The 6th ARAB Film Festival
HIGHLIGHTS
RELEASE
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Solitaire Opening Film Outline Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt 2016 92min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-12 Rating
DirectorSophie Boutros
Asian Premiere2016 Dubai International Film Festival
Story
2017 Arab Women Film Festival (Sweden)Therese, the mayor’s wife in a Lebanese village, joyfully prepares for an overnight visit of her daughter's suitor and his parents. She excitedly shares the happy news of the engagement with pictures of her beloved brother who was killed by a Syrian bomb 20 years ago and is still bizarrely present in every corner of her house. Only when the long-awaited guests are at her doorstep, she discovers they are Syrian; this engagement will only happen over Therese’s dead body!
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Clash Arabian Wave Outline Egypt, France 2016 97min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorMohamed Diab
2016 Cannes Film Festival
Story
2016 BFI London Film FestivalCairo, summer of 2013 - two years after the Egyptian revolution. In the wake of the ouster of Islamist president Morsi, a police truck full of detained demonstrators of divergent political and religious backgrounds roams through violent protests. Can the detainees overcome their difference to stand a chance of survival?
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House without Roof Arabian Wave Outline Iraq, Germany 2016 117min DCP Color Fiction German, Kurdish
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorSoleen Yusef
Asian Premiere2016 Dubai International Film Festival
Story
2016 Filmfest MünchenHouse without Roof is about the journey of the siblings Liya, Jan and Alan who were born in the Kurdish area of the Iraq and grown up in Germany. The three of them want to fulfill their mother’s last wish to bury her in her home village beside her husband who got killed in the war under the Saddam Hussein regime. On their nerve-wracking Kurdish-odyssey they are not only faced with their Kurdish extended family that does not accept the last wish of their mother but particularly with their own matters. In recent years they distanced from each other - everybody runs his own life - and whenever they are holding talks, they are mostly based on reproaches. In parallel with the run of their journey it is noticeably that in their home country the dimension of an awful conflict, that nobody can surmise, is heading for disaster.
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Dallas Arabian Wave Outline Morocco 2015 100min DCP Color Fiction Arabic, French
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorMohamed Ali El Mejboud
Asian Premiere2016 Marrakech International Film Festival
StoryDallas is a director in his late career. After several commercial failures, he is now resourceless and is living surrounded by his memories in his production company. The only faithful person left is his secretary Halima, who continues to believe in his talent. One day, he receives a script from a rich businessman who would like to make a film on his father's life. The shooting starts, the latter dies by swallowing a date. The same evening, Dallas decides to resume the shooting using the actor's body. Then follows a funny adventure, full of black humor, from which nobody will get away safely.
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Gaza Surf Club Arabian Wave Outline Palestine, Germany 2016 87min DCP Color Documentary Arabic, English
GradePG-12 Rating
DirectorPhilip Gnadt, Mickey Yamine
Asian Premiere2016 Toronto International Film Festival
Story
2016 Dubai International Film FestivalGaza- a strip of land with a population of 1.7 million citizens, wedged between Israel and Egypt and isolated from the outside world. 26 miles of coastline with a harbor that no longer services ships. Hardly anything gets into Gaza and even less gets out. The young generation is growing up with very little perspective - occupied and jobless. But against this background there is a small movement. Our protagonists are part of the surf community of Gaza City. Round about 40 surfboards have been brought into the country over the past decades with great effort and despite strict sanctions. It is those boards that give them an opportunity to experience a small slice of freedom - between the coastal reminder of a depressing reality and the Israeli-controlled three-mile marine border.
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Mimosas Arabian Wave Outline Qatar, Morocco, Spain, France 2016 93min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorOliver Laxe
2016 Cannes Film Festival the Nespresso Grand Prize of Critics Week
Story
2016 BUSAN International Film FestivalA caravan escorts a dying Sheikh through the Moroccan Atlas. His last wish is to be buried with his loved ones. But death does not wait. The caravaneers, fearful of the mountain pass, refuse to transport the corpse. Ahmed and Saïd, two rogues traveling with the caravan, pretend they know the way and promise to take the corpse to its destiny. In another world, Shakib is chosen to travel to the mountains with a mission: to help the improvised caravaneers.
