Arab Film Festival

The Festival Also Offers Special Programming To Local Audiences, And Unprecedented Access To The Diversity And Range Of Authentic Arab Experiences. The Festival Has Gained An International Reputation For Excellence And Offers Its Audiences Access To Media That Reflects The Lives Of Under-Represented And Provocative Themes And Groups On A Cultural And Societal Level.

Schedule Of Events:

12:30pm - Front Row

Up Bright And Early With Their Pet In Tow, Zohra Bouderbala And Her Five Children Are Heading To The Beach. This Is Not A Drill! In Algiers, The Coveted Front Row Spot Waits For No One, But It’s Not This Family’s First Time Having To Beat The Summer Seaside Crowds. The Unmotivated And Out-Of-Luck Masses Who Arrive Too Late Will Be Left To A Viewless Laze In The Sun, The Alleged Horizon Blocked By A Fortress Of Parasols And Flowing Canopies.

2:35 Pm - Back To Alexandria

After Twenty Years Of Absence, Sue Returns To Egypt, Her Native Country, To See Her Mother, Fairouz, An Eccentric Aristocrat With Whom She Has Severed All Ties. This Surprising Journey, Taking Her From Cairo To Alexandria, Tinted With Distant Memories, Nostalgia, And Mixed Feelings Towards Her Past, Will Enable Her To Become Free And Emancipated. - Based On His Childhood Memories, The Director Tells Us About The Relationships Filled With Tough Love Between His Mother And His Grandmother.

4:35pm - Archiving Armenian Stories (Screening + Discussion)

In This Special Program, We Will Highlight Armenian Stories That Are In Conversation With The Entire Swana Region. In Light Of The Recent Violence Against And Ethnic Cleansing Of The Armenian Community In Artsakh, And The Clear Parallels To The Ongoing Genocides In Gaza And Sudan, We Believe It Is Important That We Provide Space For The Armenian Community In San Francisco.

The Event Will Begin With A Screening Of Two Documentary Films: There Was, There Was Not By Emily Mkrtichian And The Short Film Symptom By Kamee Abrahamian. Both Films Chronicle The Stories Of Armenian Women - Their Passions And Practices As Well As Their Hopes And Dreams, While They Deal With The Aftermath Of War, The Beginning Of A New One, And Other Social And Political Issues That Plague Those Living Throughout Armenia.

This Will Be Followed By A Panel Discussion With The Filmmakers And Other Members Of The Community In Which They Will Discuss The Importance Of Cultural Documentation And Ancestral Preservation And Reclamation. Themes Of This Discussion Will Include The Importance Of Alternative Archival Methods And Documenting In Radically Personal Ways, With A Focus On How Individuals Can Preserve Their Own History Through The Digitization And Preservation Of Old Photos And Videos, Writing And Recording Of Oral Histories, Or Filming One’s Own Experience. There Will Also Be A Focus On The Point Of View Of Women In Archival Practices And The Importance Of Being Able To Represent Oneself Instead Of Being Presented By Others.

7:35 Pm - Layla

It’s Pride Month, And Layla, A Non-Binary Arab Drag Performer, Has Been Booked To Perform At A “Diversity” Event For A Ready-Meal Company. The Money Is Good, And They’re Excited To Bring Their Work To A New Audience - But The Corporate Event Is Completely Hollow, With The Clientele Seemingly More Willing To Support The Rights Of Packeted Udon Noodles Than Trans People. Layla Is Little More Than A Visual Token Of Acceptance At An Otherwise Profoundly Vapid Event. And When, After Suffering A Series Of Belittling Encounters, Layla Discovers They’re Only Being Paid In Ready Meal Tokens, They Turn Their Performance Into A Radical Satire Of The Whole Event That Leaves The Guests Shellshocked.

In Spite Of His Professional Loyalties, Max, A White Cis-Gender Gay Man Who Works For The Company Organising The Event, Is Bewitched. As Layla Makes A Rapid Exit, They Bump Into Max And The Two Unexpectedly Hit It Off - Layla Ends Up Bringing Max To A Queer Sci-Fi Party That Their Close-Knit Crew Are Hosting. For Max It Is Like Coming Into A World Of Queerness He’s Never Had Access To. When Around Someone Like Layla, Max Feels Like He’s Able To Inhabit A Totally New Liberated Persona.

And So The Pair Begin An Unlikely Romance, Much To The Discomfort Of Layla’s Friends Who Have Seen Layla Chase Men Like Max Before. Despite Their Seeming Confidence And Command On Stage, Layla Also Has A Complex Yearning For Acceptance And Is Thrilled To Win The Affection Of A Conventional “White Knight” Like Max. Desperate For Approval From Their Family, And Faced With The Barriers Of Race, Privilege, Gender And Class Between Them, Layla Begins Ditching Their Heels And Opting For Cargo Pants In A Bid To Seem More Compatible To Max’s Life. Max, Initially Hypnotised By Layla’s Unabashed Queerness, Begins To Overanalyse All His Previously Unexamined Decisions In Life, Triggering His Own Internal Crisis.

As Their Relationship Strains Under These Pressures, Both Layla And Max Will Be Forced To Face Up To The Things Really Holding Each Of Them Back – For Max, His Unchecked Privilege And The Numbing Of His True Self In Order To Meet Societal Expectation, And For Layla, To Realise They Don’t Need To Change Themself In Order To Be Worthy Of Love.

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