Arab Film Festival

Last updated
Arab Film Festival
Founded1996
Website arabfilmfestival.org

The Arab Film Festival (AFF) is the flagship program of the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) a nonprofit organization that hosts the largest and longest-running independent Arab film festival in the United States. [1] It is held in California each year in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Diego, and Berkeley.

A nonprofit organization, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of view. In economic terms, it is an organization that uses its surplus of the revenues to further achieve its ultimate objective, rather than distributing its income to the organization's shareholders, leaders, or members. Nonprofits are tax exempt or charitable, meaning they do not pay income tax on the money that they receive for their organization. They can operate in religious, scientific, research, or educational settings.

A growing number of film festivals are held in the Middle East to showcase films from the region as well as international standouts. In addition, institutions and organizations in other parts of the world are increasingly honoring the new generation of filmmakers in the Middle East with Arab film festivals.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.

Contents

Overview

The Arab Film and Media Institute was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996 as the Arab Film Festival. It aimed to counter common stereotypes of Arabs shown in the media and provide opportunities for a new generation of Arab filmmakers to showcase their work. [2] [3] [4] [5] In addition to its annual Arab Film Festival, it also hosts individual screenings throughout the year.

Stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in the United States have been presented in various forms by the mass media in the American culture. Stereotypical representations of Arabs are often manifested in a society's media, literature, theater and other creative expressions. These representations, which have been historically and predominantly negative, have adverse repercussions for Arab Americans and Muslims in daily interactions and in current events. In American textbooks, which theoretically should be less-creative expressions, similar negative and inaccurate stereotypes are also found for Arabs and Muslims.

Leadership

Several prominent Arab-Americans have been involved with the Festival throughout the years, among them actor Tony Shalhoub and media critic Jack Shaheen. Both serve on its advisory board. [6] The Festival is run by Executive Director Serge Bakalian and a Board of Directors, including Feras Mousilli, Danielle Siragusa, and Hisham Zawil. [7] [8]

Tony Shalhoub actor from the United States

Anthony Marcus Shalhoub is an American actor. He is widely recognized for his work as a character actor, having won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. For his work on Broadway, he has four Tony nominations, winning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Tewfiq Zakaria in The Band's Visit.

Jack George Shaheen Jr. was a writer and lecturer specializing in addressing racial and ethnic stereotypes. He is the author of Reel Bad Arabs, The TV Arab (1984) and Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture (1997).

Award winners

2012 Arab Film Festival Awards [9]

Death for Sale is a 2011 film directed by Faouzi Bensaïdi. The film was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

Morocco Country in North Africa

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign state located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Morocco claims the areas of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, all of them under Spanish jurisdiction. The capital is Rabat and the largest city Casablanca. Morocco spans an area of 710,850 km2 (274,460 sq mi) and has a population of over 35 million.

France Republic in Europe with several non-European regions

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.02 million. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

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References

  1. ↑ "16th ANNUAL ARAB FILM FESTIVAL COMES TO LA OCT 19 | Levantine Cultural Center". Levantinecenter.org. 2012-10-09. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  2. ↑ Curiel, Jonathon (15 April 2003). "New generation of Arab filmmakers probes cross-cultural tensions/Directors rooted in U.S. and Europe are drawing wide attention". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Stephen William Foster (1 January 2006). Cosmopolitan Desire: Transcultural Dialogues and Antiterrorism in Morocco. Rowman Altamira. pp. 45–. ISBN   978-0-7591-1024-3 . Retrieved 16 August 2013. ... It was screened at the 9th Arab Film Festival, San Francisco (2005). On borders and boundaries as a more ...
  4. ↑ TIYM Publishing Company, Inc. (2005). Asian American Yearbook: A Unique Resource and Referral Guide for and About Asian Pacific Americans. TIYM Publishing Company, Incorporated. p. 186. Retrieved 16 August 2013. ARAB FILM FESTIVAL 2 Plz. Ave. San Francisco. CA 94116 Dina Saba, Director/Founder Tel: (415) 564-1100 Email: ...
  5. ↑ Alan Allen (10 December 2007). A Noah's Ark of Recurring Celebration: San Francisco Annual Event History – Winners of the Human Race. Trafford Publishing. pp. 394–. ISBN   978-1-4669-8184-3 . Retrieved 16 August 2013. The mission of the Arab Film Festival (AFF) is to enhance public understanding of Arab culture 85 to provide alternative representations of Arabs that contradict the stereotypical images frequently encountered in the American mass media.
  6. ↑ Hamilton, Matt. "Arab Film Fest Spotlights Under-Exposed Genre." 23 October 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2013. http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/10/arab-film-fest-spotlights-under-exposed-genre Archived 2013-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ https://arabfilminstitute.org/team/
  8. ↑ "AFF staff". Arab Film Festival. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-08-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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