The Gulf Film Festival in Dubai kicks off on April 13th and is the first festival devoted to films from the Gulf Region. FOUR GIRLS

Variety reported yesterday that MBC has closed a deal to broadcast all Indiana Jones films in the month of May. The deal includes the previous trilogy as well as the soon-to-be-released “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

This is said to “be one of the richest ever for the free-to-air Arab TV market.”

The deal may serve to represent the increasing recognition by American studios that Arab audiences offer a potentially revenue-generating market.

Read the full article here.

Once again, the New York Times looks at the questions raised when Hollywood makes movies about the war in Iraq.

The article in today’s Times examines the challenges that studios face when trying to market an Iraq movie to American audiences.

Full Article here.

Arab-American documentary filmmaker, Jehane Noujaim, announced Tuesday that May 10th will mark “Pangea Day.” Noujaim is best known for her 2004 documentary, “Control Room,” which offered viewers a glimpse into the working of Al-Jazeera News Channel.

Since receiving the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference prize in 2006, Noujaim has the enlisted the support of major entertainment and technology players to host a film event that will allow individuals from across the globe to share short videos about their lives online.

Noujaim believes ‘that a key to peace is for people to meet each other. Since she can’t force people to travel, she wants to “bring the world together” for a day through the power of film.’

Read the full article here.

(AFP/Getty Images/Zack Seckler)

ArteEast (the people who bring us NYC’s CinemaEast Festival) has announced its web based magazine ArteNews that will cover, “art and cultural happenings in the US and specific areas of the Middle East.”

This month they have produced a fascinating collection of articles examining the Golden Era of Cine-clubs in the Arab World.

“Slingshot Hip Hop,” the new documentary about Palestinian rap, by Palestinian-American filmmaker Jackie Reem Salloum, is featured in this year’s New Directors/New Films at the Lincoln Center this week.

The doc had its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Here’s an interview with the filmmaker from today’s indieWIRE.

AFF is pleased to be co-sponsoring the California Premiere of “Slingshot Hip Hop” at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 27th. More details to come.

The Arab Film Festival co-presents with the Pacific Film Archive:
Direct Engagement: New Digital Films from Palestine and Lebanon

This series explores the vitality and diversity of documentary and experimental filmmaking in Lebanon and Palestine today. The first two programs take place at the PFA Theater, with additional events presented on the UC Berkeley campus and in San Francisco. On Monday, April 7, the Film Studies Department presents Searching for Our Destination: Films, Politics, Discussion with visiting artists Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri of the 16 Beaver St. Collective. (For more information, see the Film Studies Department)
On Wednesday, April 9, kino21 presents Palestine: Interior/Exterior, a repeat of Kamal Aljafari’s The Roof with additional local work. (For more information, see kino21)

Sunday, April 6, 2008
3:30 p.m. Summer of War: Lebanon 2006
Five recent films forcefully articulate personal and collective experiences of the war in Lebanon.
The films in this program are part of a touring exhibition organized by ArteEast.

Sunday, April 6, 2008
5:30 p.m. The Roof
Kamal Aljafari in Person. Palestinian director Aljafari’s eloquent exploration of physical and psychic place. With short Visit Iraq.

Series curated by Irina Leimbacher and Jeffrey Skoller. Presented with the generous support of the Al-Falah Grant Program of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Film Studies Program, Consortium for the Arts, and the Graduate Film Working Group, all at UC Berkeley. We gratefully acknowledge Rasha Salti, Livia Alexander, and ArteEast, as well as the Arab Film Festival, for their assistance.

In addition to the ND/NF screenings mentioned in 3/26 posting, the New York festival will also screen Lebanese-French director Danielle Arbid’s latest film, “A Lost Man” (Un Homme Perdu).

Danielle Arbid doesn’t exactly fall under the category of “New Director” as this film is her 2nd to direct (“In the Battlefields” was her first full-length), but we’re happy to see her included nonetheless. “A Lost Man” premiered at the 2007 Cannes Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight section.

Information about the NYC screening here.
A not-so-kind review of the film from Variety here.
And a video about the making of the film here.

The NOOR FILM FESTIVAL, a Los Angeles film festival featuring primarily new Iranian film, will screen AMERICAN EAST as its opening film on April 10th.

AMERICAN EAST is a story of Arab-Americans in post-9/11 Southern California and stars Tony Shalhoub, Sayed Badreya, Alfre Woodard, Anthony Azizi, Sarah Shahi, and Erick Avari. It is the first full-length feature from Egyptian director, Hisham Issawi.

More information on the film here.

The Arab Film Festival co-presents with ATA: