About

The 2006 Alwan Film Festival is unique; it is neither geographically nor topically bounded. The festival is restless, showcasing films of a people subject to intrepid scrutiny. Its perspective is that of an avowed immigrant, with no fixed locale, but rather rests on a shifting topography. Yet cultural identity and memories of lost homes endure. We are awed by the current proliferation of filmmaking in Palestine. If Palestine is a metaphor for the peripatetic condition of man, we also have the Tunisian-Iranian-Fench- German production, Nacer Khemir's Bab'Aziz; and the personal work of an Iranian auteur in Tajik: Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Sex and Philosophy. With the Euro financing and co-producing, Europe is disseminating the gaze of the other by the other. The competition and politics behind film production, including festivals, are fierce. Festivals and museums produce containable representations, eliding the reality of a distant people into fiction. But there are no distances, "the color of the time is gray." The West has made claim on far-flung territories, and the barbarians are past the gate. As transplants with hybrid identities our intervention, lies in solidarity with peoples who, in spite of threats and turmoil, are rich with imagination, talent and indomitable intelligence.

April 14-23, 2006

Anthology Film Archives April 14-18
Tribeca Cinemas April 19-21
NYU Cantor Film Center April 22-23

Tickets: $10 / Screening

Festival Program and Schedule

Friday, April 14
Anthology Film Archive

6:30 PM
Pasolini Pa* Palestine / Ayreen Anastas / USA, Palestine / 2005 / 58 min / Mini-DV
US PREMIERE

Followed by:
A New Day in Old Sana'a / Bader Ben Hirsi / Yemen / 2005 / 86 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE (Director Expected to Attend)

9:30 PM
Zaïna, Rider of the Atlas / Bourlem Guerdjou / France, Morocco, Algeria / 2005 / 100 min / 35mm

Saturday, April 15
Anthology Film Archive

3:00 PM
Zozo / Josef Fares / Lebanon, Sweden, UK, Denmark / 2005 / 103 min / 35mm

5:00 PM
Passion / Mohamed Malas / Syria, Tunisia, France / 2005 / 98 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

7:00 PM
Waiting / Rashid Masharawi / France, Palestine / 2005 / 130 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

9:30 PM
Sex and Philosophy / Moshin Makhmalbaf / Iran, France, Tajikistan / 2005 / 105 min / 35mm
US PREMIRE

Sunday, April 16
Anthology Film Archive

3:00 PM
Bab el Web / Merzak Allouache / Algeria / 2004 / 99 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

5:00 PM
Tarfaya / Daoud Aoulad Syad / Morocco / France / 2004 / 97 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

7:00 PM
Pakistan's Double Game / Claudio Von Planta & Sharmeen Obaid / Pakistan / 2005 / 24 min / DigiBeta

Pakistan is a frontline state in America's war against terrorism. Since September 2001, Pakistan has arrested top Al Qaeda operatives and has launched a drive to eradicate terrorism from its soil. Reporter Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy travels across her native country of Pakistan to gauge the reactions of ordinary citizens who feel that their president is selling out to the west.

Followed by:
Zaman: The Man from the Reeds / Amer Alwan / Iraq / 2003 / 76 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

9:30 PM
Downtown Girls / Mohamed Khan / Egypt / 2005 / 92 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE

Monday, April 17
Anthology Film Archives

7:00 PM
The Miseducation of Pakistan / Syed Ali Nasir / Pakistan / 30 min / DVD US PREMIERE

This short film offers a controversial probe into the corruption and nepotism of the education system in Pakistan. In Urdu w/ English S/T

Followed by:
The Gaze / Nour-Eddine Lakhmari / Morocco, Norway / 2005 / 87 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

9:30 PM
Earth and Ashes / Atiq Rahimi / Afghanistan, France / 2004 / 103 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

Tuesday, April 18
Anthology Film Archives

7:00 PM
Yasmin's Song / Najwa Najjar / Palestine / 2005 / 19 min / DigiBeta
US PREMIERE

Followed by:
State of Love / Saad Hendawi / Egypt / 2005 / 90 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE (Director Expected to Attend)

9:30 PM
Lust / Syed Ali Nasir / Pakistan / 3 min / DVD
US PREMIERE

A chilling confession by Pakistan's most notorious serial killer and pedophile over a collage of stills give a glimpse into the man's life in Lahore.

