rd 33 Annual

FilmFestFilmFestNovember 17-20, 2016 v Boston, Massachusetts

Thursday Saturday Iraqi Odyssey (3:15pm) The Tentmakers of Cairo (1:45pm) films

typecast / afd

of

resources

courtesy educational

Friday documentary

of Salam Neighbor (9:40am) courtesy

Sonita (8:20pm) edu

tugg

of

movies

courtesy make

women

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In the Image: Palestinian Women Capture the Occupation (2:15pm) courtesy Sunday edu My Home (9:20am) lorber

kino

of

courtesy films

diskin

ruth

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MESA 2016 FilmFest u 9 Badgeto watch Required films Film Schedule ScreeningSuffolk Room in the (Register on the 4th Floor) (3rd Floor)

Thursday, November 17 Saturday, November 19

9:00am The Mad, Mad, Mad World (3) 9:00am For a Loaf of Bread (5)/Yemen-Taxi (6) 9:05am A Young Nation: The Future of Oman 9:15am A SEATBELT’S MISSION (8) WORLD PREMIERE Through the Eyes of Its Youth (22) & The Absentees (10) 9:30am Sufi Soul: The Mystical Music of Islam (48) 9:35am Mystic Mass (69) 10:20am BESIEGED BREAD (12)/BESHKARA (14) 10:45am Razor’s Edge: The Legacy of Iranian Actresses (80) 10:50am Voice of the Valley (52) 9 Featuring a Cineforum with Bahman Maghsoudlou 11:45am The Price of Kings: Shimon Peres (62) 12:20pm The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s 12:50pm 50 Feet From Syria (39) Public Relations War in the United States (82) 1:30pm Omnia (9)/Nouran (7)/Caravan (7) 1:45pm The Tentmakers of Cairo (100) 1:55pm Afghanistan 1979: The War That Changed the 3:30pm After Spring (101) World (58) 9 Featuring a Cineforum with Stephanie Ching & Ellen Martinez 2:55pm Murad (5)/Bachelors of War (6)/A Broken 5:25pm Almost Friends (60) Home (8) 6:30pm ***closed for the Plenary Address*** 3:15pm Iraqi Odyssey (93) 8:00pm The Neighbour (19) 4:50pm Shushala (13) 8:20pm Sonita (91) 5:05pm THE MAN FROM ORAN (128) 9 Featuring a Cineforum with Lyès Salem Sunday, November 20 6:30pm ***closed for the MESA Presidential Address*** 9:00pm Arabic Movie (60) 8:00am Starless Dreams (76) 9:20am My Home (52) Friday, November 18 10:15am Berber Wedding Festival (48) 11:05am The Last Words (34) 9:00am Semiotics of Islam (7) 11:40am Jews and Muslims: Intimate Strangers Part 3 (55) 9:10am Bahrain’s Stateless People (27) 12:40pm The Tainted Veil (78) 9:40am Salam Neighbor (75) 11:00am Sana’a: Symphony of an Old City (52) 9 Featuring a Cineforum with Fuad Abdulaziz Mohamed 12:00pm ***closed for the MESA Members Meeting*** 1:30pm Pakistan: No Place Like Home (25)/ The FilmFest Crew FAREWELL EXILE (16) 2:15pm In the Image: Palestinian Women Capture Director the Occupation (61) Thomas B. Stevenson Ohio University, Zanesville (Emeritus) 3:20pm Nefertiti’s Daughters (40) 4:05pm Letters From Baghdad (95) Sneak Preview Our thanks to the following people who reviewed films for 9 Featuring a Cineforum with Elizabeth Chandler the Fest. 5:55pm The Crossing (55) Sheila Carapico, U Richmond 6:55pm Starving Yemen (23) Sandra G. Carter, U Houston-Victoria 7:20pm Guesthouse (5)/The Ripple Effect (6) Hebat-Allah El Attar, Cleveland State U 7:35pm Viva Granî (82) Julie Ellison-Speight, U Arizona 9:00pm From Iran, A Separation (52) Megan Geissler, Middle East Policy Council Sinan Khadife, Middle East Technical Vaughn Shannon, Wright State Yaron Shemer, UNC As a courtesy to others, please turn off your cell Christian Sinclair, Moravian Col phone before entering the FilmFest screening room. Please note that no photography is permitted during film screenings. KEY BOLD CAPS = Feature Films CAPS = Short Dramas

