Arab Film Festival: San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, Los Angeles

Opening Night Film 2012: Man Without A Cell Phone

Man Without A Cell Phone screened at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco on October 11th. Read more.
Private Sun

Mariam is instructed by her doctor to sunbathe in order to reverse the vitamin D deficiency that is causing her a bone illness. But with nosy neighbors, an overbearing sister-in-law and Israeli surveillance planes, private moments under the sun are precious and rare. Read More
Soul

A mysterious man asks a sculptor for a strange request: to create certain parts of his body in clay. Upon receiving the finished art, the next action is even stranger. Who is this man and what does he want? This short narrative traverses through the concepts of life, death, the meaning of true existence...Read more.
Rabat

When Nadir's father suddenly sends him off to drive an old taxi from Amsterdam to Rabat, his two best friends, Abdel and Zakaria, invite themselves along for a road trip. The adventure takes them through the European landscape of France and Spain to the Moroccan capital itself. Brushes with new cultures... Read more.
Top Floor Left Wing

François, a forty-something bailiff, is about to execute his daily eviction. But fate takes an unexpected turn: as he enters the apartment, he is mistakenly taken hostage by an amateur drug dealer and his father. Keen to resolve this situation quickly and quietly... Read more.
Death for Sale

Tetouan, a Moroccan port city permanently under a low, heavy sky. Three friends, small time crooks, plan a robbery to escape from a hopeless future. Malik, unemployed and madly in love with Dounia, is in on the heist to create a new life for them. Allal is the tough guy needing cash to be a player in the local drug trade... Read more.
Yamo

The complexities of personal memory, silence and Lebanon are drawn out by way of Rami Nihawi's affecting film, Yamo. Situated beside recollections of the filmmaker's mother, Nawal, the boundaries between personal history and national history become increasingly blurred... Read more.
Words of Witness

Every time 22-year-old Heba Afify heads out to cover the historical events shaping her country's future, her mother is compelled to remind her, "I know you are a journalist, but you're still a girl!" Defying cultural norms and family expectations, Heba takes to the streets to report on an Egypt in turmoil, using tweets... Read more.
Papa Hedi-The Search for my Grandfather

Filmmaker Claire Belhassine was in her late 20s when she discovered that her grandfather was the Frank Sinatra of the Arab World, Hedi Jouini. From the theme song of a popular Tunisian soap opera to pop singers' cover songs, including international superstar Shakira... Read more.
Letter to Sasha

Fatma, who lives in Asuerd's refugee camp in the Hamada region of the Algerian desert, lives a very austere life with her family. A studious young girl that dreams of being a doctor, she listens to international television news that gives her an idea... Read more.