Twin Cities 5th Arab Film Festival

Mizna Presents:
The Twin Cities 5th Arab Film Festival
October 16-19, 2008
The Heights Theatre
3951 Central Avenue Northeast, Minneapolis
Cost: $5 student/low income $8 general admission
Festival Passes available $40 advanced (online) $55 at door
http://www.mizna.org/arabfilmfest08/index.html


As the only Arab film festival in the Upper Midwest, Mizna's Fifth Arab Film Festival is becoming a cultural feature of the region. This year's event will run from 16th to 19th October, 2008 at the historic Heights Theatre in Minneapolis. Over 20 feature films, experimental shorts, and documentaries will be given public screening in morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. Themes explored include immigration and exile, war and peace, religion and sexuality and most films will receive their Minnesota or US premiere. Many screenings will be followed by a discussion with panels of international Arab filmmakers and academics. The festival will also include public receptions which will provide a gathering point for the community to dialogue on issues related to art, life, and the Arab condition in the US and abroad.

Mizna's Arab Film Festival was designed to meet two basic needs: to introduce authentic Arab and Muslim culture to the American public, and to offer the Arab-Muslim communities in the US a genuine forum where complex, even sensitive issues can be freely and safely discussed.

The Arab-Muslim world is the most embattled region in the world and its peoples are the most scrutinized - even vilified - people on the planet. How do Arab films reflect this situation? How is cinematographic production affected by the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Lebanon? How do Arab filmmakers deal with the issues of immigration, gender equality, terrorism, political prisoners and other burning issues? Does cinema provide a refuge from the painful reality, or does it provide a safe ground to confront it? Mizna's Fifth Arab Film Festival might not provide the answers for these questions, but it hopes to initiate the discussion.

Some special events include:
• Thursday October 16th: El Ayel/ A Muslim Childhood by Moumen Smihi
followed by a catered reception.
• Friday October 17th: Slingshot Hip-Hop and A Jihad for Love. The
first explores a vibrant Hip-Hop scene in occupied Palestine and the
second explores the issue of homosexuality in the Muslim world.
Slingshot Hip-Hop's director Jackie Selloum will be present for a
post-screening discussion, and Palestinian Hip-Hop band DAM will give
a performance on the fringe of the festival at the Cedar Cultural
Centre on Saturday night.
• Saturday October 18th: Meeting Resistance by Molly Bingham and Steve
Cox; a fascinating documentary on the Iraqi resistance to US
occupation, followed by a discussion with the directors. Adieu Méres
by Mohammed Ismail explores the mass immigration of Jews from Morocco
to Israel in 1960.
• Sunday October 19th: Jerusalem: The East side Story is among the
first films to document life for the Arab population of Jerusalem
under Israeli occupation. Arab Cinema: The State of Things closes the
festival with director Nasser-Eddine Benalia leading the discussion on
the state of things of cinematographic production in the Arab world.
• Also on Sunday, October 19th, Detroit native Rola Nashef will be
speaking after the showing of her film, Detroit Unleaded. It is a
fictional look at Detroit's Arab population and the world of gas
station ownership.

ABOUT MIZNA

Mizna is an Arab American organization that provides a forum for promoting Arab culture and gives voice to Arabs through literature, art, and community events. Founded in 1998, Mizna publishes the only journal of Arab American literature in the United States. In addition to the literary publication, Mizna works with the local community to facilitate Arab artistic expression through cultural classes, invited national and international Arab writers and artists, and local community forums to encourage the development of Arab American artistic expression.

Visit our website at http://www.mizna.org. Film festival website:
http://www.mizna.org/arabfilmfest08/index.html