10 u MESA 2016 FilmFest Film Descriptions AFGHANISTAN 1979: THE WAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (Afghanistan) 2014 58min. Director: Gulya Mirzoeva. Producer: Vladimir Donn. Print Source: Icarus Films. Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in 1979. The Russians viewed it as an operation with a ‘limited contingentʼ of soldiers. The war lasted ten years and was a cause for the Soviet Union’s collapse. This film looks at the events from the Russian point of view and provides remarkable historical insights. guild

cinema AFTER SPRING (Syria/Jordan) 2016 101 min. In English, Korean

the and Arabic w/English subtitles. Directors/Producers: Steph of Ching and Ellen Martinez. Print Source: Tugg EDU. Close to

courtesy 80,000 Syrian exiles live in the UN’s Zaatari Refugee Camp. 50 Feet From Syria More than half of the camp’s inhabitants are children. This documentary gives an intimate portrait of the rhythms of the 50 FEET FROM SYRIA (Syria/Turkey) 39 min. In English. camp, the role of the aid workers, and the daily lives of two Director/Producer: Skye Fitzgerald. Print Source: The Cinema families contemplating an uncertain future. All aspects of Guild. In a hospital on the Turkey-Syria border, Syrian- refugee camp life are explored, including medical assistance, American doctor Hisham Bismar provides medical help to those the self-sustaining economy, martial arts classes and even pizza Syrians who reach the hospital alive. Victims of barrel bombs making. However, it all arcs on bringing purpose and education and snipers are smuggled across the border by “M”. Amid chaos to the children, often termed the ‘lost generation.’ and calamity, the film presents the heroic efforts of a doctor working in the midst of a brutal, dehumanizing conflict. A BROKEN HOME (WAṬAN MUḤAṬṬAM) (Yemen) 2015 8 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Abdurahman Hussain. Producer: Support Yemen. Print Source: Yemen Peace Project. Six months of an ongoing war have left the Yemeni people with a loss that goes beyond the destroyed property and films infrastructure. Each day, cracks in the Yemeni social fabric brothers

expand; decreasing chances for peace and make Yemen a broken home. heymann

of A SEATBELT’S MISSION (MIHMAH ḤIZĀM ALAMĀN) (Qatar)

2016 8 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Rouda courtesy Al Meghaiseeb. Producers: Ibrahim Al Hashmi, Mohammed Almost Friends Buhmaid and Syed Owais Ali. Print Source: Syed Owais Ali. This short film is part of the Qatari government’s effort to ALMOST FRIENDS (Israel) 2014 60 min. In Hebrew and Arabic increase seatbelt usage by young men. The fictional tale w/English subtitles. Director: Nitzan Ofir. Producer: Barak presents the “seatbelt” as alien to cultural norms. Seatbelt Heymann. Print Source: Heymann Brothers Films. Samar has fails to convince them to protect their friends until something an Arab Israeli mother and a Palestinian father from the West mysterious changes their attitude. Bank. She lives in Lod, a mixed Israeli city. Linor was born in an A YOUNG NATION: THE FUTURE OF OMAN THROUGH Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip and now lives in a religious THE EYES OF ITS YOUTH (Oman) 2016 22 min. In English settlement. The girls’ homes are only 67 kilometers apart and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Hannah but they live in worlds separated by national, cultural and Gaber. Print Source: Hannah Gaber. Oman has experienced ideological differences. Both participate in a school education profound growth and development since Sultan Qaboos and technology program and first meet through email. assumed power in 1970. Oman’s economy is dependent on oil. Later, they meet face-to-face, an event that reveals the huge Half the population is under 30. The plans of Omani youth will differences that exist in their country. determine the course of this young nation. ARABIC MOVIE (SERET ARAVI) (Israel) 2015 60 min. In THE ABSENTEES (Myanmar/UAE) 2015 10 min. In Hindi w/ Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles. Directors: Eyal Sagui English subtitles. Director/Producer: Tanya Daud. Print Bizawe and Sara Tsifroni. Producer: Osnat Trabelsi. Print Source: Image Nation. The Royingas are a Muslim Indo- Source: Go2Films. It was a 70s Israeli ritual: sitting at home Aryan group native to Myanmar. Considered the world’s most on Friday afternoon, watching the only Israeli TV channel persecuted minority, many Royingas have migrated. This screen an Arabic film. Viewers never wondered how the official film looks at the Royinga sense of identity, discrimination, television obtained these films when there weren’t relations and yearning for their homeland through the eyes of Raess, a with Arab states. No one asked how Israelis became addicted refugee living in Dubai. fans of Egyptian comedies and melodramas, sharing the same cultural heroes and admiring the same movie stars as their archenemy Egyptians. The Arabic Movie provided a glimpse of a world that was out of reach.

