The 19th Annual Arab Film Festival (AFF) plays the San Francisco Bay Area from October 16-25, then moves on to Los Angeles on November 13–15. Villa Touma will open the LA edition of the Festival at the Harmony Gold, Friday, November 13, 8pm then plays San Diego, November 20–22.
AFF was founded in 1996 to transform the way people see the world through Arab film, and to AFF foster a space for independent Arab filmmakers to screen their work for the public.
AFF seeks to enhance understanding of Arab culture, to provide alternative representations of Arabs and to counterbalance to the stereotypes encountered in American mass media.
Considered one of the most important Arab film festivals outside the Arab world, the Arab Film Festival is the largest independent annual showcase of Arab films and filmmakers in the country. It strives to present the best contemporary films that provide insight into the beauty, complexity and diversity of the Arab world alongside realistic perspectives on Arab people, culture, art, history and politics.
Villa Touma
Harmony Gold, LA
Friday, November 13, 8pm
Three aristocratic sisters from Ramallah—Violet, Juliet and Antoinette—have shut themselves in their villa, clinging desperately to their former glory. When the arrival of their long estranged orphan niece, Badia, disrupts the delusional equilibrium they’ve established, they conspire to marry her ff as quickly as possible. But the headstrong Badia, in no rush to give up her newfound freedom, proves a less than apt pupil in their makeshift finishing school.
November 14, 2015 Harmony Gold
On the Banks of the Tigris
3:00 pm Harmony Gold
This film uncovers the nearly erased legacy of Iraqi Jewish Folklore music. Majid Shokor searches for the source of the songs he loved hearing as a young boy in Baghdad. The Ba’ath Party purged Iraqi music of its origins, but Majid learns the truth as he travels the world to meet exiled musicians who still sing and play their songs.
Shorts Program: Fathers
4:30 pm Harmony Gold
AFF’s celebration of Arab Fathers, this shorts series highlights the relationship between Arab fathers and their children, the heart ache, the joy, the sacrfec, the desire to be understood and accepted by one another and ultimately the unwavering love that they give.
Fathers (82 MINS)
AFF’s celebration of Arab Fathers, this shorts series highlights the relationship between Arab fathers and their children, the heart ache, the joy, the sacrfec, the desire to be understood and accepted by one another and ultimately the unwavering love that they give.
In This Program: “Scarecrow”, “Light”, “The Sheikh of Mussafah”, “Our Father’s Sons”, “Made of Clay”, “Pere”, “Pickup”
Oriented | Breaking Fast
6:00 pm Harmony Gold
Oriented provides a close look at the lives of a group of three gay Palestinian friends as they confront their national and sexual identities in Tel Aviv. They represent “a new Palestinian generation, (one) you haven’t yet had a chance to meet.”
From A to B
8:00 pm Harmony Gold
Three estranged childhood friends travel on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of their lost friend. If what happens en route doesn’t make them crazy, it might just bring them closer.
November 15, 2015
Je Suis le Peuple
1:00 pm Harmony Gold
As the Egyptian people rise up in Tahrir Square, rural villagers in the south are watching the revolution on TV. From the overthrow of Mubarak to the fall of Morsi, the film follows the upheavals through the eyes of Farraj, a peasant farmer in the Nile valley near Luxor. Between the lines of hope and disappointment in the farmer’s daily life, change is a long time coming.
On the Bride’s Side
3:00 pm Harmony Gold
A group of people help Palestinian and Syrian refugees fleeing Syria complete their journey to Sweden. To avoid being arrested as traffickers, they fake a wedding. A Palestinian woman dresses up as the bride and a dozen or so Italian and Syrian friends dress as wedding guests. In proper attire, they cross halfway over Europe on a four-day journey spanning over three thousand kilometers.
Love, Theft and Other Entanglements
5:30 pm Harmony Gold
A Palestinian car thief gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money in his impoverished refugee camp turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk.
Mousa gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money in his impoverished Palestinian refugee camp turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk. Mousa’s hopes of paying the bribe that will guarantee him an exit visa out of the country and away from his wrecked love affair dissipate as he finds himself on the run from Palestinian militias and the Israeli intelligence.
The Arab Film Awards celebrate filmmakers whose enlightening and original works distinguish themselves in their category. A jury of leaders in the Arab film, media and entertainment community selects and awards prizes for Best Narrative Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Short Film and Best First Film.
#AFF2015 Film Jury
Waleed Zuaiter- 2015 Jury Chair
Actor, Producer
waleedzuaiter.com
Omar Offenndum
Hip-Hop Artist
offendum.com
Ayser Salman
Marketing Producer and Editor
heyayser.com
Jessica Habie
Director, co-founder of Eyes Infinite Films
eyesinfinite.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION go to http://aff2015.arabfilmfestival.org/about/