Cinema Italian Style 2017

13th Annual Italian Film Festival
Egyptian & Aero Theatres - NOV. 16-21

Co-presented by the American Cinémathèque and Luce Cinecittà, under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles, the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Cultural Institute.

OPENING NIGHT GALA - November 16 - 6:30 PM - Egyptian Theatre

Followed by Q&A with filmmaker Jonas Carpignano

A CIAMBRA

2017, Sundance Selects, 117 min, Italy, Dir: Jonas Carpignano

Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, this keenly observed drama from Jonas Carpignano revisits characters from his debut, MEDITERRANEA. At its center is Pio Amato, a 14-year-old boy living on the poor side of a Calabrian town, where frictions between Italians, gypsies and African immigrants run high, and petty crime is a way of life. Carpignano elicits terrific performances from the predominantly nonprofessional cast, aided by Tim Curtin's fluid cinematography. “A coming-of-age drama with a stealthy emotional charge that further enhances the writer-director's reputation as a gifted practitioner of Italian neo-neorealism.” - David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.

November 17 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature at AERO

CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT (I FIGLI DELLA NOTTE)

2016, Reel Suspects, 85 min, Italy/Belgium, Dir: Andrea De Sica

Giulio (Vincenzo Crea), a 17-year-old from a well-to-do family, is sent to an isolated boarding school in the Alps, where iron-clad rules limit all contact with the outside. He finds a kindred spirit in the rather odd Edoardo (Ludovico Succio), with whom he frequently escapes the grounds when security becomes lax after dark. The two discover a nightclub hidden in the forest, where they befriend a prostitute, Elena (Yuliia Sobol) - and ultimately discover that the school’s reach is much greater than they had imagined.

PURE HEARTS (CUORI PURI)

2017, The Match Factory, 114 min, Italy, Dir: Roberto De Paolis

After her devout mother confiscates her cellphone, 17-year-old Agnese (Selene Caramazza) tries to steal one but is caught by Stefano (Simone Liberati). The young security guard lets Agnese go and is fired thereafter; when the two cross paths again, they begin a relationship that seems destined for trouble. “Mining tensions as varied as the rise of evangelical fervor in economically depressed modern Italy and the country's relationship to its itinerant gypsy population, this delicately handled romance never comes off as didactic, chiefly by keeping its focus firmly on its two appealing leads.” - Harry Windsor, The Hollywood Reporter.

November 18 - 5 PM - AERO

SLAM (SLAM: TUTTO PER UNA RAGAZZA)

2016, Netflix, 100 min, Italy, Dir: Andrea Molaioli

Based on the successful novel by Nick Hornby, SLAM is filled with the often exciting, often frightening, twists and turns of growing up. Sixteen-year-old Samuele (Ludovico Tersigni) spends his days skateboarding with his friends, doing jumps and tricks, and taking the odd spill; he also nurtures a completely imaginary friendship with his hero, Tony Hawk, the best skater of all time. He would love to attend a university, to travel, and perhaps move to California and become a professional skater. But more than anything, Samuele would love to be the first in his family not to fall into the trap of having a baby at 16, which happened to both his mother and his grandmother.

November 18 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature at AERO

FORTUNATA

2017, True Colors, 103 min, Italy, Dir: Sergio Castellitto

After the international success of DON’T MOVE, director Sergio Castellitto returns with this suburban fairy tale of female empowerment. On the verge of a divorce from her contentious husband and with a young daughter in therapy, Fortunata (Cannes Best Actress winner Jasmine Trinca, in a star-making performance) is struggling to stay afloat, her dream of owning a beauty salon seemingly impossible - until a new love brings hope into her life.

LOVE AND BULLETS (AMMORE E MALAVITA)

2017, Rai Com, 133 min, Italy, Dir: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti

This music-filled romp from the Manetti Bros. earned a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival. Ciro (Giampaolo Morelli) is among the most feared men in Naples, one of two killers at the service of crime boss Don Vincenzo (Carlo Buccirosso), “the King of Fish.” One night a young nurse, Fatima (Serena Rossi), finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and sees too much; Ciro is given the job of getting rid of her. But when the two end up face to face, they recognize each other as childhood sweethearts.