MESA 2016 FilmFest u 11 mirghani

suzannah

of

courtesy

project Caravan

peace

CARAVAN (Qatar) 2016 7 min. In Arabic, English, Tagalog and yemen

of Hindi w/appropriate subtitles. Director: Suzannah Mirghani. Producer: Doha Film Institute. Print Source: Suzannah courtesy Bachelors of War Mirghani. This film narrates the stream of consciousness flowing through a cross-section of Qatari society. In the BACHELORS OF WAR (‘AZŪBIYAT ḤARB) (Yemen) 2015 suspended time and space of a Doha traffic jam, a random 6 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Mohammed group of people creates a temporary urban society – a Al-Aghbri. Producer: Support Yemen. Print Source: Yemen metaphor for the largely transient Gulf countries. Peace Project. This is a day in the life of two friends forced to send their wives and children abroad because of the war in THE CROSSING (Egypt/Italy/France/Netherlands/Belgium/ Yemen. Although lighthearted, this documentary illustrates the Germany/Sweden) 2015 55 min. In English and Arabic w/ underlying frustrations and worries of many young men in the English subtitles. Director/Producer: George Kurian. Print face of unemployment, empty homes, and broken dreams. Source: The Cinema Guild. Fleeing war, a group of Syrian refugees embark on a dangerous trek that leads to Europe. BAHRAIN’S STATELESS PEOPLE (Bahrain) 2015 27 min. In There they learn the hardest part lies ahead. Each must battle English. Directors/Producers: Natasha Bowler and Filippo to stay sane and find their ways in an alien environment. This Brachetti. Print Source: Journeyman Pictures. For Bahrain’s film shows the lengths to which people go to find safety and Shia majority arrests, beatings, harassment and torture are part forge their own destiny. of daily life. Since 2011, when the population protested for greater political rights from the Sunni regime, life for most Bahrainis FAREWELL EXILE (SALAM GHOURBA) (Morocco) 2011 16 min. had been difficult. Beyond violent repression of dissent, the In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Lamia Alami. Producers: regime also revokes opponents’ citizenships. Without a passport, Lamia Alami and Widad Hafda. Print Source: Lamia Alami. dissidents can’t work and lose access to education, medical care In a Moroccan neighborhood, Fatima waits to join her migrant and legal support. Moreover, they can’t leave Bahrain. husband in France. The absence of the husband, the lack of job and finances, along with the harmful environment that BERBER WEDDING FESTIVAL (Morocco) 2014 49 min. In her naïve son is immersed in gives her very little hope. Will Arabic and Tamazight w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: the husband’s letter potentially secure a brighter future for Deborah Perkin. Print Source: Films Media Group. Imilchil her and her son Mohammed or will she have to make a crucial is an Amazigh (Berber) village located high in the Middle Atlas sacrifice? Mountains. The annual marriage festival draws thousands of locals and tourists. The festival provides opportunities for FOR A LOAF OF BREAD (ḤAQQ LAQMAT AL-‘AYSH) (Yemen) prospective grooms and brides to see potential mates and 2015 4 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Amal Al- provides a music-filled atmosphere for the marrying couples. Yarisi. Producer: Support Yemen. Print Source: Yemen Peace The festival is also a huge harvest market. Project. This poignant short film highlights the struggles and dreams of a Yemeni child in a time of war. BESHKARA (UAE) 2015 14 min. In English, Filipino and Arabic w/ English subtitles. Director: Abdulrahman Al Madani. Producers: FROM IRAN, A SEPARATION (Iran) 2013 52 min. In Farsi Azalia Ganji and Abdulrahman Al Madani. Print Source: w/English subtitles. Directors: Kourosh Ataee and Azadeh Abdulrahman Al Madani. A Filipino woman is the caretaker Maoussavi. Producers: Katayoon Shahabi, Kourosh Ataee and for a cantankerous, dependent Emirati grandmother. When the Azadeh Moussavi. Print Source: The Cinema Guild. In 2012, caretaker learns her daughter is terminally ill she wants to go “A Separation” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. home but her employer refuses to return her passport. For the Iranian people this was more than a cinematic award. When threats of war with Iran covered the world headlines, the BESIEGED BREAD (Khubz Al-Ḥṣār) (Syria/Lebanon) 2016 12 min. director talked about Iran’s love for peace and the country’s In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Soudade Kaadan. Producer: rich culture when receiving his award. Someone other than Mira Kaf. Print Source: KAF Productions. They are somewhere government officials expressed Iranians’ voice. in Syria. She has spent a long day smuggling bread. He has fled the army. A tree is their only shelter. They both know there is no hope. 12 u MESA 2016 FilmFest GUESTHOUSE (Turkey) 2016 5 min. In English, Turkish, Arabic and Farsi w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Sinan Kadife. Print Source: Sinan Kadife. As the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey grew, a local NGO established a guesthouse for single male refugees and asylum seekers. The residents come from different countries, speak different languages and believe in different religions. This short film poignantly describes their lives. krayenbühl

