her learning
how to do the sema, wearing the tenure, learning about the religion, and performing
at the centuries-old Galata Mevlevi Temple.
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Independent
Film & Television College in Baghdad Student
Films (Iraq) 2005 Curated by Maysoon
Pachachi. In Arabic and English with English
subtitles. Films shown courtesy of the IFTVC.
(Cineforum)
1 Baghdad
Days (Hiba Bassem) 35 min.
Hiba Bassem, a young woman from Kirkuk, returns to Baghdad after the war to
finish her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. The film is a diary of her
year as she tries to find a place to live, looks for work, graduates from college,
deals with family problems and struggles to come to terms with her position
as a woman on her own.
2 Hiwar
(Kifaya Saleh) 12 min.
For years a group of Iraqi artists and writers had wanted to establish a cultural
centre in Baghdad. After 8 years of devastating war with Iran, the Gulf War
of 1991 and the ongoing sanctions, it was clear that there was no point in
waiting for peace. So the Hiwar Centre was opened in an old house in 1992 and
is now being rebuilt.
3 Omar Is My Friend (Mounaf Shaker) 15 min.
A student at Baghdad University works as a taxi driver to support his wife
and 4 daughters. As he negotiates his clapped out taxi around checkpoints,
tanks and traffic jams, he talks about work, lack of petrol, electricity, having
daughters in a male-dominated society, his personal aspirations and those of
his society.
4 Let
The Show Begin (Dhafir Taleb) 15 min.
Amid the bombs and chaos that is Baghdad, a group of young people manage to
put on a short film festival.
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Iraq in Fragments (Iraq)
2006 94 min. Director: James Longley. In Arabic and English
with English subtitles. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution. (Producer John Sinno in attendance.)
Filmmaker James Longley illuminates post-war Iraq in
three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled
in different directions by religion and ethnicity.
Filmed in cinema verité style, the film explores the lives of ordinary
Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once
personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today.
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The Judge and the Fanatic: Koranic
Duels Against Terror (Yemen) 2005 56 min. Directors:
Dagmar Diebels and Tom Meffert. In Arabic with English
narration and subtitles. Distributor:
ZINNOBER Film.
Faced with threat of being categorized as a nest of
terrorism, the southern Arabian state of Yemen has
revived the Islamic tradition of dialogue. Judge Hamoud
al
Hitar and former al-Qaida fighter Rashad, discuss behavior, beliefs and law as
prescribed by the Koran. Use of “the dialogue” has rehabilitated
over 350 Islamic fanatics and integrated them back into Yemeni society.
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Justice at Agadez (Niger)
2005 79 min. Director: Christian LeLong. With English
subtitles. Distributor: First Run Icarus
Films.
Come and watch sharia law in action. The audience gets
to experience the nuances
and realities of Qur’anic law as practiced in a village in Niger. “A
gold mine for researchers.” The local “Cadi” shows great insight
into his fellow villagers’ behaviors and motives while adjudicating their
disputes under the watchful eye of the camera.
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Just Your Average Arab (USA)
2006 19 min. Director: Raouf
Zaki; Producer: RA Vision Productions. In English.
Distributor: RA Vision Productions. (Director Raouf Zaki
in attendance.)
This delightful short film is an Arab American survival guide for a post-9/11
USA. A brainstorming session provides great comedy while cutting to the quick
about stereotypes, paranoia and cultural ignorance. Stars stand-up comedian Ahmed
Ahmed. |
Linda and Ali, Two Worlds Within
Four Walls (Qatar/USA) 2005 94 min. Director:
Lut Vandekeybus. In Arabic and English. Distributor:
Women Make Movies.
Ali Saigal with his wife Linda, married twenty years, have been raising their
seven children in a traditional Islamic home in Doha, Qatar. Linda, a Catholic
from Arizona meets Ali in college in the 80s. They confront the hurdles of life,
but with a distinct cultural twist. Good on oh so many levels.
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Malalai: Policewoman of Kandahar (Afghanistan)
2006 Director: Polly Hyman. In Pashto with English subtitles. Distributor:
Filmakers Library.
In the dangerous, male-oriented world of Kandahar, home to drug smugglers and
terrorists, a policewoman, Malalai Kakar, is blazing the way for women. Unhindered
by her heavy burka and armed to the teeth, this mother of six chases wife-beaters,
murderers and thieves across Afghanistan.
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Measures of Distance (England)
1988 15 min. Artist/Filmmaker: Mona Hatoum. In Arabic
and English with English narration. Distributor:
Women Make Movies.
Palestinian-born video and performance artist Mona Hatoum explores the renewal
of friendship between mother and daughter during a brief family reunion in war-torn
Lebanon in 1981. A beautiful art piece best experienced when viewed in its entirety.