November 19 - 5 PM - AERO

LET YOURSELF GO (LASCIATI ANDARE)

2017, Menemsha Films, 102 min, Italy, Dir: Francesco Amato

Psychoanalyst Elia (THE GREAT BEAUTY’s Toni Servillo) is a pure Freudian whose austere and detached manner holds his patients in awe, even though he lives alone in a flat on the same floor as the ex-wife he still secretly pines for. After a minor illness, Elia’s doctor prescribes an iron-rich diet and physical activity to lose some weight … which is how he chances upon Claudia (Verónica Echegui), a personal trainer well versed in the cult of physique but not that of the mind.

November 19 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature at AERO

FRIENDS BY CHANCE (TUTTO QUELLO CHE VUOI)

2017, Rai Com, 106 min, Italy, Dir: Francesco Bruni

Alessandro (Andrea Carpenzano) is a tempestuous young slacker and a source of endless frustration to his father. Giorgio (Giuliano Montaldo) is a former poet in the early stages of Alzheimer syndrome. The two live within a stone’s throw of one another, but their paths have never crossed … until Alessandro is forced to accompany the old man on his afternoon walks. Bruni received a Nastri d'Argento Award for Best Screenplay for this heartwarming dramedy.

IT’S THE LAW! (L'ORA LEGALE)

2017, True Colors, 92 min, Italy, Dir: Salvatore Ficarra, Valentino Picone

In the small Sicilian village of Pietrammare, a mayoral election is approaching; the town has been led for many years by the crooked Gaetano Patanè (Tony Sperandeo), who will use any deception necessary to hold onto power. It’s business as usual for the townspeople until Pierpaolo Natoli (Vincenzo Amato) emerges as the mayor’s opponent. An upstanding 50-year-old professor, Natoli is a political novice full of courage and ideals - and, against all odds, he wins. But are the citizens of Pietrammare ready for a new age of legality and respect for the rules? The Ficarra and Picone team are at their hilarious best in this insightful comedy.

November 20 - 7:30 PM - AERO

EMMA (IL COLORE NASCOSTO DELLE COSE)

2017, Celluloid Dreams, 116 min, Italy/Switzerland, Dir: Silvio Soldini

Teo (Adriano Giannini) holds a creative position at a trendy ad agency and is an inveterate womanizer. Beautiful and vibrant, Emma (Valeria Golino) is an osteopath though she has been blind since the age of 16. When they first meet, Teo is mesmerized by her sexy voice and intrigued, never having been with a blind woman. The two go out on a date but when Emma proves too sharp to succumb to his charms, Teo is hooked.

November 21 - 7:30 PM - AERO

HOLDING HANDS (LA TENEREZZA)

2017, Rai Com, 103 min, Italy, Dir: Gianni Amelio

Renato Carpentieri won the Italian Golden Globes Best Actor award as retired lawyer Lorenzo, a self-centered grouch with a heart of gold. His health failing and estranged from his family, Lorenzo grows close to the new family next door - but the neighboring household is not as happy as it seems, and catastrophe awaits. Amelio’s adaptation of Lorenzo Moreno’s prize-winning novel The Temptation to Be Happy is both a powerfully acted character study and an evocative portrait of middle-class Naples.

Recent Spanish Cinema 2017

23rd Annual Recent Spanish Cinema
Egyptian Theatre - OCTOBER 19-22

In-person guests include actors Carlos Santos (SMOKE AND MIRRORS, A STROKE OF LUCK), Marta Etura (THE INVISIBLE GUARDIAN) and Ana Wagener (THE INVISIBLE GUEST), and directors Alex de la Iglesia (THE BAR) and Adolfo Martinez Pérez (RESCUE UNDER FIRE).

