The 2008 Cannes Festival will feature in their Directors’ Fortnight section the latest film, Dernier Maquis, from Franco-Algerian filmmaker, Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche.

Ameur-Zaimeche’s previous films include Wesh Wesh, What’s Going On? and Bled Number One (both screened at the Arab Film Festival in past years) and he is recognized as one of France’s preeminent Beur filmmakers.

Here’s the entire Directors’ Fortnight line-up.

*Image from www.allocine.fr

Benefit Screening for the 12th Annual Arab Film Festival:

Captain Abu Raed

While its a decrease in the number of Arab films featured at 2007 Cannes Festival (it was really a stellar year with Lebanese films ‘Caramel’ and ‘The Lost Man,’ among others), the 2008 Cannes line-up features two noteworthy Arab films in the Un Certain Regard section.

First up is Je Veux Voir directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige. This is the 2nd feature-length narrative from these two Beirut-based artists/professors who have made a name for themselves as visual artists (photography and installation art), documentarians and academics. Their 1st feature was the 2005 A Perfect Day.

Also included this year is the 1st feature-length narrative Salt of this Sea from Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir. Jacir’s short film Like Twenty Impossibles received a whole slew of festival awards when it came out in 2003.

*Photos taken from CRG Gallery and NY Women in Film and TV websites, respectively.

Here’s the whole Cannes line-up.

The London Palestine Film Festival is now entering its second week of screenings (April 18th – May 1st) at London’s School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS). Perhaps most notable about this festival are the short films, which represent a great collection of some of the best shorts from/about Palestine from the last 10 years.

Here’s the whole schedule.

There’s was also an interesting article about the London Palestine Film Festival in The Guardian last Thursday. Read Guardian Article here.

*Photo from short film “Women’s Testimonies of the Nakba” by Raneen Geries.

French sales agent Roissy Films has sold the Japanese rights for Lebanese feature, ‘Caramel,’ to Japan’s Cetera International. Nadine Labaki’s 2007 film is the most successful Lebanese film to date and the sale to Japanese distributor marks the final major territory to acquire the film.

Article here.

The Arab Film Festival presents the West Coast Premiere of documentary SLINGSHOT HIP HOP at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Filmmaker Jackie Reem Salloum will be present for a Q&A after the screening.

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP was selected for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and as part of the Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films Series. The film was featured in the March issue of Vibe Magazine.

A new generation slings rhymes instead of rocks as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Interweaving multiple stories of young Palestinians in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, filmmaker Jackie Reem Salloum spotlights a vibrant hip-hop scene as emerging artists discover rap and employ it as a means to surmount age-old schisms deepened by occupation and poverty. (Sundance Film Festival)

Sunday, April 27th, 2008
4:30pm
Regency Lido Theater
3459 Via Lido
Newport Beach, CA

Tickets available starting April 4th at the Newport Beach Film Festival website.

Slingshot Hip Hop Website

The Arab Film Festival is proud to co-present at the 51st San Francisco International Film Festival – April 24 to May 8, 2008

The Aquarium directed by Yousry Nasrallah

The Aquarium is a subtle but spirited existential drama of modern life that concentrates—with intimations of a larger political economy of fear—on two secretly troubled thirty something professionals in Cairo whose respectable, self-assured positions belie an unspoken dread of living. Leila and Youssef, the two main characters, although attractive, poised and successful, live with a secret fear of establishing themselves in social relations outside of those created for them at work.

The Arab Film Festival co-presents with Project Peace Through Understanding and General Union of Palestinian Students:

Selected Short Films from the 2007 Arab Film Festival

Friday, April 18th, 2008, 7:30 PM
Rigoberta Menchu Hall at San Francisco State University
Free Screening

Qater Al Nada by Muayad Alayan
(2007, Palestine, 25 min)
In Beit Safafa, the only remaining Palestinian neighborhood in Israeli West Jerusalem, olive and almond fields are threatened just like the people by the politics of the occupation. The village’s Dabka dance group, Qater Al Nada, was established by a group of youth to bring back the Palestinian heritage and culture to the narrow streets, village weddings, and dance festivals, carrying the story of Beit Safafa to Palestine and the world.

Staying Alive by Zeina Aboulhosn and Anne De Mo
(2006, Lebanon, 8 min)
A sequel to Zeid’s Little Bomb, this short film follows the same punk rock band The New Government as they prepare for a concert in Beirut, in July 2006, despite the state of war with Israel.

I Remember Lebanon by Zeina Aboulhosn
2006 | Lebanon/UK | 6 min
A journey through memories of Beirut, filmed by Zeina Aboulhosn who was visiting Lebanon just before the bombs started falling. A chance to meet a new generation of young Lebanese.

Ashura: Blood and Beauty by Katia Saleh
(2006, Lebanon/UK, 20 min)
Winner of the 2007 Noor Award-Short Film Competition
Following the biggest Shia ceremony in South Lebanon over three years, this contemporary look at the 1300-year-old Ashura Muslim ritual shows that a mix of modernity and tradition in Lebanon has made Ashura a platform for young people to meet each other. This short documentary reveals a side to Ashura that the world has not yet seen, a side that is not bloody and violent but rather ambiguous and compelling.

Beirut: All Flights Cancelled by Katia Saleh
(2006, Lebanon/UK, 22 min)
Filmed during the last war in Lebanon in July 2006, this personal journey focuses on the state of mind of three different generations who experienced war in the past and who were once again caught under the state of siege. This intimate look at the effects of the war reveals aspects of the conflict seldom shown by war reporters in the media.

Sour by Nathan Gray
(2007, USA, 50 min)
A group of Israeli and Jordanian skaters jump borders and culture barriers to share a united passion for skateboarding. Shot in neighboring countries Jordan and Israel during the Israel/Lebanon conflict of last year, Sour aims to captures a unique perspective missing from news reports about the region, by putting the camera into the hands of local youth with little or no prior experience in making a film. This very process helps showcase acts of peaceful rebellion, community action, and outreach that unify people who would otherwise never meet.

The total Running Time: 2hours 11min

The new feature from director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) about “a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City,” stars Arab-Israeli actress, Hiam Abbass (Munich, Paradise Now), and Lebanese-American actor, Haaz Sleiman (American Dreamz, ’24′).

‘The Visitor’ will have limited release on April 11th.

Here’s the trailer.

(photo: Sundance Film Festival)

The Gulf Film Festival kicks off in Dubai on April 13th and will be the first festival of its kind to spotlight Gulf filmmakers. In addition to the Bahraini ‘Four Girls,’ in competition will be new features from Saudi directors, Abdulla Abu Talib and Mamoun Bonni, and Kuwaiti directors, Hasan Abdal and Faisal Sham.

Also included will be a screening of Iraqi director, Mohammed Al-Daradji’s ‘Ahlaam,’ which had its US Premiere at the Arab Film Festival in 2006.

For the full Variety article click here.

(photo: Human Film)