Media release from the Arab Film Festival
“Arab filmmakers are making it without Hollywood – they are making films under occupation, in cities of chaos, with limited funds and sometimes no budget at all. We select the best to screen this year to Australian audiences – stories made by Arabs about Arabs – authentic stories – an alternative perspective”. Mouna Zaylah, Festival Co-Director.
The 6th Arab Film Festival opens Thursday July 1 at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta with the first Dubai feature film to be screened in Australia, City of Life.
City of Life presents the Dubai we think we know – wealthy locals, Indian taxi drivers, fair skinned flight attendants and fast talking advertising agents – then takes us beyond the glitz and anonymity of shopping malls into the complex lives of residents in this multi layered city.
The 2010 Arab Film Festival program will continue to offer cinema audiences a remarkable contrast of perspectives through features, short films, documentaries and a world first screening of Arab animated shorts. Audiences will be taken on a journey through cities of chaos. Customs and traditions are challenged and the cries and struggles of contemporary Arabs are portrayed.
“We are jam-packed with diverse Arab stories, from Morocco via Beirut, on the way through Kuwait, passing through Palestine and then across the Pacific to Australia” said Zaylah.
A Festival feature, 12 Angry Lebanese, winner of the Audience Award and Muhr Award Best Documentary at the 2009 Dubai International Film Festival, set in Lebanon’s notorious Roumieh Prison, is an honest and inspiring account of 45 inmates over a 15 month period as they reinterpret the stage play 12 Angry Men.
Other highlights include Scheherazade, Tell Me the Story which uses classic Arabian Nights storytelling techniques and a female talk show host to explore the lives of contemporary Egyptian women and challenge long standing social norms. The award winning film from Iraq, Kick Off, is a plea for Iraq’s marginal citizens in a film about refugees living in a half destroyed Iraqi football stadium. Australian short films describe the passion of a young Muslim Australian woman for fast cars and a young boy’s love of physical movement.
Zaylah said “This year we present a vibrant collection of films made by Arab filmmakers from across the globe. From the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and within Australia we have selected over twenty films that represent the diversity of Arab communities, their cultures, experiences and aspirations and we look forward to sharing them with our audiences.”
SYDNEY 1- 4 July Riverside Theatres, Cnr Church and Market St, Parramatta
MELBOURNE 9-11 July Cinema Nova, 38 Lygon St Carlton
CANBERRA 15-18 July National Film and Sound Archive, McCoy Circuit, Acton ADELAIDE 24-25 July Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Rundle St, Adelaide
BRISBANE 30-31 July Dendy Portside, Portside Wharf, Romora Rd, Hamilton
Booking details and further information visit www.arabfilmfestival.com.au