The Sydney Arab Film Festival continues to develop and grow, the team working closely to bring local and international Arab films to Australian audiences.

FESTIVAL CO-DIRECTORS

FADIA ABBOUD is a filmmaker and community worker, combining community cultural development practices and digital media. Her work includes “I Remember 1948″, a documentary that will be screened on SBS later this year. She is currently working on “Changing Lives”, a project facilitating the production of a series of vlogs that document the stories of Arab Australian youth. She has been involved in the Sydney Arab Film Festival since its inception in 2001 as a participating filmmaker and curator, and most recently as Co-Director of the Sydney Arab Film Festival in 2007 and 2008.

MOUNA ZAYLAH has worked in the arts and community cultural development sector for over 16 years. She has worked in diverse settings and for a range of organisations including Urban Theatre Projects, Casula Powerhouse, TAQA Theatre and is currently the Cultural Development Program Manager at Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE). Since 2007, she has been Co-Director of the Sydney Arab Film Festival.

PUBLICIST Sarah Goodes GRAPHIC DESIGN Soraya Asmar and Meiying Saw SPONSORSHIP Alissar Gazal and Mohamed Duar VIDEO ARTIST Fadle Elharris WEBSITE MANAGER Maissa Alamedine TECHNICAL SUPPORT Fatima Mawas

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

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.

DR PHILLIP GEORGE is a digital media artist and currently the Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW. He holds a Doctorate of Creative Arts, University of Western Sydney, a Masters of Fine Art (1st Class hons), University of NSW and a Diploma of Art, Alexander Mackie School of Arts and National Arts School. He has had 23 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Phillip’s practice over the past eight years has focused on concepts of contrivance and the handmade.

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 is currently producing a documentary which explores the experiences of women in Lebanon.

MOHAMED DUAR work is in the field of human rights, fundraising and sponsorship and works for international charities and organisations. He is currently employed at Amnesty International. He holds a Bachelor of International Studies (2007), and majored in Arabic and Islamic Studies, and Government and International Relations, University of Sydney.

DR PAULA ABOOD is a community cultural development worker, writer and director. 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 has recently completed a PhD ‘The Arab as Spectacle: Race, Gender and Representation in Australia’.

KHALED SABSABI is an audio-visual installation artist and a CCD practitioner who has worked and exhibited locally and internationally for over 19 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.

FATIMA MAWAS is a young filmmaker whose work focuses on the themes of identity, racism, war, religion and spirituality. She has made a number of short films which have screened at various festivals and exhibitions. She has completed a Certificate IV in Screen and is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts / Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of NSW and is about to commence a Graduate Certificate in Drama: Screenwriting and Directing at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

ICE TEAM DIRECTOR Lena Nahlous ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Caitlin Vaughan CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM MANAGER Mouna Zaylah COMMUNITY IT PROGRAM MANAGER Liliana Ruti URBAN MUSIC PROJECT COORDINATOR Trey Thomas IT AND FACILITIES OFFICER Jerome Pearce WEBSITE PRODUCER Amber Carvan ARTFILES ASSISTANT PROGRAM MANAGER Amrit Kaur Gill A/G EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Anique Vered ADMINISTRATION OFFICER Kylie Atkins ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE SUBURBAN LAYERZ Ali Kadhim EMERGING COMMUNITIES CHIEF PROGRAM CONSULTANT Barry Gamba