Thursday, OCT. 19 - 7:30 PM - Opening Night Gala

THE FURY OF A PATIENT MAN (TARDE PARA LA IRA)

2016, Film Factory, 92 min, Spain, Dir: Raúl Arévalo

The patient man of the title is José (Antonio de la Torre), a patron of a low-rent Madrid cafe who take an interest in one of its waitresses, Ana (Ruth Díaz). But his intent is not simply romantic - Ana’s husband is a getaway car driver whose prison sentence for a botched jewelry store robbery is almost up. Winner of four Goya Awards, including Best Film. “Spanish actor-turned-director Raúl Arévalo quickly brings his deeply impressive debut under control, reining in the narrative with a hand that betrays almost none of a neophyte’s unsteadiness.” - Jessica Kiang, Variety.

Friday, OCT. 20 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature!

SMOKE AND MIRRORS (EL HOMBRE DE LAS MIL CARAS)

2016, Film Factory, 123 min, Spain, Dir: Alberto Rodríguez

Writer-director Alberto Rodríguez reunites much of his MARSHLAND creative team for this entertaining thriller inspired by the real-life exploits of onetime Spanish secret service agent Francisco Paesa. Eduard Fernández stars as the ex-spy, who had been left out in the cold by his government and sees an opportunity to settle some scores when a former commissioner of police (Goya winner Carlos Santos) asks him to help hide embezzled millions. “Playing out like a Hispanic OCEAN’S ELEVEN, SMOKE is indeed an enjoyably breathless and spectacular walk along a high wire which seems permanently about to snap but which never quite does.” - Jonathan Holland, The Hollywood Reporter.

THE INVISIBLE GUARDIAN (EL GUARDIÁN INVISIBLE)

2017, Nostromo Pictures, 129 min, Spain/Germany, Dir: Fernando González Molina

In one of the most gripping, intricately layered serial killer films of recent memory, detective Amaia Salazar (Marta Etura) is assigned to investigate the death of a teenage girl whose body was found by a river near Salazar’s hometown. The rainy village holds unpleasant childhood memories for the policewoman, but as the scope of her case widens, she must come to terms with the family she left behind while tracking a seemingly insatiable killer.

Saturday, OCT. 21 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature!

THE BAR (EL BAR)

2017, Film Factory, 102 min, Spain/Argentina, Dir: Álex de la Iglesia

Director Álex de la Iglesia (DAY OF THE BEAST, WITCHING & BITCHING) makes a welcome return with this psychological thriller spiked with black humor. After a patron is killed by an unknown shooter while attempting to leave a Madrid bar, the remaining customers (among them Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas and Carmen Machi) hunker down - and ultimately turn on one another while trying to figure out how to survive and escape.

A STROKE OF LUCK (VILLAVICIOSA DE AL LADO)

2016, Film Sharks, 90 min, Spain, Dir: Nacho G. Velilla

Inspired by actual events, this delightful comedy is one of Spain’s biggest box office hits of the year. The small town of Villaviciosa de al Lado is teetering on bankruptcy when salvation arrives in the form of a huge lottery prize and the accompanying national attention. Unfortunately, the winning ticket was sold at the local brothel, and the group of men who bought it must concoct a scheme to keep the secret from their wives while claiming the cash.

Saturday, OCT. 21 - 8 PM - Spielberg Theatre

FRÁGIL EQUILIBRIO

2016, 83 min, Spain, Dir: Guillermo García López

This Goya-winning documentary tells three intertwined stories taking place on three different continents: Japanese executives in Tokyo caught in the vicious cycle of consumerism, a sub-Saharan community in the path of immigrants leaving Africa for Europe, and families in Spain who have been destroyed by economic downturn. Told through the words of José Mujica, former president of Uruguay, the film is both is a journey through different cultures and an urgent invitation to change.

Sunday, OCT. 22 - 7:30 PM - Double Feature!

THE INVISIBLE GUEST (CONTRATIEMPO)

2016, Film Factory, 106 min, Spain, Dir: Oriol Paulo

At the center of a locked-room mystery is Adrián Doria (Mario Casas), a successful businessman who has been discovered in a hotel suite with the body of his lover. Charged with murder, he enlists top-notch witness preparation expert Virginia Goodman (Ana Wagener). As the clock ticks down to the start of Doria’s trial, Goodman’s relentless questioning of her client’s defense brings to light some troubling inconsistencies. With strong performances and plenty of plot twists, this superbly crafted thriller delivers on the promise of Paulo’s earlier THE BODY.