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MEN AT WORK (Iran)
2006 75 min. Director: Mani Haghighi; Producer: Mohammad
Reza Takhtkeshian. In Persian with English subtitles. Distributor:
Film Movement.
This film tells the story of four
old friends who, driving back from a failed skiing
trip, encounter a strange and enormous rock. The men’s
frivolous attempt to dislodge the rock gradually disintegrates
into a tale of betrayal, defeat and renewed hope. The
heroes of the film are doctors, engineers and businessmen
in the throes of mid-life crises. The absurd phallic
rock venture gives rise to great pathos.
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Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason (Salman
Rushdie) (USA) 2006 57 min. In English. Distributor:
Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
Bill Moyers conducts a civil and intelligent conversation with Salman Rushdie
regarding the rise of Islamic extremism. He talks candidly about the Iranian
call for a fatwah and its impact on the past ten years of his life. Included
are excerpts from the PEN conference convened by Rushdie, a reading from the
novel, The Satanic Verses, and more.
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Muslim Women Talk About Sex (France)
2006 41 min. Director: Sophie Jeanneau. In Arabic and
French with English subtitles. Distributor:
Filmakers Library.
In today’s Arab-Muslim culture, the most taboo
subject for women is still sex. In this film, eight Muslim
women living in France speak out frankly about
their sexual education and experience in relation to Islamic tradition. This
remarkable film gives voice to women with the courage to break centuries of taboos
and acknowledge their sexual nature.
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A NEW DAY IN OLD SANA'A (Yemen)
Director: Bader Ben Hirsi; Producer: Abbas Abdali. In
Arabic and English with English subtitles. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution.
A romantic tale, set in old Sana’a: cultural taboos abound, a mysterious
beauty wearing the gift meant for another, add up to an eventual “clash” of
tradition versus heart. Tariq, the handsome young son of a wealthy and highly
respected aristocrat, falls madly in love with the mystery woman. But things
are not quite what they seem. Hailed as the first feature from Yemen, this breathtaking
film uses the ancient city of Sana’a as its exquisite setting.
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Occupied Minds (Israel/Palestine)
2005 58 min. Directors/Producers: Jamal Dajani & David
Michaelis. In Arabic, English, Hebrew with English subtitles. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution.
The film follows Palestinian-American journalist Jamal Dajani and Israeli journalist
David Michaelis as they travel together to Jerusalem, their mutual birthplace.
Together they hope to offer unique insights into the divisive Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. An inner and outer journey, with conversations on a good range of opinions.
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The Other Side of Burka (Iran)
2004 52 min. Director: Mehrdad Oskouel. In Persian with
English subtitles. Distributor:
Cinema Guild.
On the southern Iranian island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf, the women not only
wear a headscarf, but also a special type of burka, a pinching mask of black
bands pressing against the eyebrows and nose, and ending in a point just above
the mouth. Against strict religious rules, these women talk openly about their
physical and emotional suffering. Filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouel documents an extreme
examples of face-veiling and makes every effort to give these women a voice. |
Our Own Private Bin Laden (Canada/Switzerland)
2006 63 min. Director: Samira Goetschel; Producer: Chasté
Films, Inc. Productions. In English. Distributor:
Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
Would the collapse of the Soviet Union have been possible
without American sponsorship of Islamic fundamentalism?
Did US policies pave the way for 9/11? Does the American
media help sustain Osama Bin Laden’s popularity? This documentary studies
the machinations of key players—the CIA, Bin Laden, Afghani mujahideen
and opium traders, Presidents Carter and Reagan, the Bank of Credit and Commerce
International, and others—as the Cold War morphed into the War on Terror.
Includes interviews with Milton Bearden, former CIA station chief in Pakistan;
Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; and Noam Chomsky. Notable
is Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and architect of the
Carter administration’s plan to draw the Soviet Union into a Vietnam-style
conflict in Afghanistan.
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Playing the News (USA)
2005 20 min. Directors: Jeff Plunkett and Jigar Mehta.
In English. Distributor:
First Run Icarus Films.
Playing the News profiles the first video game
company to consider itself a legitimate news organization,
taking us from the company’s Manhattan
offices equipped with satellite technology, to the frontlines of the war in
Iraq. Playing the News is a provocative examination of whether video games
are a revolutionary new way to engage young people in current events or an
unethical marketing gimmick that merely seeks to exploit war. |
Sacred Traditions in Sacred
Places (Tajikistan) 2005 55 min. Director: Safar
Aqdodov; Research Coordinator: Sharofat Mamadambarova
for the Aga Khan Humanities Project for Central Asia
(AKHP), Tajikistan. In Tajik with English subtitles
and narration. For information, contact: Sharofat
Mamadambarova.
