Jordanian documentary, “Recycle,” by Mahmoud al-Massad, has been selected to screen at the preeminent international documentary film festival, Hot Docs. Premiering at Dubai in 2007 and selected for the Sundance Film Fest in 2008, the film will screen in Toronto between April 17th and April 27th.

“It tells the story of Abu Amar, an ex-Mujahideen soldier, trying to build a peaceful life after years of fighting in the Soviet-Afghan war. His personal struggle between faith and the difficult political and social realities of life in the Middle East finds Amar, father of eight, forced to collect and recycle cardboard in the streets of Zarqa, Jordan. Zarqa, a hotbed for political Islamists, is also the childhood home of the film’s director and the birthplace of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late and infamous al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. The director rides shotgun with Amar and his young son as they drive the streets of Zarqa, the same streets and extreme living conditions which led many other young men to choose the violent life of political extremism.”

Hot Docs website.
“Recycle” website.

“Recycle” was picked up for worldwide distribution by Wide Entertainment during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

The Norwegian documentary by Line Halvorsen, “USA vs Al-Arian,” will be broadcast on television for the first time in the United States on Link TV, Sunday, April 13th at 8:00pm.

This powerful film, which had its California Premiere at the 2007 Arab Film Festival, follows the struggle of an Arab-American family when their father, professor Sami Al-Arian, is faced with terrorism charges leveled by the U.S. government.

Link TV website
USA vs Al-Arian website

Early this week there were rumors that Lebanese censors would ban French-Iranian Marjane Satapi’s animated film “Persepolis.”

On Wednesday, AFP reported that Lebanese censors had, in fact, officially banned the film. Article here.

Then today, met with public outrage and pressure, the authorities lifted the ban on “Persepolis” and it will be released in Lebanon on April 9th. Daily Star article here.

*This is not exactly “Arab Film News.” More like, “Film News from the Arab World.” We still think it’s of interest.

After over 2 years of playing on the international festival circuit, the stunning Tunisian feature, Bab’Aziz, by veteran filmmaker Nacer Khemir, finally found American distribution with Arab Film Distribution. (AFF screened the Bab’Aziz at the 2006 Festival).

While already closing in New York and Los Angeles, the film will open in San Francisco and Berkeley on April 4th and in other cities across the country in the coming months.

“An Arabian dream that weaves timeless story threads with mystical and Sufi elements into a beautiful film object. . . as fascinating as reading a new chapter of 1,001 Nights.”
- Deborah Young, Variety

For the trailer, schedule, and locations, see here.

This month marks the closing of the first round of admissions for the brand new Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts. This new film school based in Aqaba, Jordan is a joint effort of the Jordanian Royal Film Commission and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. They are offering an MFA in Filmmaking with the hopes of graduating a mass of people with high-level media production skills in the Middle East.

The have a good-looking website and sparkling new facilities (or so the simulated pictures make it seem) and hopefully when then first students graduate in 2010, there will be a whole new batch of well-trained Arab filmmaking talent.

On a similar note, the New York Film Academy (NYFA) opened shop in Abu Dhabi last month with the help of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. Like the RSICA, NYFA-AD will accept its first group of students this coming fall. As expected with anything from Abu Dhabi these days, they’re not skimping on appearances.

IFC announced yesterday that it has bought the North American rights to Eran Riklis’ latest film, The Lemon Tree. AFF presented the Bay Area Premiere of Riklis’ last film, The Syrian Bride, in 2005.

Once again, he has paired with Arab-Israeli actress Hiam Abbass (Munich, Paradise Now), and for the first time with actor Ali Suliman (Paradise Now, The Kingdom).

“Inspired by true events, [the film] follows the story of a Palestinian widow who defends her trees against the Israeli defense minister, who wants to raze them in the name of security, and ends up finding a bond with the defense minister’s wife.”

Lemon Tree was the winner of the 2008 Berlin Audience Award.

Full article here.

Curated by New York’s Film Society of the Lincoln Center and the Film Department of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoMa), the New Directors/New Films series ‘has earned an international reputation as the premiere festival for works that break or re-cast the cinematic mold.’ It kicks off today, March 26th, and runs through April 4th.

Two films from emerging young Arab filmmakers will be featured in this series.

FALLING FROM EARTH

Chadi Zeneddine, Lebanon/France, 2007

“A true cinema poet, Chadi Zeneddine’s poignantly surrealist debut film pays tribute to four lonely people trying to survive their own private wars in Beirut. These seamlessly woven chapters each reflect their own particular time and place. In 1958, a solitary little girl exchanges her world of toys and make-believe for a camera that captures the harsher reality outside. In 1975, a security official grieving over the loss of a loved one finds solace in the graffiti he reads and scrawls in a men’s room. In 1982, a woman dances and weeps, waiting in vain for a missing lover. And in the present, Joussef has a magical encounter. Falling From Earth is a moving elegy for a lost homeland from a director whose talent and sensitivity imbue every frame.”

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP

Jackie Reem Salloum, USA, 2008

“While America’s image abroad has been battered of late, its music remains a unifying force in global culture. New York filmmaker Jackie Reem Salloum’s first feature documentary on Palestinian rap, is an exuberant mix of live-action and animation. Beginning in Lyd, Israel, where Tamer Nafar heard Tupac Shakur and, influenced by Shakur’s protest lyrics and fierce rhythms, formed DAM, the first Palestinian hip hop group, the filmmaker travels to West Bank communities and to Gaza to record what, in spite of poverty and military checkpoints, DAM hath wrought. That includes PR (Palestinian Rapperz), whose members hope someday to meet fellow rappers outside the confinements of Gaza; and the female rapper Abeer and the group Arapeyat, who are redefining gender roles in their societies. Slingshot Hip Hop is a rousing testament to the power of music and the aspirations of youth.”

Details on the screenings at New Directors/New Films.

Even though movie theaters are illegal in Saudi Arabia, Saudi media moguls have their hands in many of the recently announced Arabic-language film productions.

In addition to a number Saudi-financed (Rotana, ART and MBC) film productions underway in the Gulf, Egypt and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia has also announced its first film festival.

Lots of detailed info on the specific productions and the growing interest in film in Saudi Arabia in this Variety article.

Last Sunday’s article in the New York Times, “Oil and Hollywood Don’t Always Mix,” discusses the current love affair between American movie studios and Gulf financiers.

The award-winning new film THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN (La Graine et le Mulet) by celebrated French-Maghrebi director, Abdellatif Kechiche, has its West Coast Premiere at the ColCoa French Film Festival (City of Lights – City of Angels) in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 19th.

Starring a cast of newcomers, including award-winning actress Hafsia Herzi, The Secret of the Grain is the portrait of a French family of North-African origin, struggling amidst financial hardship and family tensions. The film tells the story of Slimane (Habib Boufares), a sixty-year-old shipyard worker who buys a boat and remodels it as a couscous restaurant, to make a better life for himself and his family. Through Slimane, Abdellatif Kechiche explores deeper issues of racism and discrimination, faced by immigrants who cannot find their place in French society and have difficulty relating to their French-born children.

Awards: 2007 Venice Mostra Special Jury Prize, 2008 César award for Best Film, Best Director, Best original screenplay, Best New Actress, Lumiere award for Best Director and Best New Actress

Screen International says, “A cine-verite tour-de-force, Abdellatif Kechiche’s follow-up to the award-winning L’Esquive loads an apparently slight story set against the background of France’s first-and-second generation Maghrebi immigrant communities with surprising dramatic weight.”

More about the ColCoa Festival here.