Salamat from the Festival Directors
Ahlan and welcome to the 2007 Sydney Arab Film Festival – an exciting month-long program of captivating works inspired by the Arabs of the world!
The Arab world has a rich history of filmmaking, particularly from Egypt, and this year we continue to showcase this tradition. Through a partnership with the Egyptian Consulate, we present a modern tale, ‘Blood of the Deer’, a session of Egyptian shorts, and the documentary, ‘The Place I Call Home’, about the lives of Egyptian youth.
We’re proud to present several Australian premieres, including: ‘Hijacker’, the highly anticipated documentary about the first woman hijacker Leila Khaled; new wave Lebanese filmmaker Ghassan Salhab’s ‘The Last Man’; and, Director Nadia El Fani’s chick flick from the Maghreb, ‘Bedwin Hacker’.
We are also proud to present several parallel programs, including:
- with Casula Powerhouse, the ‘Under Siege’ forum. Featuring Palestinian documentary filmmaker Nizar Hasan and Lebanese filmmaker Eliane Raheb, who is also Artistic Director of the Ayam al Cinemayet film festival in Beirut
- with University of Western Sydney, we co-present ‘Pressure Points’ with Lebanese poet, essayist and cultural journalist Bilal Khbeiz
- and also with Casula Powerhouse, ‘Tone’ – an experimental audio-visual exhibition by Arab artists
We could not have brought you this fantastic program without the support of all of our sponsors and the support of our colleagues at ICE, who have helped to sustain the Festival.
Shukran and see you on a Sunday in Parra!
Fadia Abboud & Mouna Zaylah, Festival Co-Directors
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**The Office of Film and Literature Classification has approved the screenings of these films. Persons under 15 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.