sabine

IN THE IMAGE: PALESTINIAN WOMEN CAPTURE THE of OCCUPATION (Palestine) 2014 61 min. In English, Arabic,

and Hebrew w/English subtitles. Directors/Producers: Judith courtesy Montell and Emmy Scharlatt. Print Source: Kino Lorber EDU. Letters from Baghdad This is a documentary about West Bankers who collaborate with the Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem. Their LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD (Iraq) 2016 95 min. In English and project provides video cameras and training to young women Arabic w/English subtitles. Directors: Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine who use them to capture violations of Palestinian’s civil rights Krayenbühl. Producer: Zeva Oelbaum. Print Source: Sabine by settlers and the military as well as the nuances of their Krayenbühl. Gertrude Bell is sometimes called the “female” own lives. This video introduces these non-violent activists, Lawrence of Arabia. Bell traveled widely in Arabia before being humanizes them and sheds light on the complicated situations recruited by British military intelligence during WWI to help that have become daily life for Palestinian citizens living in the draw the borders of Iraq. Told entirely in the words of Bell occupied territories. and her contemporaries, this documentary chronicles her extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian Desert

IRAQI ODYSSEY (Iraq/Russia/New Zealand/Switzerland/ and the inner sanctum of British colonial power. United States) 2014 93 min. In English, Arabic, German and MAD Russian w/English subtitles. Director: Samir. Producers: Werner THE MAD, MAD, WORLD (Iran) 1975 3 min. No dialogue. Schweizer and Samir. Print Source: AFD/Typecast Films. In Designer/Director: Nureddin Zarrin-Kelk. Producer: Institute this film director Samir recounts the story of his globalized for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, middle-class Iraqi family. Although dispersed, the family’s Tehran. Print Source: Media Resources Center, University travails provide a short history of Iraq. Often at odds with the of North Carolina. This black-and-white animated cartoon Iraqi government, family members emigrated for safer homes features a very active symbolic map. It is a tale of “global but they remained forever Iraqis. Samir’s film pays homage relations.” Taffy Bodman, the FilmFest founder, selected the to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively cartoon which has become the MESA FilmFest signature film. It plagued by dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation. The was shown first in 1991. FilmFest is screening the shorter classroom version. THE MAN FROM ORAN (L’ORANAIS) (Algeria) 2014 128 min. JEWS AND MUSLIMS: INTIMATE STRANGERS, PART 3, THE In French and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Lyès Salem. SEPARATION: 1789-1945 (France/Turkey/Palestine) 2014 55 Producer: Isabelle Madelaine. Print Source: