Mustache
A film set in old Kuwait, depicting the life of a man who is unable to grow a moustache. Screened in the Makhlouta Session
Arabian Nights Animation Collection
World Premiere Animation is nothing new to Arab filmmakers. When Walt Disney was beginning work on Snow White and Seven Dwarfs in the 1930s, a small group was also at work in Egypt, creating a film for the Ministry of Defence. The film, National Defense (1939), deployed animation in the propaganda war against the Nazi invasion of Egypt in World War II. Today a new generation of Arab animators is at work in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco and Middle East.Their work draws on a rich tradition of folklore, from the ArabianNights to the legends of Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba and Scheherazade, as ...
The Time That Remains
The Time That Remains is a powerful personal depiction of Palestine since 1948 by Elia Suleiman, the acclaimed director of Divine Intervention and Chronicle of a Disappearance. In Suleiman’s own words this ‘is a semi-biographical film in four episodes, about a family, my family, from 1948 until recent times. The film is inspired by my father’s private diaries, starting from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948, and by my mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country since that time. Combined with my intimate memories of them and with them, the film attempts to portray ...
Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story
A sharp observation of Egyptian society, Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story uses the classic Arabian Nights framework of a story within a story. Hebba Younis (Mona Zakki), is a contemporary, fiercely independent talk-show host. Married to Karim Hassan (Hassan El Raddad), a needy and opportunistic newspaper editor for a government-owned daily, Hebba is asked to forfeit the success of her career for the professional ambitions of her husband. In the eyes of government officials, before Karimmay ascend his own political and professional ladder, he must persuade his wife to soften the blazingly critical tone she broadcasts across the nation. Afraid of ...
Kick Off
Australian Premiere A humane and eloquently voiced plea for Iraq’s marginal citizens, and a timely reminder, as the World Cup rages, of the place the game holds in hearts throughout the world. In a half-destroyed Iraqi football stadium, about 300 refugee families are living in a hastily assembled shanty town. The elder son of one of the families is Asu, an idealistic young man who arranges a football match between the Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen and Assyrian boys of the camp, in the hope of cheering up his younger brother and impressing his beautiful neighbour, Hilin. But when the big day rolls around, ...
City of Life
Three fascinating characters live in modern Dubai – a privileged young Arab man at odds with his cultural identity, a disillusioned Indian taxi driver who looks like a famous Bollywood star and a former Romanian ballet dancer searching for love and companionship. These people are about to collide for better or for worse in a city where ambition, growth and opportunity are encouraged and dreams can still be realized. True to Dubai’s cosmopolitan makeup, the cast includes Romanian actress Alexandra Maria Lara, Northern Indian actor Sonu Sood, UAE nationals Saoud Al Ka’abi and Habib Ghuloom, British-based Jason Flemyng, Natalie Dormer and ...
It’s a wrap!!
Drawing to a close in Brisbane last weekend, the Arab Film Festival has wrapped for 2010. Huge congratulations and thanks to our wonderful festival directors Mouna Zaylah and Fadia Abboud, our dedicated AFFA Committee, and the many volunteers whose hard work made the festival possible.
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Filmmakers
Amar Chebib»
Born in Kuwait with a German-Canadian mother and Syrian-French father, Amar Chebib was raised throughout the Arabian-Persian Gulf while receiving a Western education. He started experimenting with filmmaking during his adolescence by contrasting traditional Arab culture with modern Westernisation.
Zayaan Jappie»
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, raised in Johannesburg and Sydney and is currently based in LA. Rima is the first film that she has wrote and directed. She has recently assisted Oscar-nominated Australian director Luke Doolan, and worked in post-production on the indie feature Hesher, which premiered at the Sundance film festival last January.