RESCUE UNDER FIRE (ZONA HOSTIL)

2017, Latido, 93 min, Spain, Dir: Adolfo Martínez Pérez

Inspired by real events that took place in August 2012, this riveting war drama follows a joint U.S.-Spanish convoy stopped by a landmine in northern Afghanistan. While inexperienced Lieutenant Conte (Raul Merida) tries to protect the wounded, Captain Varela (Ariadna Gil) flies a Spanish medical helicopter in to evacuate the soldiers - but it crash lands. Impulsive Commander Ledesma (Antonio Garrido) proposes a risky plan to bring everyone back including the helicopter, but as night approaches, so do Taliban fighters.

Polish Film Festival 2017

18th Annual Polish Film Festival Los Angeles
OCTOBER 18-26, 2017
Egyptian Theatre, Laemmle's NoHo7 and Monica Film Center

The Polish American Film Society is proud to announce the 18th Annual Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles (October 18 – 26, 2017) celebrating the greatest achievements of Polish filmmakers.

The festival will open with THE ART OF LOVING. STORY OF MICHALINA WISLOCKA (Sztuka kochania. Historia Michaliny Wislockiej) by Maria Sadowska on October 18, 2017 with a star-studded gala during which both Polish and American filmmakers will walk the red carpet at Hollywood's legendary Egyptian Theatre. An extravagant start to a ten-day-long celebration of Polish Cinema through October 26, 2017 with subsequent  screenings at the Laemmle's NoHo 7 and Monica Film Center.

For the eighteenth time we will present the most recent achievements of Polish cinema of features, shorts, documentaries and animations:

AFTERIMAGE (Powidoki) by Andrzej Wajda,
AMOK by Kasia Adamik,
BLINDNESS (Zacma) by Ryszard Bugajski,
BODO by Michal Kwiecinski,
CONVOY (Konwoj) by Maciej Zak,
COSMOS.(Kosmos) by Marcin Kaminski,
THE CRYSTAL GIRL (Krysztalowa dziewczyna) by Artur Urbanski,
THE CUCULE (Kukoles) by Maciej Michalski,
CURSED (Wyklety) by Konrad Lecki,
DANTON by Andrzej Wajda,
THE ERLPRINCE (Krolewicz)  by Kuba Czekaj,
HATRED (Wolyn) by Wojciech Smarzowski,
A HEART OF LOVE (Serce milosci) by Lukasz Ronduda,
HUMBLE SERVANTS (Slugi boze) by Mariusz Gawrys,
THE LAST FAMILY (Ostatnia rodzina) by Jan P. Matuszynski,
LETTERS FROM RUSSIA (Listy z Rosji) by Wawrzyniec Kostrzewski,
LITTLE JAKUB (Maly Jakub) by Mariusz Bielinski,
LOVING VINCENT (Twoj Vincent) by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman,
MEMORIES OF SUMMER (Wspomnienie lata) by Adam Guzinski,
THE PLAYGROUND (Plac zabaw) by Bartosz M. Kowalski,
RAGE (Wscieklosc) by Michal Wegrzyn,
THE RECONCILIATION (Zgoda) by Maciej Sobieszczanski,
A SIMPLE STORY ABOUT MURDER (Prosta historia o morderstwie) by Arkadiusz Jakubik,
THE SON OF SNOW QUEEN (Syn krolowej sniegu) by Robert Wichrowski,
STARS (Gwiazdy) by Jan Kidawa-Blonski,
THE TAILOR (Krawiec) by Michal Kwiecinski,
THE TOWER (Wieza) by Karolina Bregula.