Sacred Traditions in Sacred Places is an award-winning documentary
that depicts the living traditions of Badakshani Ismailis. The video shows
footage of the sacred practice of chirag roshan, which has never before been
filmed. Also chronicled are traditions of shrine visitations and how the teachings
attributed to Nasir Khusraw color the lives of the people and their connections
to nature and the environment.
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Saudi Solutions (Saudi
Arabia) 2006 77 min. Director: Bregtje van der Haak;
Producer: VPRO Television. In English with translation
as needed. Distributor:
First Run Icarus Films.
Filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak gets permission to film the lives of working women
in Saudi Arabia where only five percent of women has paid employment. In a personal
road movie, she explores how working women in Saudi Arabia search for new opportunities,
combining Islamic tradition and the latest technologies. Fascinating access to
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the fifth richest man on earth, who is using his personal
capital to promote the acceptance of women in the Saudi workplace. The film shows
clearly the dance between religion and the hope of a secular existence.
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Stories of Women in Kabul (Afghanistan)
2006 27 min. Director: Birgitta Schülke; Program
Producer: Hanne Schön; Executive Producer: Arno
Hefner for DWTV. In Pashto and Dutch with English subtitles. Distributor:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
The producers of this program were granted unlimited
access to Kabul’s
Baghe Aznana (Garden of Women), perhaps the only public place in Afghanistan
where men are not welcome. Here, women can gather, dance, and remove their burquas
without fear of violence or alienation. In stark contrast, a women’s prison
is also visited. Small steps of change and hope. |
That Paradise
Will Be Mine (The Netherlands) 2005 50 min.
Director: Merel Beernink. In Dutch with English subtitles. Distributor:
Women Make Movies.
A frank portrayal of what it
means to be a Dutch Muslim, this insightful film
follows
the lives of three women dealing with the consequences
of their choice to convert to Islam. Ms. Beernink focuses
on their day-to-day lives, how their choices have impacted
families, and lets each woman speak in her own voice.
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The Tenth
Planet: A Single Life in Baghdad (Iraq) 2004
38 min. Director: Melis Birder for InHouse Projects.
In Arabic with English subtitles. Distributor:
Filmakers Library.
Kawkab (the “tenth planet”)
leads us around her world in post-Saddam Baghdad: the
streets, a beauty shop, the school where she works,
and a couple of neighborhoods. The ultimate solution: “If
you have a good job; your belly is full; you will forget
all about Saddam.” The film touches on all of
the problematic questions, from security to the contentious
Shia/Sunni relationship.
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The Translation
Project (USA) 2005 18 min. Filmmaker Niloufar
Talebi. Producer: Sharlyn Sawyer, Ballet Afsaneh
Art and Culture Society. In Persian with English
narration.
Courtesy of the filmmaker. (Niloufar Talebi in attendance.)
The
Translation Project seeks to bring modern Persian
poetry to an English-speaking audience. Four poems
are set as performance art pieces. “Tomorrow”, by
Abbas Saffari; “Night”, by Majid Naficy; “A Bird
is a Bird”,
based on the poetry of Abbas Saffari; and “My Mother
Did Not Become Beautiful”, based on the poetry of
Reza Farmand. The work is both delicate and thought-provoking.
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VIVA LALDJÉRIE (Algeria/France)
2004 113 min. Director/Filmmaker: Nadia Moknèche.
In French and Arabic with English subtitles. Distributor:
Film Movement.
This movie portrays three women living in today’s
Algeria between modern society and Islamic fundamentalism,
self-determination and dependence. Goucem,
a young photographer and mistress of a rich businessman, her mother Papicha,
a former cabaret star, and her best friend Fifi, a prostitute, all live in a
hotel in the city center of Algiers. Their difficult personal situations and
the growing influence of Islam lead to dramatic consequences.
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| Women of the Holy Kingdom (Saudi
Arabia) 2005 56 min. Producers: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy,
Jay Keuper, Maiken
Baird. In Arabic and English with English subtitles and
narration. Courtesy of the filmmaker. Distributor: Sharmeen
Obaid Films.
Obaid (Reinventing the Taliban?)
travels across Saudi Arabia to explore why the Muslim
religion’s holiest
land treats half its population as second-class citizens.
From segregated restaurants, to banks and shopping
malls, the film provides a rare look at the life of
Saudi woman. From all-women factories to a women’s
conference and a gathering of intellectuals, the film
also provides an unprecedented look at the faces behind
the emerging women’s movement.
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