The Integral Energy Community Award was presented to Mouna Zaylah and Fadia Abboud in recognition of their spectacular work promoting the 2008 Sydney Arab Film Festival.

Stepan Kerkyasharian, Chair of the Community Relations Commission, said: “This is a true marketing success story which demonstrates that the smart use of every available marketing channel can pay off for a community organisation which had only 7,500 dollars to promote their ambitious plan for a language-specific film festival in western Sydney.”

“I am sure there are many lessons in this campaign for commercial marketers, big and small and for marketing managers at all tiers of government”.

Keep your eye on this space for further updates on our program.

Yallah! We’ll see you at the Movies.

The rest of the films are also selling very fast. So get your tickets now and catch some of the many fantastic films on Friday night and over the weekend. So bring your grandparents and your friends, some sweets and mixed nuts and see you all in the West, the heart and soul of Sydney!

Hanan, a woman with a hidden past, gets into a relationship with Bakr, a Sufi dancer with his own history. They discover new horizons and meanings in their lives through this relationship whilst Bakr’s son, a troubled boy, is trying to find his own path in life, frustrated with his day to day work. A spiritual and visually impressive experience.

Director RISE AND SHINE

Hendawy’s love for films is inspired by his childhood and his mother’s enthusiasm for Indian cinema, particularly the music and dance elements. Hendawy says, “Both India and Egypt have a very old culture and the stories that the films of each country tells are not dissimilar.”His first feature film ‘Seventh Heaven’ shot during Ramadan in old Cairo is based on Hendawy’s inspiration of Sufism. His film not only shares the story of love between a woman and a male dancer, but shares the spiritual beauty of Sufism.

Hendawy’s films cater to human interests, feelings and spirituality. They are about the needs that one feels obliged to fulfill, the needs of the body and the soul.
“The movie scenario in Egypt is fairly moderate with only 40 to 45 commercial movies being released each year.”

Director SEVENTH HEAVEN

Producer LEBANON BURNING

As a respected journalist and media commentator, Manning addresses the public, government-led and media-driven hysteria about Australians known as ‘people of Middle Eastern appearance’. He is the author of Us and Them, a combination of memoir, travel, culture, history and religion telling the story of one man’s passionate quest to see justice done and to humanise the people our media and the public often demonise. He is currently the Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney and a sought-after commentator on media issues, as well as the director of Lebanon Burning.

Director LEBANON BURNING

Screening locally made documentaries that investigate the 2006 Israel war on Lebanon, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Lebanon Burning
Australia / 2007 / 52 mins / Dir: Peter Manning

In 2006, after ten years of stability, prosperity and relative peace, Israel wages war on Lebanon following the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. Israeli bombs targeted civilian factories and infrastructure, effectively setting back the cause of progress in Lebanon by twenty years. Lebanon Burning investigates the object of war, and provides a personal account of its effects from ordinary citizens who became the real targets. Produced by Mohsen Safieddin.

A Wishful Smile
Australia / 2007 / 12 mins / Dir: Mirna Nassar

Two residents of Qana in southern Lebanon speak of their loss and struggles, to make sense of the bombing of their village and the devastation it has brought to their lives.

Special Guest Speakers

Mirna Nassar - Filmmaker
Mohsen Safieddin - Producer
Peter Manning - Journalist, Academic and Author “Us and Them: A Journalist’s Investigation of Media, Muslims, and the Middle East”

The Iron Wall
Palestine / 2006 / 52 mins / Dir: Mohammed Alatar
Feature documentary examining the occupation of Palestine, with particular focus on the settlements and construction of the apartheid wall. Prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and political analysts shed light on both the historic and contemporary predicament.

Women in Struggle
Palestine / 2004 / 56 mins / Dir: Buthina Canaan Khoury
Four Palestinian women, all former political prisoners in Israeli jails, reveal experiences of daily life within the current political climate.

Make a Wish / Itmanna
Palestine / 2006 / 12 mins / Dir: Cherien Dabis
What begins as a simple trip to the bakery turns into a journey that depicts not only the subtle tensions of a politically charged environment, but also illustrates the grief that can result from growing up under occupation.

Before the Wind Blows / Le Petit Oiseau Va Sortir
Canada / 2006 / 18 mins / Samer Najari
Three young people prepare to depart on different suicide operations.

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS:

Maher Mughrabi- Writer and Journalist, The Age, Melbourne

Randa Abdel-Fattah - Lawyer, Writer and Author of the acclaimed novel “Does My Head Look Big in This?

@!—

We’re thrilled to announce that the latest hit from Lebanon, Caramel (Sukkar Banat), will be our opening feature film. Come and celebrate Arab film making on the opening night with us, Thursday 10 April, 7pm.

The movie will be followed with sweets and treats and your chance to meet and mingle with our international and local filmmakers.

This session will sell out, so book early.

Watch the trailer!

Director THE IRON WALL

Director WOMEN IN STRUGGLE

Director UNDEREXPOSURE

Director THE TV IS COMING / Talfaza Jaya

Director CARAMEL

Dabis is an accomplished Staff Writer and Co-Producer on Showtime Network’s original hit series The L Word. As a feature film screenwriter, she has been awarded several distinguished awards in support of her screenplays, including the Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in Screenwriting, the Institute for Humane Studies Film and Fiction Scholarship, and the New York Women in Film and Television Scholarship.

In 2003, Dabis was awarded a Screenwriting Grant from the Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (Power Up) for her short screenplay Little Black Boot. Premiering at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, the film went on to win several Best Short Film awards and was a Grand Prize Winner of the 2004 PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards. Dabis is also a recipient of the Power Up Filmmaker’s Fund for her short Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother. Her short film-writing debut, Nadah, premiered at the 2003 Rotterdam International Film Festival and was nominated for the VC Film Festival’s Golden Reel Award. Her production credits include Jane Campion’s psychological thriller In the Cut and NBC’s critically acclaimed television series The West Wing.

Dabis was invited to participate in the Sundance Institute’s 2005 Middle East Screenwriter’s Lab, 2006 Cannes Film Festival’s Mediterranean Films Crossing Borders program and 2007 Berlinale Co-Production Market. An alumnus of Film Independent’s 2005 Director’s Lab, Project Involve Mentorship Program and Los Angeles Film Festival’s Fast Track Program, Dabis also received a 2006 Artist Fellowship in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts in support of her screenplay. She is currently working on her feature film writing and directing debut, Amreeka.

Director MAKE A WISH / Itmanna

Director BEFORE THE WIND BLOWS / Le Petit Oiseau Va Sortir

Since completing her Master’s degree she has produced films and artworks that strive to express and explore the ongoing tension between Western society and the Middle East. Her passion for investigative journalism has seen her film and interview people affected by war and loss in her country of origin, Lebanon.

Director A WISHFUL SMILE