Films from the Arab world rarely make it even into art-house cinemas here in the United States, so the Arabian Sights Film Festival, in its 13th year, serves an important purpose.
Thirteen films from seven countries — Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon and Morocco — and the Palestinian Territories offer a glimpse into a world that is far removed from our own but increasingly affects it. All are District premieres, and all have English subtitles. Screenings run tonight through Nov. 2.
Many of the filmmakers will be on hand to present their work during the festival. Mai Masri, a Palestinian filmmaker who was educated in the United States, will talk about “33 Days” tonight. Tomorrow and Nov. 1, District-based filmmaker Bassam Haddad will present “The Other Threat.” Director Amin Matalqa and producer David Pritchard will discuss “Captain Abu Raed” on Nov. 1 and 2.
There’s also one special event. On Sunday at 7:30 p.m., musicians DAM will perform at the Hard Rock Cafe after the 5 p.m. screening and question-and-answer session of “Slingshot Hip Hop” at Landmark’s E Street Cinema down the street. It’s the group’s only D.C. appearance, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society’s breast-cancer-awareness campaign, Pinktober.
Of all the films on parade, perhaps the most notable is Captain Abu Raed. This movie, which producers say is the first independent film to come out of Jordan in 50 years, is the country’s first-ever official submission to the Oscars for best foreign film. It won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Mr. Matalqa made the film before he graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory, but this doesn’t look like a student effort. This touching and well-made film stars Nadim Sawalha (“Syriana”) as the title character, a janitor in the Amman airport who is mistaken for a pilot when he comes home one day with a cap he found in the trash. He tries to tell the neighborhood children the truth. These youngsters are so desperate to believe in something better than their squalid lives, though, that Raed can’t resist spinning tales of his travels around the world in the hopes of inspiring them to chase their own dreams. Mr. Matalqa was born in Jordan, and his intelligent film is a serious look at that country, though one often lightened with humor.
Screenings, which cost $10 a ticket, are held at Landmark’s E Street Cinema (555 11th Street NW) and the Goethe-Institut (812 Seventh Street NW). Voters will be tabulated for the Audience Award at the end of the festival. More information is available on the festival Web site at www.filmfestdc.org/arabiansights. What follows are some capsule reviews.
Kelly Jane Torrance
Less documentary than Hezbollah agitprop, 33 Days tells the story of the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. Except it doesn’t really tell any story; instead, it portrays Israel’s mere existence as an affront to the Arab people and Israel’s self-defense as vicious war crimes.
Following the travails of ordinary Lebanese citizens, “33 Days” assumes a high level of familiarity not only with the conflict but also with Lebanese society. If you aren’t familiar with Syria’s relationship with Lebanon or with the fractured infighting among the country’s ethnic groups or the dominance of the terrorist group Hezbollah in Arab-Lebanese political life, you won’t learn much here.
You won’t learn, for example, that Hezbollah brought all of this ugliness down on Lebanon’s head by ambushing and killing Israel Defense Force soldiers during a raid or that Hezbollah was busy shelling Israeli civilian populations before, during and after the conflict. This “documentary” serves little purpose other than to inflame Arab resentment toward Israel.
Under the Bombs, meanwhile, is the dramatic equivalent of “33 Days.” Shooting in the still-ravaged Lebanese south, “Under the Bombs” is the story of a mother (Nada Abou Farhat) looking for her son in the war-torn countryside, escorted by a lecherous taxicab driver (Georges Khabbaz). The pair hopscotch around to cities in various states of demolition, taking quick breaks to badmouth the evil Israelis who rained this destruction on their heads.
Miss Farhat plays the distraught mother with the proper mix of hysterics and weary frustration, while Mr. Khabbaz does a passable job of making the scummy taxi driver a somewhat redeemable figure. “Under the Bombs” is a more effective piece of propaganda than “33 Days” — its protagonists spend less time praising terrorists and condemning Jews — but it’s propaganda nonetheless.
The most interesting part of The ’Other’ Threat, a documentary about Muslim immigration in Europe, is how similar the debate in Europe over immigration sounds to its American counterpart. People in Europe are worried about two things, primarily: an influx of illegal immigrants overwhelming the welfare state and an influx of immigrants who come from predominantly Muslim countries and refuse to integrate culturally in their new lands.
Change Muslim to Mexican, and you have just described the immigration debate in America for the past half decade.
Featuring interviews with Spaniards and Britons on both sides of the immigration debate, “The ’Other’ Threat” is a relatively balanced look at the inherent tension within countries that allow immigration, namely how to be welcoming and tolerant while still maintaining a national identity. With the war on terror spilling over to Europe (the July 7, 2005, London attacks; the March 11, 2004, Madrid bombings) the need for assimilation takes on extra urgency.
However, what does assimilation mean in societies (like those in Europe) that have spent the past half-century rejecting their traditions? What constitutes a “national identity”? Those questions go largely unanswered in this otherwise intriguing documentary.
After the Fall examines post-Saddam Hussein Iraq from the perspective of an average middle-class family. The documentary unflinchingly looks at both the good — the elimination of Saddam, participatory democracy — and the bad — long lines for gas, the terrorist attacks on innocent people out shopping.
This technique has its pluses and minuses; it gives added weight to the ideas and arguments put forth, but it seriously slows the film. Do we really need a five-minute digression on the history of a date tree planted in the family’s front yard?
Getting a chance to see the strength and frustrations of average Iraqis is refreshing, however, because it’s a perspective not often shown in America. The movie closes with a heartbreaking tale of personal tragedy, and the family scatters as the situation in Baghdad deteriorates. It would be interesting to have an update from post-surge Iraq, but this movie is a key reminder of just how necessary Gen. David H. Petraeus’ strategy was: A country can’t progress when safety isn’t guaranteed.
Other festival highlights include Slingshot Hip Hop, a look at Palestinian youths who have turned to American rap for inspiration, Recycle, a documentary about a former mujahedeen struggling to put food on the table, and Waiting for Pasolini, a comedy about the shooting of an Italian film in a small Moroccan town.
Sonny Bunch
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