São Paulo – A Moroccan boy who grew to like cinema with his Spanish neighbour. A Palestinian who was brought up in a refugee camp in Lebanon and filmed his own story. The daily routine of a psychiatrist hospital in Egypt. These stories and other themes from the Arab world daily life will be featured at the 9th Arab World Film Festival, which will show 70 films starting next Thursday (13th) in the city of São Paulo.
This year’s schedule is full of innovations, such as short films, full features, debates with movie makers and producers well-known in the Arab world, parallel activities as concerts, screenings at five places in the city and films selected for two important festivals, Dubai International Film Festival and Cannes.
Geraldo Campos, cultural director at the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), who is the curator of the festival alongside Soraya Smaili, who went to both festivals to make the a selection. Other films which that were exhibit in other Arab festivals or that were personally offered to Icarabe by the movie directors are also part of the schedule.
The selection of films is a mix of different themes such as family relations, refugee camps, science fiction, loneliness, conflict, and the like. Even a short film based on a Palestinian short story is featured at the festival. The opening screening will be on August 13th with the Palestinian film Omar, which was nominated to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, whose budget came from the Arab country. The film tells the story of Omar and his beloved Nadia, surrounded by the fight for freedom at the occupied West Bank.
The film will be shown once again on August 15th, at Cinesesc, with the attendance of Omar’s producer and actor, Waleed Zuaiter. The screening is scheduled to start at 9 pm, alongside the Palestinian short film Nation Estate, and will be followed by a debate with the actor. The film caught attention from around the world for its nomination for an Oscar, an unprecedented accomplishment for a Palestinian production.
Moroccan movie Adios Carmen will also be at the schedule and tells the story of a boy who lives with his aggressive uncle. He finds shelter with his Spanish neighbour, who works at a movie theatre and shows him all the movie magic. The documentary A World Not Ours tells the story of a Palestinian who was raised at a refugee camp, Ein el-Helweh, in Lebanon. The film was made from personal pieces of filming of the main character, family footage and historic images.
Egyptian film Zelal shows the reality of psychiatrist institutions in Egypt. The film was directed by Marianne Khoury, who will participate in a debate on August 30th, at the Bank of Brazil Cultural Centre (CCBB). Khoury is a juror of major international festivals and the discussion will feature cinema and psychology professionals to discuss the mixing of both areas. Also taking part of the discussions at the festival are the Egyptians Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, of the distribution group Med Solutions. Karkouti is one of the greatest film critics of the Arab world.
A musical presentation mixing Arab and Brazilian song will be part of the closing of the schedule for the Memorial da América Latina, one of the venues of the festival. Tunisian Raoulf Jemni and Brazilians Claudio Kairouz and Junior Pita will play together, on August 25th, curated by Geraldo Campos. The former two already play together as the Tunisian-Brazilian duo 156 Cordas. At the same day the film about the orchestra formed by Palestinian Edward Said and Israeli Daniel Barenboim will be shown. There will also be a closing ceremony cocktail party.
The festival will be divided into four themes: Arab World Panorama, Palestinian Cinema, Contemporary Egyptian Cinema and Arab-Latin American Dialogs. The latter is comprised of Latin American productions with Arab themes. The former features a large variety of productions, with films from Syria, Algeria, as well as others, with different themes. The festival will be held during the ten year anniversary of Icarabe’s creation. According to Campos, the films are quite new, produced this year or last year.
Screening venues will include Cinesesc, from August 13th to 20th, Memorial da América Latina, from August 22nd to 25th, Bank of Brazil Cultural Centre, from August 27th to September 14th, São Paulo Cultural Centre, from September 9th to 16th, and the Auditorium of Mário de Andrade Library, from September 2nd to 9th. The Icarabe organizes the festival in a partnership with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Sesc-SP, Bank of Brazil Cultural Centre, São Paulo’s city hall and Memorial da América Latina. The parallel activities are free of charge. The film screenings are priced according to the place hosting the film.
9th Arab World Film Festival
From August 13th to September 16th 2014
Venue: Cinesesc, Memorial América Latina, Mário de Andrade Library, Bank of Brazil Cultural Centre, São Paulo Cultural Centre, in the city of São Paulo
For further information: www.icarabe.org.br (in Portuguese)
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
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