São Paulo – This month, movie buffs in São Paulo will get a sample of the most recent film productions from the Middle East and North Africa. The 5th Arab World Cinema Exhibition, promoted by the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), will feature 14 contemporary films, including five documentaries, all previously unseen in the city. According to the cultural director of the institute and the festival, Soraya Ismaili, the selection deals mainly with two subjects: migration and the feminine universe.
According to her, the films tackle universal issues. Migration, be it forced, by choice or necessity, for instance, is a current matter in different regions, including Latin America, which watched this week as 72 immigrants attempting to arrive in the United States were massacred by Mexican drug traffickers. Last week, the repatriation of Romanian gypsies by French authorities also made the news worldwide.
In this respect, Soraya highlights the film Harragas, by the Algerian Merzak Allouache, about young Algerians trying to get to Europe. The film was awarded at the Dubai International Film Festival last year. Another highlight is Bab El Web, by the same director, which will kick off the festival on Thursday evening (2nd), at CineSesc; and America, about a divorced Palestinian woman who moves to the United States with her son. All films are subtitled.
With regard to the other subject matter, the festival seeks to outline issues pertaining to women in the Arab world, including sensuality and the relation between the new and the traditional. "Arab societies are permanently changing as well," said Soraya. The emancipation of women, in her opinion, is also a universal matter.
In this field, the highlights are Dunia, by the French-Lebanese Jocelyn Saab, and Scheherazade, tell me a story , by the Egyptian Yousry Nasrallah, considered the successor of Youssef Chahine, a famous filmmaker who passed away in 2008. Dunia, according to Soraya, "tackles the issue of women in a very intense and deep manner."
The female section of the festival, however, does not comprise only films about women, but also films made by them, such as the documentaries Open Shutters, by the Iraqi Maysoon Pachachi, and Meeting Point, co-directed by the Brazilian Júlia Bacha.
Screenings for the general public will start on Friday (3rd) at seven different theatres, as against four in last year’s edition. They are: CineSesc, Olido Gallery, São Paulo Cultural Centre, Ruth Cardoso Cultural Centre for the Youth, Cinemulher, Syrian Sports Club, and Mount Lebanon Athletic Club.
The programme will continue until the 29th, and two debates will also take place during the festival: one about filming in the Middle East, and the other about women in the Arab world.
The festival was organized by means of a partnership between the Icarabe and the Social Service for Trade (Sesc) in the state of São Paulo, the São Paulo City Hall, and the Arab House of Spain. In addition to Soraya, the cultural direction was in charge of Karim Hauser Askalani, of the Spanish organization. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is one of the event’s sponsors.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