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After Spring Arabian Wave Outline Syria, Jordan, USA 2016 101min DCP Color Documentary Arabic, English, Korean
GradePG-12 Rating
DirectorEllen Martinez, Steph Ching
Asian Premiere2016 Tribeca Film Festival
Story
2016 Sheffield Documentary Film FestivalExecutive Produced by Jon Stewart, After Spring is a feature documentary about the Syrian refugee crisis. By following two refugee families in transition and aid workers fighting to keep the camp running, viewers will experience what it is like to live in the Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian refugees. With no end in sight for the conflict or this refugee crisis, everyone must decide whether or not they can rebuild their lives in a place that was never meant to be permanent.
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Hedi Arabian Wave Outline Tunisia, Belgium, France, Qatar, UAE 2016 88min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorMohamed Ben Attia
Asian Premiere2015 Berlin International Film Festival
Story
2015 Dubai International Film FestivalHedi is a quiet young man following the path that has been traced out for him. Tunisia is changing, but Hedi doesn’t expect much from the future and lets others make his big decisions for him. The same week his mother is preparing his marriage, his boss sends him to the seaside town of Mahdia to seek out new clients. At a crossroads, Hedi begins avoiding his professional duties and soon meets Rim, a free spirited globetrotter working as an activity leader at a local resort. Rim’s lust for life quickly rubs off on Hedi and the two begin a passionate love affair. With preparations for the wedding in full swing back at home in Kairouan, Hedi is finally forced to make a choice for himself.
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The Worthy Arabian Wave Outline UAE 2016 95min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorAli F. Mostafa
Asian Premiere2016 BFI London Film Festival
Story
2016 Dubai International Film FestivalIn a dystopian future, where the water supply has been poisoned, a group of unlikely survivors have taken refuge in an abandoned airplane hangar. Having formed a small community in this new fortress, they struggle to stay alive and protect one of the only remaining sources of uncontaminated water. One night, a group of bandits successfully infiltrate the compound to access the precious water tanker. After a deadly altercation, two strangers appear to help fight off the bandits. To thank them for saving his life, the survivors’ leader agrees to host them. When one stranger betrays the group’s trust, the compound descends into madness, upsetting all trust. In the end, one question remains: who is worthy to live and to lead?
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Brooks, Meadows and
Lovely Faces Arab Film Master: Yousry Nasrallah OutlineEgypt 2016 115min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorYousry Nasrallah
2016 Toronto International Film Festival
Story
2016 Locarno International Film FestivalYehia is a chef who manages with his two sons, Refaat, a passionnate cook, and the womanizer Galal, a catering company for weddings and other celebrations. Karima, Yehia’s niece, is promised to Refaat, but Refaat loves Shadia, without knowing that Karima loves also someone else but waits the right moment to reveal her secret. During a peasant wedding catered by Yehia and his sons, Farid and his rich wife offer to buy their business. In front of Yehia’s refusal, the offer turns into a threat.
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After the Battle Arab Film Master: Yousry Nasrallah Outline Egypt 2012 122min DCP Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-12 Rating
DirectorYousry Nasrallah
Korean Premiere2012 Cannes Film Festival
StoryMahmoud is one of the “Tahrir square knights” who, on 2nd February 2011, manipulated by Mubarak’s regime, charged against the young revolutionaries. Beaten, humiliated, unemployed, ostracised in his neighbourhood near the Pyramids, Mahmoud and his family are losing their footing. It is then that he meets Reem, a young Egyptian divorcee, modern and secular, who works in advertising. Reem is a militant revolutionary and lives in a nice neighbourhood in Cairo. Their meeting will change their lives.
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Scheherazade,
Tell Me a Story Arab Film Master: Yousry Nasrallah OutlineEgypt 2009 135min Digi-beta Color Fiction Arabic
GradePG-15 Rating
DirectorYousry Nasrallah
2009 Venice International Film Festival
Story
2009 Toronto International Film FestivalHebba, a television-speaker, presents a successful political talk show on a privately owned network. Karim, her husband, is deputy editor in chief of a government-owned newspaper. His ambition is to become editor in chief. He is led to believe by the Party big shots, that his wife’s constant meddling with opposition politics could put his promotion in danger. Using his boyish charm and sexual prowess, he convinces Hebba to stay away from politics, and devote her program to social issues for which the government cannot be held responsible. She starts a series of talk shows around issues involving women. She listens to the stories of resilient, strong women, who, like Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Nights, tell their stories to stay alive.