2019 San Diego Arab Film Festival Set to Screen Its Second Weekend at AMC 20 Mission Valley
The San Diego Arab Film Festival will screen it’s second weekend of films at AMC 20 Mission Valley on April 13 and 14. The weekend will include a shorts program and 6 feature films from Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and the UAE and Jordan.
Directors of two of the shorts will be attending the Shorts Program to discuss their films.
Three-screening passes as well as tickets for individual screenings are available. Individual tickets are $12 General and $7 Student. Three screening passes are $33.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking on the ‘BUY TICKETS’ buttons below .
Just scroll down to the April 13th and 14th films.
A word about ratings: The films we show have not been rated by the Motion Picture Association of America or by any other rating agency that we know of. As with cinema from other parts of the world, Arab cinema is evolving. We are keenly aware that many parents want their children to see the depictions of Arab culture in the films that we show. Below we indicate our best effort to provide guidance for parents using the MPAA ratings as guidance.
On-line ticket sales will close the morning of the screening. Tickets will continue to be available at the door until sold out.
Festival Passes
On-line ticket sales have closed but tickets are still available at the door.
San Diego Arab Film Festival offers a 3-ticket pass which can be used for admission to any 3 screenings you choose. Please note that you will be able to select your screenings after completing your transaction.
Buying a 3-screening pass is a two step process. First, buy your pass. Then select the films you want to see. You will receive a confirmation email from Brown Paper Tickets that will allow you to complete or change your selections. If you do not select specific films, your tickets will not be reserved!
Opening Night! 7:30 PM, Friday, April 5 Museum of Photographic Arts
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED
10 Days Before the Wedding (Yemen)
Directed by Amr Gamal
A number of obstacles stand in the way of Rasha and Ma’moon, a young Yemeni couple, as only 10 days are left before their wedding. They had tried to marry once before, but the 2015 war got in the way. After so much suffering, they try the best they can to make it happen in 2018. Yet again, obstacles appear but this time it’s not the war, it’s the aftermath. Starting from having to evacuate their homes, and dealing with war dealers controlling their faiths, going through conflicts with armed militias, then ending with the economic crisis, the couple struggles to race with time to make sure the wedding happens on time.
We believe that this film is appropriate for general audiences.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
6:15 PM, Saturday, April 6, Museum of Photographic Arts
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED
Heaven Without People (Lebanon)
Directed by Lucien Bourjeily
Set in Lebanon, Josephine, the matriarch of a sprawling family is delighted to gather everyone for Easter lunch for the first time in two years. While they all share a joyful meal, an incident ignites underlying tensions between the family members. Older and younger generations clash as each of the family members confront their own political and moral hypocrisies and slowly unravel the ties that bind.
We believe that this film contains some strong language that some parents may find objectionable for small children.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
8:35 PM, Saturday, April 6, Museum of Photographic Arts
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.
This screening is co-presented by the National Arab American Medical Association-San Diego Chapter
Kilikis…the Town of Owls (Morocco)
Directed by Azlarabe Alaoui
The Town of Owls is an isolated residential community situated in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It is inhabited by families and guards of a secret political prison camp, which remained out of history for a long time until the early 1990s. Guards spend their long days back and forth between the secret prison and the village, through a suspension bridge built upon a deep valley that connects the village with the fortress prison. The story is about people from different places with dissimilar destinies, yet coalesced together by a common fate that makes them realize that the Town of Owls is in fact a titanic prison in which everyone, including guards and residents, are held detainees.
We believe that this film would be rated either G or PG in the US.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
1:20 PM, Saturday, April 13, AMC 20 Mission Valley
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.
Shorts Program
The Shorts program includes a range of films, including animation, experimental, artistic and conventional narrative films by filmmakers from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. Farah Nabulsi, director of the film Nightmare of Gaza, and Hanadi Elyan, director of Nadia’s Visa, will be present to discuss their films.
We believe that some of the shorts contain strong language that some parents might consider to be inappropriate for small children.
Directors Farah Nabulsi and Hanadi Elyan will be here to discuss their films.
For more information about the short films, click here.
4:05 PM, Saturday, April 13, AMC 20 Mission Valley
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.
Beauty and the Dogs (Tunisia)
Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is raped by police officers after leaving a party, she is propelled into a harrowing night in which she must fight for her rights even though justice lies on the side of her tormentors. Employing impressive cinematic techniques and anchored by a tour-de-force performance from newcomer Mariam Al Ferjani, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Beauty and the Dogs tells an urgent, unapologetic, and important true story head-on. A rare, startling film from a female Tunisian director, it’s a striking critique on a repressive society and a forcefully feminist rallying cry.
