Join us, hear from and contribute to discussion alongside a panel of academics, artists and community activists seeking to trace the hidden journeys of Australia’s own hikayat by sharing, reminiscing, speaking about their own personal and familial experiences. The panel seeks to situate and create a space for critical reflection of diasporic Arab stories and histories within local and transnational contexts.

Speakers:

• Dr. Paula Abood - Academic/Community Development Artist & Activist
• Dr. Anne Monsour - Australian Lebanese Historical Society
• Phil Monsour - Artist & Activist
• Ghenwa Kassrawi - Journalist, Radio 4EB Arabic Program
• Farid Farid - Academic, Performer and Writer

• Date: Saturday 21 November, 2009
• Venue: InTransit Gallery (Ground Floor, Portside Wharf, Remora Road, Hamilton QLD)
• Time: 5-6.30pm
• Cost: Free event

click on image to download the flier.

More information contact Mouna on 02 9897 5744 ext 2 or email mouna.zaylah@ice.org.au

Presented in conjunction with the Arab Film Festival and in partnership with Dendy Portside. Sponsored by Byblos Bar and Bistro. Special thanks to Portside Wharf.

Experience the diversity, complexity and beauty of the Arab world through its film.

This special touring program features the most entertaining, moving and exciting films as voted by audiences from our annual four-day festival held in Parramatta.

Come along and see for yourself why Sydney cinema-goers have fallen in love with the Arab Film Festival.

This has been made possible with the support of our funding bodies and sponsors especially the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

More info on the touring program please go to Calendar and also check out the Ticket and Venue details.

We open this week with a fantastic program of films from across the Arab world. Sexy thrillers, light-hearted comedy, hard-hitting political drama and funky shorts will throw you head first into contemporary Arab experience.

Screening this Thursday to Sunday, over 24 films are selling fast to an audience from across Sydney and Australia. We’ll be joined by directors Samir Habchi from Lebanon (Beirut Open City) and Nicholas Rowe from New Zealand (The Secret World) for special Q&A sessions, along with local filmmakers from the Arab-Australian community.

First up on Thursday is our opening night Australian premiere Captain Abu Raed - the first Jordanian feature film to be screened in Australia and a favourite from the Sundance Film Festival.

From there the festival will lead you through Beirut’s underbelly, into the world of an Algerian scamstress, through the romantic drama of the Ashura festival and onto a Bagdad commuter bus for some laughs.

Take advantage of our marathon package, for $99/69 per adult/concession which gets you in to every film at the festival, excluding opening night - a saving of 20%.

Book online through Riverside Theatres or phone Box Office on 8839 3399.

Come see a film and be entertained at the 5th Arab Film Festival which opens on Thursday 2 July, 2009 at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta with the first Jordanian feature film to be screened in Australia, Captain Abu Raeed. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this drama delves into the lives of everyday people when a lonely janitor working at Amman Airport is mistaken for a pilot.

This years program offers cinema audiences a remarkable contrast of perspectives. Big picture conflicts, touching stories from the heart of people under occupation, of children lost, of lovers smitten, of lives made and destroyed. This unique film festival will screen a collection of the latest features, short films and documentaries that sparkle with the rich and beautiful complexity of Arab cultural, social and political life.

Yallah! Let’s go to the movies.

Films and forum that explore social justice, artistic expression and cultural activism

Screenings include Huriyya and Her Sisters + My Journey + The Secret World.

Huriyya and Her Sisters

Huriyya and Her Sisters is a short animation produced by Bankstown Area Multicultural Network Inc (BAMN) and created by young women from Western Sydney including Alaa Sukkarieh, Asmah Gebara, Aya Sukkarieh,Fatima Gebara, Hend Kandeel, Layal Naji, Leila Darbas, Maysa Succarie, Nahla El Ghazawi, Sara Shehata, Sara Zawit, Sarah Khodr, Sawsan Khodr, Shafigheh Rafat, Soheir El Sayah, Yasmine Khodr with artistic team Paula Abood, Fatima Mawas, Nadyat El Gawley, Meiying Saw, Shaia Kaia, Fadle El-Haris, Mohamed Youssef, Tarek Sawires, Jaime Bohm and Barry Gamba. Khadija finds solace in the spiritual beauty of the moving word.

My Journey

Based on the recollections of the director’s grandfather, Mahmoud Abdi, this film traces his journey from 1948 when he was forced to leave his homeland Palestine to present day Australia where he now lives.

The Secret World

An adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies set in Ramallah, this feature follows a group of Palestinian school children who wake up one day to find all the adults have disappeared.

Forum: Dreaming of 1001 Rights

Guest speakers include:

• Romaine Moreton - Australian Indigenous artist and writer of poetry, prose and film

• Randa Abdel-Fattah, Acclaimed Author, Lawyer and Human Rights Activist

• Nawal Abdi - Director My Journey

• Nicholas Rowe - Director The Secret World

• Aya Sukkarieh and Sarah Khodr - Huriyya and Her Sisters