São Paulo – From November 26th to December 3rd, the city of São Paulo is hosting the 2014 Middle East Film Festival. Organized by Sesc São Paulo and the Municipal Secretariat for Culture of São Paulo, the event will feature 15 productions from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Jordan. Some of the movies were made in partnership with European countries.
“The festival strives to depart from the mainstream and offer a recent selection [of films], often submitted by [film] centres in the region,” explains Arlene Clemesha, an Arab History and Culture professor at the Arabic Language and Literature course at the University of São Paulo (USP) and one of the festival’s curators. The films will be screened at theatres Cine Olido and Cine Sesc.
The festival will feature documentaries and fiction films addressing aspects of reality in the Middle East, such as conflicts, refugees, women in society, the Arab Spring, national identity and family issues.
“We work to debunk the notion of East as something homogenous, seen with the eyes of the other,” says Clemesha. According to her, the featured movies enable viewers to see the region through more of an insider perspective, provided by people who know it well.
“Here, Middle Eastern filmmakers portray their struggles, their culture. It’s a different [vision] than that of films made outside the region,” says Clemesha. She also highlights the diversity of genres featured. “This festival brings together myriad film languages, such as documentary, fiction and animation. A key concern of ours is to showcase a plurality of techniques and mediums.”
Some of the films tell curious stories, such as The Wanted 18. The movie combines real actors and animation as it portrays the tale of 18 cows, purchased by Palestinians to produce milk, which are declared “a threat to the State of Israel.” The fiction film Girafada is about Ziad, a ten-year-old boy who embarks on an adventure because of a giraffe.
There are also historical films such as Iraqi Odyssey, about the history of the Arab country since its independence until the United States invasion, and Write Down, I’m An Arab, about the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
On Saturday the 29th at 6:00 pm, an informal chat will take place with Clemesha and Márcia Camargos, also a festival curator. In Cinema da Vela: O cinema palestino entre identidade e exílio (Candlestick Cinema: Palestinian cinema between identity and exile), at Cine Sesc, the curators will discuss Palestinian film history, productions, subject matter and other aspects of movies made in Palestine.
Service
Cine Sesc
26/11, Wednesday, Opening
9:00 pm – The Wanted 18
27/11, Thursday
3:00 pm –Transit Game + Season of Life
5:00 pm – Professor
7:00 pm – Write Down, I’m an Arab
9:00 pm – Le Challat de Tunis
28/11, Friday
3:00 pm – On the Way to School
5:00 pm – The Mountain
7:00 pm – The Duped
9:00 pm – Mardan
29/11, Saturday
3:00 pm – The wanted 18
5:00 pm – Le Challat de Tunis
6:00 pm – Candlestick Cinema: Palestinian cinema between identity and exile
7:00 pm – When I Saw You
9:00 pm – Berlin -7
30/11, Sunday
3:00 pm – Girafada
5:00 pm – When I Saw You
7:00 pm – Mardan
9:00 pm – On the Way to School
01/12, Monday
3:00 pm – Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait
5:00 pm – Iraqi Odyssey
02/12, Tuesday
3:00 pm – Write down, I’m an Arab
5:00 pm –Transit Game + Season of Life
7:00 pm – Berlin -7
9:00 pm – The Duped
03/12, Wednesday
3:00 pm – The Mountain
5:00 pm – Girafada
7:00 pm – Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait
9:00 pm – Iraqi Odyssey
Cine Olido
29/11, Saturday
3:00 pm – Write down, I’m an Arab
5:00 pm – The Duped. The curator Arlene Clemesha will present the session.
30/11, Sunday
3:00 pm – Mardan
02/12, Tuesday
3:00 pm – The Mountain
5:00 pm – Professor
7:00 pm – Berlin -7
03/12, Wednesday
3:00 pm –Transit Game + Season of Life
5:00 pm – On the Way to School
7:00 pm – Mardan
CineSesc – Rua Augusta, 2075, Cerqueira César, São Paulo/São Paulo. Telephone (+55 11) 3087 0500. Ticket prices range from R$ 5 to R$ 17.
Cine Olido – Avenida São João, 473, Downtown, São Paulo/São Paulo. Telephone (+55 11) 3331 8399.
Ticket prices: R$ 1.00 full; R$ 0.50 half-price.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