In the segment of movies made abroad by Polish filmmakers, with Polish talent, or with Polish subject, we are planning to present: 

ANIMALS (Zwierzeta) by Greg Zglinski,
BIKINI BLUE by Jaroslaw Marszewski,
BLIND DATE by Mateusz Zebrowski,
THE BUREAU by Marshall Dungan,
THE COUSIN by Angie Polkovich,
THE DOCTOR IS IN by Noah Gilbert,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY by Kyle Kelley,
I, OLGA HEPNAROVA (Ja, Olga Hepnarova) by Tomas Weinreb and Petr Kazda,
KOSCIUSZKO: A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME by Alex Strozynski,
THE MAN WHO SNUCK INTO AUSCHWITZ: WITOLD PILECKI by David Hirschhorn and Jackson Hammond,
MAY FIFTEENTH IN PARIS by Janek Ambros,
MY MARILYN by Marcus Mizelle,
QUEEN OF SPADES by Aygul Maksutova,
THE TWISTED DOLL by Andrew de Burgh.

The Festival is sponsored by the Polish Film Institute, Senate of the Republic of Poland, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, LOT Polish Airlinen (the official airline partner of the Festival), POLAM, Polish Filmmakers Association, Department of Cultural Affairs of City of Los Angeles, Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, ELMA, Polish Center of Los Angeles, Helena Modjeska Art and Cultural Club, Elzbieta Szoka and Andrzej Dobrzynski. 

For more information and festival schedule please visit: PFFLA2017

Asian World Film Festival 2017

Showcasing the Best Films from the Asian World
October 25 - November 2, 2017
ArcLight Cinemas in Culver City

Featuring 41 films from ASIA including 21 Oscar submissions!

All films that participate in the festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, showcasing all foreign films to the Academy members, the Hollywood Foreign Press, and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration.

THE GALAS:

Opening Night Film: AYLA, THE DAUGHTER OF WAR (Turkey)
Centerpiece Film: THE FORTRESS (남한산성 South Korea)
Closing Night Film: GEORGE TAKEI'S ALLEGIANCE (US)

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:

Birdshot (Philippines)
Breath (نفس Iran)
By the Time It Gets Dark (Thailand)
Centaur (Kyrgyzstan)
The Children of Genghis (Mongolia)
The Dark Wind (Iraq)
Dearest Sister (Laos)
Father and Son (Vietnam)
Her Love Boils Bathwater (湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛 Japan)
Listen (اسمعي Lebanon)
Little Gandhi (Syria)
Mad World (一念無明 Hong Kong)
Nirvana (China)
Pomegranate Orchard (Azerbaijan)
Pop Aye (Singapore)
Road to Mother (Kazakhstan)
Saawan (Pakistan)
Sayakbay (Kyrgyzstan)
Scary Mother (Georgia)
A Taxi Driver (택시운전사 South Korea)
Turah (Indonesia)
White Sun (Nepal)
Yellow (زرد Iran)
Yeva (Armenia)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

The Battleship Island (군함도 South Korea)
Burning Birds (Sri Lanka)
Finding Julia (US)
Finding Soraya (Afghanistan)
How Victor the Garlic Took Alexey the Stud to the Nursing Home (Russia)
In Syria (Insyriated, Belgium/Lebanon)
Joy Luck Club (US)
Lord of Shanghai (上海王 China)
Million Loves in Me (寵我 Hong Kong)
Munabia (Kyrgyzstan)
My Husband's Wife (Kazakhstan)
Paths of the Soul (冈仁波齐 China)
Salt (소금 North Korea)
Twenty Two (二十二 China)

For more information and the festival schedule please visit: AWFF2017

Arab Film Festival 2017

Arab Film Festival - October 27-29
Harmony Gold Theatre - Los Angeles

Friday OCT. 27 - 8 PM - SOLITAIRE (Lebanon) - محبس
Opening Night Gala Reception starts at 7 PM

