MEDIA RELEASE, 18 January 2007
2007 Sydney Arab Film Festival…a month-long program of stories from and about the Arab world to screen in Western Sydney this February and March.
In February and March 07, exciting and powerful films will be screened in Western Sydney inspired by local and international Arabs, and hosted by the Information & Cultural Exchange (ICE).
Whether shot in Beirut or Cronulla, the local and international films on offer are poignant, dramatic, humorous and real.
A program of paid films will be screened at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta plus free events will be held in Liverpool and Parramatta including: forums, exhibitions and talks.
“The aim of Sydney Arab Film Festival is to showcase stories from diverse Arabic speaking cultures that reflect the complexity and diversity of Arab experiences,” said festival co-director Fadia Abboud. “We also want to address the misrepresentations of Arab culture through film by providing critical spaces and alternative representations of Arab culture, Arab commentary and self-representation.”
Local filmmakers will show their works alongside international films, and guests from Palestine and Lebanon will travel to Sydney for the screenings to take part in forums. Palestinian filmmaker Nizar Hassan, and Eliane Raheb, filmmaker and Festival Director of Ayam Bairut a-Cinemaiya (Cinema Days of Beirut).
Raheb has directed short fiction films including “The last screening” and “Meeting” and documentaries such as “So near yet so far” and “Suicide” both awarded in festivals and aired on Arabiya TV. She is also one of the founders of the cultural cooperative for cinema Beirut DC where she organises an Arab film festival “ayam Beirut al Cinem’iya” and cinema workshops.
Nizar Hassan is a director / producer based in Nazareth. He directed and produced more than 15 documentaries of which Istiqlal (1994), Kalemat (1995), Yasmin (1996), Ostura (1998), Cut (2000), Tahadi (2001) Ejteyah (2003) and Abu khalil (2005). His films have been screened and awarded in Leipzig, IDFA, Marseille, IMA, San Francisco… and broadcasted on international TV stations (SVT, YLE, Arte).
The Australian films being screened in the festival include: Withdrawn directed by Fatima Mawas about the Lebanon soccer team who played in the Asia cup finals this year; Two Hearts directed by Fadle El-Harris, written and performed by Armed MC, a love song written after the events in the Middle East in 2006 and Jammin in the Middle E directed by Kim Mordaunt, a comedy about families, fast cars, rap and rosewater. A story of siblings Naima and Ishak growing up Arab in Western Sydney.
On Sundays and Wednesdays from 25 February to 18 March 2007, The Riverside Theatre will screen local and international fictional screen stories, gutsy documentaries, razor-sharp shorts and the latest features from the Arab world.
BEDOUIN HACKERS.
BLOODSUCKERS.
SHOCK.AWE.
MYTHS.REALITIES.
DREAMS.
Official launch of SAFF will be held on Thursday 22 February, 2007
Public screenings commence on 25 February to 18 March 2007
Riverside Theatres, Cnr Church & Market St, Parramatta
Tickets: $15 Full / $10 Conc / $5 Under 12 / Group Discounts
Bookings + 61 2 8839 3399 or boxoffice@riversideparramatta.com.au
FOR MEDIA INFORMATION, IMAGES AND INTERVIEWS CONTACT
Emma Collison Publicity on 02 9699 5199 or 0418 584 795 or email mmsemmac@bigpond.net.au