Dharamsala. min. In English and French w/English subtitles. Director: Karim L’Oranais was a nom-de-guerre for a leader of the FLN during Miské. Producers: Jean Labib and Anne Labro. Print Source: Algeria’s war for independence. This drama examines the AFD/Typecast Films. Jews and Muslims are considered aftermath of that struggle. Two comrades emerge from the archetypal enemies in endless conflict, a perception made of struggle and assume important posts in the new government. misunderstandings and omissions. Covering the Muslim era, Over the next 30 years, their idealism wanes. The government the goal of this balanced and well-researched 4 part-series they fought for dissipates and they and others fall victim to is to present facts and deconstruct historical misbeliefs. In arrogance and corruption. this episode, European Jews become the protectors of their MY HOME (Israel) 2016 52 min. In Hebrew and Arabic w/ brethren in Palestine. English subtitles. Director: Igal Hecht. Producers: Igal Hecht THE LAST WORDS (SON SÖZCÜKLE) (Turkey) 2015 34 min. and Chutzpa Productions. Print Source: Ruth Diskin Films. In Turkish and Ladino w/English subtitles. Director: Rita Minorities make up one-fifth of Israel’s population. Collectively Ender. Producer: NewlDeas Production. Print Source: Rita they are labeled “Arabs”. Many consider them hostile to Israel. Ender. Sephardic Jews in Turkey have been speaking the However, there are “Arabs” who consider Israel a good place. Judeo-Spanish language Ladino for centuries, but today it This documentary gives glimpses into Christian, Bedouin, faces extinction. The disappearance of Ladino is a product of Muslim and Druze communities allowing members to articulate discrimination and the younger generation’s lack of cultural their place in Israel. connection. MURAD (Yemen) 2015 5 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Abdurahman Hussain. Producer: Afro1 Films. Print Source: Yemen Peace Project. Yemeni street artist Murad Subay talks about how he has been using his art to inspire collective action to build peace since the 2011 uprising and since the outbreak of war in 2015.

MESA 2016 FilmFest u 13 OMNIA (UAE/Egypt) 2015 9 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Amena Al Nowais. Producer: Fayssal Bin Sahli. Print Source: Image Nation. Omnia is a young Egyptian woman living in the Emirates. She suffers from post-traumatic stress

resources from an incident in her childhood. In this film, she recounts the

events that left her confused and troubled about the meaning

educational of love, physical and mental senses of self, and sexuality.

documentary

of

courtesy Mystic Mass

MYSTIC MASS (Lebanon) 2014 70 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Karim B. Haroun. Producers: Karim B. Haroun and Marina Klimoff. Print Source: Documentary ali Educational Resources. Annually, thousands of Shia owais Muslims gather in Nabatiyyeh, Lebanon, to commemorate the syed