The personal prejudices spewing from the Middle East’s political turmoils form the backdrop of SOLITAIRE, a tragicomic tale of the engagement-gone-wrong between a young Lebanese woman and her Syrian suitor. Playing out an intergenerational rift, it is fitting the film’s young lovers met earlier as family-free expats in the UAE, where first-time director Sophie Boutros is a manager at the American University in Dubai. But the subject here is a formal visit from Samer and his parents to the provincial Lebanese village home of sweetheart Ghada, to ask for her hand in marriage. Haunted by the memory of her brother – who died 20 years ago at the hands of a Syrian bomb – the bride-to-be’s mother Therese (Julia Kassar) is unashamedly racist towards her regional neighbors, a fact exacerbated by the recent refugee crisis, which has displaced more than 1.5 million Syrians into Lebanon’s 4.5 million population. At the movie’s outset, Therese spits out pickles made by refugees and snaps off the radio at the hint of a Syrian melody. What she does not know – due to a piece of absurd duplicity on the part of her husband Maurice, a philandering big-fish-small-pond town mayor – is that a Syrian family is about to arrive on her doorstep. And ask for her daughter’s hand.

Saturday OCT. 28 - 1:30 PM - INVESTIGATING PARADISE (Algeria) - تحقيق في الجنة

From French-Algerian visionary filmmaker Merzak Allouache, Berlinale 2017 pick INVESTIGATING PARADISE is a manifold treatise in what it means to be “radicalized” – a term the Western world has grown quite fond of in recent times. Far from haphazardly mobilizing buzz words in service to reductivism, however, Allouache is concerned with crafting a layered analysis of Algerian millennial culture and the efforts made by Salafi clerics to tempt this particularly vulnerable demograph towards the embrace of jihad. Through a sampling of everyone from college students at internet cafes and a karate instructor, to Imams and social intellectuals, it becomes apparent that Allouache’s position is much deeper than what is readily and regularly espoused per “extremism” and “radicalization” on Western media outlets.

Saturday OCT. 28 - 4 PM - PLAYFUL PONDERINGS (6 Shorts)

From dating drama in Bahrain and an abandoned Qatari cinemaplex, to wacky Lebanese nuns and land mine explosions, this eclectic mix of 6 whimsical, albeit socially-concerned short format narrative works will take viewers on a journey of humor, self-discovery, and provocation.

Saturday OCT. 28 - 6 PM - GAZA SURF CLUB (Palestine)

In the midst of rubble, debris, abandoned tanks, and bombed-out buildings that resemble the landscape of the post-apocalypse, the Gaza Strip and its 1.7 million denizens are no strangers to “social conflict.” With no immediate means of escape framed by an unknown future dictated by the mechanisms of apartheid, surf culture has emerged as an outlet for down-trodden youth to experience a taste of freedom, strewn across 26 miles of Mediterranean coastline. With a rough-around-the-edges yet sincere approach to documentary form, filmmakers Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine introduce viewers to Gaza’s surfing subculture, with the endpoint directed at revealing the ever-burning formations of hope that glow in the hearts and minds of Gazan youth in spite of the titan-like hurdles that beset them. Screened in the official selections of the 2016 Toronto and Dubai International Film Festivals.

Saturday OCT. 28 - 8 PM - WITHERED GREEN (Egypt) - أخضر يابس

WITHERED GREEN’s recent success on the festival circuit, including its premiere at the Locarno film festival and Best Feature Director Muhr award at the 2016 Dubai International Film Festival, bespeaks well-deserving praise for Egyptian filmmaker Mohammed Hammad’s first feature, who’s no newcomer to the international scene in lieu of his short films CENTRAL (2008) and PALE RED (2010). By virtue of a delicate, ruminating pace, Hammad crafts an emotionally stratified world where no decision is cast distant from sacrifice for protagonist Iman’s (Heba Ali) tightrope balancing between familial responsibility and self-determination, as she is pressured to search for a suitable male relative who can represent her sister due to gendered local customs that require the presence of a man from the bride’s family during the marriage agreement, being her sister’s closest living intermediary. The only problem: the search isn’t going well, with their father dead, no brother, and wishy-washy elderly uncles. Though an artful placement of the melodrama genre as a starting point, Hammad paints a floaty, daydream indie fresco of the cross-section between inter/intrapersonal relationships and cultural tradition.