Followed by:
Pariah / Sehban Zaidi / USA, Pakistan / 2004 / 13 min / Mini-DV
US PREMIERE

A US soldier stumbles on a Pakistani man in a frozen tundra. The two lost men and their interactions symbolize the state of the world.

Followed by:
Ahlaam / Mohamed Al-Daradji /Iraq, United Kingdom, Netherlands / 2005 / 108 min / 35mm
(Director Expected to Attend)

Wednesday, April 19
Tribeca Cinemas

6:30 PM
Your Dark Hair Ihsan / Tala Hadid / Morocco, USA, Mexico / 2005 / 13 min / Beta

Followed by:
Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf / Susan Youssef / USA / 2005 / 10 min / Beta

Followed by:
Heads and Tails / Kamla Abou-Zekry / Egypt / 2005 / 86 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE

9:00 PM
Where To / Karim Fanous / Egypt, USA / 2005 / 12 min / DVD

Followed by:
The Sleeping Child / Yasmine Kassari / Belgium, Morocco / 2004 / 95 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

Thursday, April 20
Tribeca Cinemas

6:30 PM
Under the Ceiling / Nidal Al Dibs / Syria / 2005 / 95 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE (Mohamed Al-Ahmed, President of the Syrian Film Organization, Expected to Attend)

8:30 PM
We Are All Fine / Bijan Mirbagheri / Iran / 2005 / 90 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

Friday, April 21
Tribeca Cinemas

6:00 PM
When All Were Asleep / Fereydoun Hasanpour / Iran / 2006 / 84 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE

8:00 PM
Yasmin / Kenny Glenaan / United Kingdom, Pakistan / 2004 / 87 min / 35mm

Scripted by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, The Darkest Light) after months of research and workshops with the Muslim community in the North of England, Yasmin's story explores what it means to be Asian, Muslim and British. Having rebelled against her Pakistani upbringing as a teenager, the sparkly, confident Yasmin (Archie Panjabi of Bend It Like Beckham) has grown adept at juggling her Westernized working and social life with her more traditional culture at home. But after the attacks of 9/11 she finds herself ostracized at work, and increasingly subject to overt Islamophobia. When her husband is snatched by the police and held without charge, she finds herself forced to re-evaluate her faith, her culture and her relationships. The harsh realities of prejudice and discrimination in a climate of poverty and fear are never trivialized, but are treated with a refreshing degree of humor, irony, and understatement.

8:30 PM DINNER GALA at ALWAN
$100/Ticket

Saturday, April 22
NYU Cantor Film Center

2:30 PM
Bosta / Philippe Aractingi / Lebanon / 2005 / 142 min / 35mm

5:30 PM
Gazelle's Blood / Mohamed Yasin / Egypt / 2005 / 110 min / 35mm
WORLD PREMIERE (Lead Actress Youssra Expected to Attend)

8:00 PM
Public Relations / Samir Zikra / Syria / 2005 / 140 min / 35mm
WORLD PREMIERE (Director Expected to Attend)

Sunday, April 23
NYU Cantor Film Center

2:00 PM
Since We Left / Mohammed Bakri / Palestine / 2005 / 58 min / Beta
US PREMIERE (Director Expected to Attend)

3:30 PM
Angel's Fall / Semith Kaplanoglu / Turkey, Greece / 2005 / 98 min / 35mm
NY PREMIERE

5:45 PM
Bab'Aziz / Nacer Khemir / Tunisia, Iran, France, Germany / 2005 / 96 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE (Director Expected to Attend)

8:15 PM
The Embassy in the Building / Amr Arafa / Egypt / 2005 / 111 min / 35mm
US PREMIERE (Lead Actor Adel Imam Expected to Attend)

SPONSORS
Persian Cultural Foundation + Lower Manhattan Cultural Council + The Mosaic Foundation + Iranian American Society of New York + 3rdiNY + The September 11th Fund + Columbia University Middle East Institute + New York University Gallatin School Art's Program + Egyptian Film Center + Syrian National Film Organization + Aramica + Persian Mirror + Damascus Bakery + Rush Graphics + Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate + The Egyptian Education and Cultural Bureau + The General Council of Egypt, New York + Afghan Communicator + American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee/New York + Arab American Association of New York + Byblos Restaurant + Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York + Council for the National Interest + Dreams of a Nation + 16 Beaver Group + Mary and Yaser Freij + Sylvia and Sameh Iskander + Raniya Kassem + Abdeen Jabara + Ghada Jiha + Jamal Rayyis + Hosny Selim

Last updated: 2008-01-08 09:50:00