of martyrdom of Imam Hussein. It is Shia Islam’s most important religious event. The faithful participate in long processions, courtesy flagellation and self-mutilation, and strive to reenact Iman Pakistan: No Place Like Home Hussein’s death with their own blood and flesh. This film presents how the mass begins, achieves the height of mysticism PAKISTAN: NO PLACE LIKE HOME (UAE/Pakistan) 2015 25 and dissolves – all within 24 hours. min. In Urdu, Panjabi and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: NEFERTITI’S DAUGHTERS (Egypt) 2015 40 min. In English and Syed Owais Ali. Producer: Urooj Kamran Azmi. Print Source: Arabic w/English subtitles. Directors: Mark Nickolas and Rasha Syed Owais Ali. Sharif, a young farmer from a Pakistani Najdi. Producers: Mark Nickolas, Rasha Najdi, Ramy Francis and village, journeys to the UAE in search of greener pastures. This Jean Ferreri. Print Source: Icarus Films. This documentary documentary shows how Sharif, man of influence in his village, demonstrates the critical role of street art during the Egyptian deals with his loss of authority and struggles with his new uprisings. Focusing on the role of women artists in the struggle identity. Sharif’s story is full of humor, heart and hope. for sociopolitical change, it spotlights how the iconic graffiti THE PRICE OF KINGS: SHIMON PERES (Israel) 2012 62 min. In of Queen Nefertiti placed her on the front lines in the ongoing English. Directors/Producers: Joanna Natasegara and Richard fight for women’s rights and freedom in Egypt. Symons. Print Source: Amazon. The late Shimon Peres spent THE NEIGHBOUR (UAE) 2014 19 min. In English and Arabic w/ a lifetime at the seat of power. As a nation builder it’s hard to Arabic and English subtitles. Director: Nayla Al Khaja. Producer: overestimate Peres’s achievements, but in the words of the Claudia Corbelli. Print Source: Emirates Distrib. Sara has just President, “What we call experience the younger generation moved to Dubai. The transition to her new life is not easy. She calls a chain of mistakes.” Despite winning the Nobel Peace is lonely until one night her neighbor knocks on the door. An Prize, the state of Israel he so passionately helped to build elderly Emirati woman annoyed at her piano playing during remains at war. prayer time, confronts her. RAZOR’S EDGE: THE LEGACY OF IRANIAN ACTRESSES (Iran) NOURAN (UAE/Syria) 2015 7 min. In English. Director: Nouran 2016 128 min. In Farsi w/ English subtitles. Director/Producer: Alchalati. Producer: Nora Bin Sahli. Print Source: Image Bahman Magsoudlou. Print Source: International Film Nation. A young Syrian artist describes the difficulties she and Video Center. This comprehensive film examines the encountered as a refugee moving to the Emirates to pursue her often-controversial role of women in Iranian cinema during dreams. the secular period - the 1930s to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. THE OCCUPATION OF THE AMERICAN MIND: ISRAEL’S Through unprecedented access to the actresses and rare clips PUBLIC RELATIONS WAR IN THE UNITED STATES (Israel/ from the movies in which they appeared, this film examines the USA) 2016 85 min. In English. Directors/Producers: Loretta impact when women gain expression in a stridently patriarchal Alper and Jeremy Earp. Print Source: Media Education society. Foundation. The military occupation of Palestinian territory THE RIPPLE EFFECT (Pakistan) 2015 6 min. In English and and repeated invasions of the Gaza Strip have triggered a fierce Urdu w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Sarah Jahann backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the Khan. Print Source: Women’s Voices Now. The Ripple Effect world – except the United States. This documentary addresses shows how access to safe water has transformed the lives this critical exception by focusing on pro-Israel public relations of rural Pakistani women. Adopting methods of conserving efforts within the U.S. rainwater frees women from fetching water and gives them freedom to pursue new opportunities and invest in their children’s futures.

14 u MESA 2016 FilmFest SALAM NEIGHBOR (Jordan) 2015 75 min. In English and Arabic STARVING YEMEN (Yemen) 2016 24 min. In English and Arabic w/English subtitles. Directors: Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple. w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Nawal Al-Maghafi. Producers: Zach Ingrasci, Chris Temple, Salam Darwaza and Print Source: Journeyman Pictures. In early 2015, conflict Mohab Khattab. Print Source: Tugg EDU. Two Americans between rebels and the government erupted in civil war. The move into Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp to live among 80,000 Saudi’s sided with the government against the Iranian supported Syrian refugees. Filmmakers Zach and Chris plunge into the rebels. Saudi bombing runs have decimated the infrastructure world’s most pressing humanitarian crisis. They uncover and plunged the state into a food crisis. Two million Yemeni are inspiring stories of individuals rallying against all odds, to malnourished. About 350,000 children are starving to death. rebuild their lives and those of their neighbors. SUFI SOUL: THE MYSTICAL MUSIC OF ISLAM (Syria/Turkey/ Pakistan/India/Morocco) 2015 49 min. In English. Director: Simon Broughton. Producer: Carl Simons. Print Source: Films Media Group. This rereleased film documents the musical subcultures of Sufism. In Sufism, music unites consciousness mohamed

and physical being into a unified presence. This concept is examined in five cultural settings. abdulaziz

