The Arab Film Festival is overjoyed to announce that After the Battle director Yousry Nasrallah will join them on Opening Night.
With two films selected for Cannes under his belt, Nasrallah is one of Egypt’s best-known directors. After the Battle takes a deeper look at the effects of the revolution on the people that live in Egypt, their environment and the struggle of the classes.
"The film’s great merit is Nasrallah’s consummate story-telling, which allows non-Egyptian audiences an easy entry point," stated the Hollywood Reporter.
In 2004, Nasrallah’s film The Gate of Sun (Bab El Chams), based on the novel by Elias Khoury, was also presented in the Cannes Official Selection (out of competition) and screened at the Arab Film Festival Australia in 2005.
Sunday arvo line-up
The Repentant
(Algeria)
A nail-biting thriller directed by veteran filmmaker Merzak Allouache and set in Algeria’s ‘back decade’ of the late 1990s as a militant Jihadist comes down from the mountains to surrender his weapon in a government amnesty. But dark secrets from his past pursue him as he tries to begin a new life. A hit at Cannes in 2012, and winner of the Best Narrative Film award at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, The Repentant examines the complex psychology of fundamentalism through a fantastic cast, dramatic storyline and stunning cinematography. Screening with Sanctity, a rare peek in to a Saudi women's world.
Sanctity
Areej, a pregnant, young Saudi widow, is willing to endure anything to protect her unborn child – she’ll even take in a drug dealer. This pioneering film, screened at the Berlin and Doha Tribeca Film Festivals, is a bold story about a woman defying social custom to establish a friendship with a man in a community that insists on gender segregation. Acclaimed Saudi filmmaker Ahd directs herself in the title role. She also stars in Wadjda, the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, which recently screened at the 2013 Sydney Film Festival.
Let's talk about Men!
Arab Men on screen is the topic we will be discussing with a number of our guests on Sunday 30 June at 2pm. Gender politics are a driving force in Arab cinema. The cultural landscape in the Arab world is changing. The state is breaking down and the Arab man is fracturing as repressive systems and governance are challenged from within. Our speakers include: Yousry Nasrallah (director, After the Battle), Dr Ghassan Hage (Future Generation Professor of Anthropology and Social Theory, University of Melbourne), and Mehal Krayem (Writer and PhD Candidate, University of Techonology Sydney). Chaired by Dr Paula Abood.
Ticket Prices
$30.00* Opening Night+Film+Sweets+Party
$20.00* Full Price
$15.00* Concession
(excludes opening night)
$80.00/$60.00* Marathon Package
*Transaction fee applies.
Check out the full programme of 11 films from 10 countries at the Arab Film Festival website, where you can also buy tickets and get details of their tour to Canberra (4–7 July) and Melbourne (12–14 July).