Arab Film Festival Australia (formerly known as Sydney Arab Film Festival) continues to develop and grow, the team working closely to bring local and international Arab films to Australian audiences. Later in the year the Festival will officially launch their national touring program commencing with screenings in the Sydney CBD and then onto Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide.

FESTIVAL DIRECTORS

 

MOUNA ZAYLAH is an experienced arts and cultural development worker and event manager with over 16 years of experience working in diverse settings and a range of organisations. She has worked on a range of projects including theatre productions, festivals and multimedia projects and exhibitions. Some of her previous employers include: Urban Theatre Projects, South-Sydney Youth Services and Casula Powerhouse. She is currently the Cultural Development Program Manager at the Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) overseeing a range of projects including the Urban Music Project, Youth Digital Cultures, Western Sydney Screen Culture Project, Create Media! Refugee Multimedia Training Project and the Digital Storytelling Project. Since 2007, she has been Co-Director of the Sydney Arab Film Festival.

FADIA KISRWANI ABBOUD is a filmmaker and community worker, combining community cultural development practices and digital media. Her work includes “I Remember 1948″, a documentary that was screened on SBS in 2008. Fadia is working on her latest short film, “Big Trouble, Little Fish”. She also works as a trainer on a range of digital storytelling projects such as “Changing Lives” and “Refugee All-Stars”. She has been involved in the Sydney Arab Film Festival since its inception in 2001 as a participating filmmaker, and on the 2004, 2005 festival committee and most recently as Co-Director of the Sydney Arab Film Festival 2007-2009.

PUBLICIST Janine Collins GRAPHIC DESIGN Meiying Saw SPONSORSHIP Mohamed Duar SHOE THROWER ANIMATION Layal Naji FESTIVAL MASH-UP VIDEO & MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT Paul Laoumitzis FESTIVAL TASTER PROMO Vanna Seang VIDEO ARTIST Fadle Elharris WEBSITE DESIGN and DEVELOPMENT Maissa Alameddine - MEDIALOFT

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

DR PAULA ABOOD is a community cultural development worker, writer, director and educator. She has written for film, radio, performance and literary publications. She is currently writing essays for a blog ‘Race and the City’ as part of a Western Sydney Artists’ Fellowship, Arts NSW. She works with refugee and migrant communities on storytelling and film projects.

CHARLES BILLEH is a Palestinian actor and filmmaker whose work focuses on the themes of identity, racism, war, religion and spirituality. He has made a number of short films which have screened at various festivals and exhibitions, and performed in numerous theatre productions across Sydney and NSW. He has completed an advanced Certificate IV in acting from the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art and is currently working with Lococrabz Productions.

MOHAMED DUAR works in the field of human rights for Amnesty International. He holds a Bachelor degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, as well as Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Information and Cultural Exchange.

ALISSAR GAZAL has been working in the Australian film industry since 1994 and was associate producer on “Billal” (1995) and most recently on “Temple of Dreams” (2007). She has extensive experience working on a range of community and educational theatre productions. She recently produced and directed a documentary that explores the experiences of Lesbians in Lebanon.

FIRAS NAJI is an environmental consultant and a community activist. He has participated in a range of arts and community events with a view to educating the wider Australian community about the issues affecting Iraqi communities. He is a member of the Arab Council Australia, a management committee member for the Canterbury-Bankstown Migrant Resource Centre, and a member of the Auburn Arabic Calligraphy Group.

JOANNE SAAD is a Photo and Video artist, teacher and CCD practitioner who has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally in group and solos shows. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Art Education from College of Fine Arts, University of NSW.

KHALED SABSABI is an audio-visual installation artist and a CCD practitioner who has worked and exhibited locally and internationally for over 20 years. His work is politically engaged, symbolising the extremities of selective ignorance demonstrated by both East / West and the lack of any meaningful dialogue or cultural exchange. He holds a Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of NSW. Most recently he composed the soundtrack for Cedar Boys, Australian feature film which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and will later be released in cinemas

SALEH SAQQAF is a journalist, broadcaster and media trainer . Performer who has worked with varius theatre productions including Sydney theatre company , Sidetrack and bilingual community theatre.

OMEIMA SUKKARIEH has been working with communities for over 14 years. She has worked for a range of organisations such as the Australian Human Rights Commission in the Race Discrimination Unit including projects such as Isma - Listen: national consultations on eliminating prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australians (Isma Project) and Living Spirit: Muslim women and human rights national project. She also assisted in the management of the Unlocking Doors: Muslim communities and police tackling racial and religious discrimination and hatred project. In her current role as Manager and Community Development Officer at Auburn Community Development Network, she works closely with diverse communities on a variety of arts, youth and community development programs, and most recently successfully producing a theatre production Walking In My Shoes. Omeima is also a cross cultural community consultant, artist and poet.