fuad THE TAINTED VEIL (Denmark/Egypt/UK/Turkey/Syria/

of Morocco/France) 2015 78 min. In English, Arabic, French,

courtesy Danish, Turkish and Dutch w/English subtitles. Directors: Sana'a: Symphony of an Old City Nahla Al Fahad, Mazen al Khayrat and Ovidio Salazar. Producer: Alyazia Bint Nahyan. Print Source: Anasy Media. To wear SANA’A: SYMPHONY OF AN OLD CITY (Yemen) 2016 52 min. the hijab calls attention to the wearers’ Muslim religion. This In English and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: documentary challenges perceptions of the veil. Whether a veil Fuad Abdulaziz Mohamed. Print Source: Fuad Abdulaziz of the soul, the mind or the body; the veil in history and the Mohamed. This film tries to feel the pulse of Sana’a, one of the many meanings behind it are discussed. oldest cities in the world, through six prominent artists who live there. Their reverential revelations about their daily lives THE TENTMAKERS OF CAIRO (Egypt/USA/France) 2015 are in contrast to the video diaries they made, as the city they 100 min. In English, French and Arabic w/English subtitles. love has become a victim of a civil war. Director/Producer: Kim Beamish. Print Source: Documentary Educational Resources. In Islamic Cairo, four tentmakers SEMIOTICS OF ISLAM: A PRIMER FOR KUFFAR (USA) 2014 7 hand-stitch Khayamiya or appliqué. Khayamiya used to min. In English. Director/Producer: Fouzia Najar. Print Source: decorate tent interiors but today are most common in tourists’ Women’s Voices Now. This film challenges Islamophobia by homes. This documentary reveals the craft’s techniques at redefining quotidian items found in a Muslim home. In the a time when it is gaining international popularity. Filmed process, it reveals that the mainstream media’s prevailing between the departure of Hosni Mubarak through the brief narrative of Islam is uninformed and alarmist. reign of Muhammad Morsi, viewers gain insights into local SHUSHALA (Palestine) 2016 13 min. In English and Arabic opinions about the uncertain political and economic situation. w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Hanan Awad. Print VIVA GRANÎ (HER BIJÎ GRANÎ) (Turkey) 2016 94 min. In Source: Hanan Awad. Muhaned Salah was arrested and Turkish, Kurmanji and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director/ detained by Israeli authorities because he filed a complaint Producer: George Mürer. Print Source: George Mürer. This film against settlers who burned his house. The settlers believe presents young Kurdish wedding musicians in Turkey. Because of they have the divine right to Muhaned’s land. Muhaned’s story state repression, Kurds make their weddings sites of defiance as shows that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a religious well as festivity. The role of wedding musicians—predominantly conflict but is about the struggle for equality and human rights. men in their twenties—is to encourage community cohesion, the SONITA (Iran) 2015 90 min. In English, Farsi and Dari w/English participation of all age groups and support how hosts and guests subtitles. Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami. Producer: want to situate themselves politically. Gerd Haag. Print Source: Women Make Movies. Sonita is an VOICE OF THE VALLEY (Jordan) 2013 52 min. In Arabic w/ 18-year-old Afghani illegal immigrant girl living in Tehran. She is English subtitles. Director/Producer: Leila Jarman. Print high-spirited and fights to live her own life in contrast to Iranian Source: Women’s Voices Now. This documentary presents two culture and the conservative views of her family. She expresses young women from Jordan’s impoverished, religious and tribal herself as an artist, singer and musician. This documentary is agricultural hub, the Jordan Valley. Without formal training unusual because the filmmaker plays a major role in Sonita’s life. and unable to get a government license, Asma and Munira STARLESS DREAMS (ROYAHAYE DAME SOBH) (Iran) 2016 76 broadcast a groundbreaking radio program. Despite threats and min. In Farsi w/English subtitles. Director/Producer: Mehrdad backlash from their community, the women expose regional Oskouei. Print Source: The Cinema Guild. A haunting portrait sociopolitical and environmental issues. of stolen childhood, this documentary reveals the lives of seven YEMEN – TAXI (AL-YAMAN – UJRAH) (Yemen) 2015 6 min. In teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and Arabic w/English subtitles. Director: Mohammed Al-Ashwal. correction center on the outskirts of Tehran. As the New Year Producer: Support Yemen. Print Source: Yemen Peace approaches, the girls bond and relate with disarming, playful Project. This short film reveals the hopes of a student-turned- honesty the circumstances that led to their incarceration. This taxi-driver. Despite the trials and tribulations of driving in a film delivers an unforgettable portrayal of restored innocence. war-zone, he remains upbeat.