Saturday OCT. 28 - 9:30 PM - THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (Sweden/Egypt)

Set with the backdrop of the Egyptian revolution coupled with a film noir vibe, the story unfolds via detective Noredin Mustafa who is a typical corrupt cop. When he is assigned to investigate the murder of a singer, what he discovers is the victim is involved with the power elite of Egypt and the case goes all the way to the top. His only witness is an unwitting Sudanese hotel housekeeper, who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Can a corrupt cop get justice? Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. From the writer/director of METROPIA (2008), Tarik Saleh.

Sunday OCT. 29 - 2 PM - DRAMATIC VISION (6 Shorts)

A compilation of moody short narratives that demonstrate superbly crafted visual storytelling while engaging important socio-political realities of various parts of the Arab World and beyond. From a father who seeks to protect his only daughter from ISIS to an experimental rendering of Gaza’s 2014 Shujaiya massacre: these films are captivating inasmuch as they touch upon pressing issues.

Sunday OCT. 29 - 4 PM - THE WAR SHOW (Denmark/Syria)

Syrian radio host Obaidah Zytoon and her friends are caught up in the euphoria of the 2011 Arab Spring. Camera in hand, these artists and activists take to the streets to protest Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and record their experiences. They talk about art and relationships as much as politics. But as they film themselves over the next several years, their hopes for a better future are tested by violence, imprisonment, and death. Zytoon and friends have worked with veteran Danish director Andreas Dalsgaard to shape, narrate, and edit years of footage into a deeply moving personal narrative. THE WAR SHOW, subtitled “From Revolution to War in Seven Steps,” stands out from other films on Syria in many ways. Rather than dwelling on scenes of bloodshed, it focuses on what the revolution meant to everyday people. Most of Zytoon’s friends aren’t political firebrands. They share similar aspirations to young people all over the world: to loosen the strictures of religion and repression. In an early protest, Zytoon asks an adolescent girl why she isn’t wearing a headscarf. “I’m not demonstrating to be suffocated,” she says, “I’m demonstrating to breathe.” But dreams of revolution turn into the reality of civil war. Zytoon takes road trips to the centre of rebellion in Homs, to her hometown Zabadani near Lebanon, and to the north of Syria where they meet struggling rebels and witness the rise of extremism.

Sunday OCT. 29 - 6:15 PM - IN BETWEEN (Israel) - بر بحر - לא פה, לא שם

In Maysaloun Hamoud’s directorial debut, she tells the story of three Palestinian women living in Israeli society struggling with being accepted and deviating from the expectations of their culture. Lalia (Mouna Hawa), Salma (Sana Jammelieh), and Nur (Shaden Kanboura) are roommates living in Tel Aviv. Lalia, a criminal lawyer who likes to party after work, has found love with a modern Muslim man who can’t quite accept all sides of her. Salma, a DJ and bartender faces a difficult coming out as gay moment with her traditional Christian family. Nur is a college student who observes Islamic tradition and moves in with Lalia and Salma to be close to the university. When her conservative fiancé visits, however, he is threatened by her liberal roommates, and pressures her to move back to marry him immediately. All three women must learn how to accept themselves in the face of mounting pressure from their loved ones to conform.

Sunday OCT. 29 - 8:30 PM - NUT$ (Lebanon) - ورقة بيضا‎

With a glaringly self aware, idiosyncratic dark comedy vibe reminiscent of the likes of Tarantino or Soderbergh (after a few espresso shots), NUT$ is a non-stop, high stakes high octane ride that pops with the action-packed, sexy intrigue of OCEAN’S 11. Arguably the penultimate emblem of filmmaker Henri Bargès penchant for over-the-top, soulful spectacle to date – who has directed everything from Cannes/Sundance selects to Toyota, Samsung, and Pepsi commercials – NUT$ generates an eclectic tonality that’s exhilarating inasmuch as it is concerned with questions of gender, identity, and self-empowerment, conveyed by poker genius Lana’s (Darine Hamze) efforts to navigate the pressures of a male-dominated (under)world filled with controlling, lurking men and grander societal expectations to be a “normal” housewife. Teeming with femme fatales, mobsters, and a twinge of BDSM fun: Bargès’ latest is sure to please… just don’t forget your seatbelt.

For more information and to buy tickets please visit: AFF2017