We believe that this film would be rated PG-13 in the US.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
6:20 PM, Saturday, April 13, AMC 20 Mission Valley
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.
Screwdriver (Palestine)
Directed by Bassam Jarbawi
Shot on location in the West Bank with an almost entirely Palestinian crew, Bassam Jarbawi’s feature debut is an important exploration of mental trauma, an invisible effect of the ongoing Occupation. Newly released Ziad doesn’t recognize the world around him. He is a free man but his friends have moved on, technology has changed, and dating seems impossible. Though hailed as a hero for his involvement in a failed attack on a settler — the act that led to his imprisonment — the young Palestinian man has doubts about whether his actions had any real meaning. Now living back at home in Ramallah, Ziad’s attempts to adjust to life on the outside prove to be frustratingly slow. When he meets a young Palestinian–American filmmaker, it becomes clear Ziad’s problems aren’t just sociological, but also psychological. And with no real help to heal this unseen wound, it seems that he might end up exactly where he began.
We believe that this film would be rated either G or PG (violence) in the US.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
8:45 PM, Saturday, April 13, AMC 20 Mission Valley
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.
My Favorite Fabric (Syria)
Directed by Gay Jiji
Damascus, March 2011. In the midst of the rumblings of revolution, Nahla, a young woman of 25, is torn between her desires for freedom and to express her own identity, on the one hand, and her mother’s hopes of getting her family out of the country through an arranged marriage with Samir, a Syrian who has emigrated to the United States, on the other. However, Samir prefers her younger and more docile sister, Myriam. Consequently, Nahla grows closer to her new neighbor, Madame Jiji, who has just moved into her building in order to open a brothel.
We believe that this film would likely be rated R in the US because of its frank treatment of sexual themes.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
On-line ticket sales have closed but tickets are still available at the door.
1:35 PM, Sunday, April 14 AMC 20 Mission Valley
Cactus Flower (Egypt)
Directed by Hala Elkoussy
Aida (33) is a struggling actress from a provincial background. She finds herself on the streets of Cairo along with her neighbor, Samiha (70), a reclusive bourgeois. With no money and nowhere to go, the two women, aided by Yassin (20), a street-savvy youth, embark on a journey to find shelter. Amid the banal and at times disastrous turns their journey takes, they move along parallel journeys of self-discovery. An extraordinary friendship grows among the unlikely trio; a friendship comparable to a delicate flower blooming from a thorny cactus.
We believe that this film would likely be rated G or PG i the US.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
On-line ticket sales have closed but tickets are still available at the door.
3:55 PM, Sunday, April 14, AMC 20 Mission Valley
The Blessed (Algeria)
Directed by Sofia Djama
Algiers, a few years after the civil war. Amal and Samir have decided to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary in a restaurant. While on their way, they share their views on Algeria: Amal tells about lost illusions and Samir about the necessity to cope with them. At the same time, their son Fahim and his friends Feriel and Reda are wandering about in a hostile Algiers about to steal their youth.
We believe that this film would likely be rated PG in the US.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
On-line ticket sales have closed but tickets are still available at the door.
6:15 PM, Sunday, April 14, AMC 20 Mission Valley
On Borrowed Time (UAE)
Directed by Yasir Al Yasiri
As four friends spend their senior years in an assisted living facility in Dubai, they find they’re are gradually losing their zest for life, despite some of their best efforts to make the most of each day. It’s a mostly losing battle, until one of them suddenly discovers that he has inherited a large fortune. The men plot an escape from the home with the help of an unwitting nurse, and embark on an adventure that forces them to face their fears and uncover secrets. Throughout the streets of Dubai, they follow their forgotten dreams on a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and fun.
We believe that this film is suitable for general audiences.
For more information and to see a trailer, click here.
San Diego Arab Film Festival Supported By San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture for the Fourth Year
2018 is the fourth year that the San Diego Arab Film Festival has received support from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. This recognition and support represents an important milestone for the Festival and for San Diego’s Arab Community: it shows that Arab culture is an important part of the fabric of San Diego! In addition, on-going support from the Arts and Culture Commission helps lay the groundwork for the Festival’s growth as a dynamic part of San Diego’s cultural life.
Financial support is provided by City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