MESA 2016 FilmFest u 15 Film Distributors/Film Makers/Print Sources

Fuad Abdulaziz Mohamed Hanan Awad George Mürer Sana’a: Symphony of an Old City Shushala Viva Granî [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Lamia Alami Hannah Gaber Tugg, EDU Farewell Exile A Young Nation: The Future of Oman through the After Spring; Salam Neighbor [email protected] Eyes of its Youth [email protected] [email protected] edu.tugg.com Syed Owais Ali A Seatbelt’s Mission; Pakistan: No Place Like Home Heymann Brothers Films Women Make Movies [email protected] Almost Friends Sonita [email protected] [email protected] Abdulrahman Al Madani heymannfilms.com www.wmm.com Beshkara [email protected] Icarus Films Women’s Voices Now Afghanistan 1979; Nefertiti’s Daughters The Ripple Effect; Semiotics of Islam; Voice of the AFD/Typecast Films [email protected] Valley Iraqi Odyssey; Jews and Muslims: Intimate Strangers www.icarusfilms.com [email protected] [email protected] www.womensvoicesnow.org [email protected] Image Nation www.arabfilm.com The Absentees; Nouran; Omnia Yemen Peace Project typecastfilms.com [email protected] A Broken Home; Bachelors of War; For a Loaf of Bread; Murad; Yemen Taxi Anasy Media International Film and Video Center [email protected] The Tainted Veil Razor’s Edge: The Legacy of Iranian Actresses [email protected] [email protected]

The Cinema Guild Journeyman Pictures Ltd. 50 Feet from Syria; The Crossing; From Iran, A Bahrain’s Stateless People; Starving Yemen Separation; Starless Dreams [email protected] [email protected] journeyman.tv www.cinemaguild.com KAF Productions Call for Entries Dharamsala Besieged Bread The Man from Oran [email protected] The MESA FilmFest Committee seeks sub- [email protected] missions for FilmFest 2017 to be screened Sinan Khadife during the Annual Meeting in Washington, Documentary Educational Resources Guesthouse DC, November 18-21. All entries will be re- Mystic Mass; The Tentmakers of Cairo [email protected] viewed by the committee or selected re- [email protected] gional/topical experts. DVD submissions (2 www.der.org Kino Lorber EDU.Com copies) in region free NTSC format should In the Image: Palestinian Women Capture the Oc- be sent with the entry form to the address Ruth Diskin Films cupation below. Links to digital submissions of H.264 My Home [email protected] files (with .mp4 or .mov extensions) should [email protected] be provided with the entry form and sent to www.ruthfilms.com Sabine Krayenbühl the email address below. If a digital entry Letters From Baghdad is accepted, the film maker may be asked Emirates Distrib [email protected] to send a higher resolution file (not larger The Neighbour LettersfromBaghdad.com that 4-5 GB). Entry forms will be available [email protected] online. Contact information: Thomas B. Ste- Media Education Foundation venson, FilmFest Director, MESA Secretari- Rita Ender The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s at, 3542 N. Geronimo Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705 The Last Words Public Relations War in the United States (520.333.2577; 740.605.0115; tbstevenson@ [email protected] [email protected] email.arizona.edu). www.mediaed.org Films Media Group Submission Deadline: June 15, 2017 Berber Wedding Festival; Sufi Soul Media Resources Center, University of [email protected] North Carolina

www.films.com The Mad, Mad, Mad World www.lib.unc.edu/mrc Go2Films Arabic Movie Suzannah Mirghani [email protected] Caravan www.go2films.com [email protected]

16 u MESA 2016 FilmFest