São Paulo – The 7th Arab World Film Festival (Mostra Mundo Árabe de Cinema), due from June 25th to July 10th in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, will bring to Brazil a selection of films from :Mapping Subjectivity: Experimentation in Arab Cinema from the 1960s to Now, currently showing at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York.
This year, the Brazilian event promoted by the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe) will be curated by the Lebanese Rasha Salti. In addition to having co-curated the MoMa exhibition, Salti was formerly a programmer and creative director for ArtEast, a New York-based organization that helps Middle Eastern and North African contemporary artists to promote their work around the world.
“‘Mapping Subjectivity’ is a three-year program featuring historical art films that represent different strains of Arab cinema. There are documentaries and fiction films, the newest of which date from 2011,” says Soraya Smaili, Icarabe director and the cultural director and producer of the Arab World festival in Brazil.
In New York, the festival is in its third year. In 2012, Icarabe will present the productions from the first two years of the event. “Brazil will be the first country to receive the show’s travelling exhibition,” says Smaili. She says the festival will feature films made in several Arab countries, such as Morocco, Palestine, Algeria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, etc.
“Thus we will break the paradigm that (Arab) cinema means Egyptian cinema. The Arab world has a moviemaking tradition, and that doesn’t just mean Egypt. Arab cinema has evolved a lot,” she says. Of the non-Egyptian directors, she highlights Ahmed Bouanani and Ali Essafi, from Morocco, and Mohamad Soueid, from Lebanon.
Soueid’s ‘Tango of Yearning’ and ‘My Heart Beats Only for Her’ will be shown in Brazil. ‘Wanted’ and ‘Ouarzazate, the Movie,’ by Essafi, will be featured. Both directors will travel to Brazil to engage in debates with the audience. The Palestinian short film ‘The Shooter,’ by Ihab Jadallah, and the Egyptian ‘Domestic Tourism II,’ by Maha Maamoun, will be highlights of the Brazilian festival.
“We want to promote a seminar with the guests in order to discuss what it’s like to live in those countries. That will help to bring us closer, to talk, and do away with stereotypes,” says the Icarabe director. “But still we are only reaching a share [of the audience]. That’s why we’re expanding the festival to include other cities. Last year we did it in Brasília and this year we are going to Rio,” she explains. The event will feature seven guest directors who will present their work and attend meetings with the audience.
A show that informs
According to Smaili, throughout the years, the Brazilian show is gaining space and helping to show the audience what is the Arab world and culture. “The show is increasing in consistence and size. Last year we had space in TV shows, newspapers and magazines. We gradually devised a set of actions that have expanded, and that is reflected in the attendance.” In 2011, the event attracted approximately 5,000 people.
The events of the Arab Spring also contributed to spark the interest of Brazilians in Arab cinema. “We had full capacity at all times,” says the director. The revolutions in the Arab countries are the theme of five 2011 productions included in the show.
Brazil will also be addressed by the event’s productions. The film ‘Constantino,’ by Otávio Cury, has never been shown, and will premiere at the festival. It tells the story of the director’s trip to Syria, his great-grandfather’s native country, which he visited for the first time in 2001.
Another sign of the success of Arab cinema in Brazil is the proposal for the event to become permanent in São Paulo. “Representative Jamil Murad has submitted a bill to the chamber of representatives so the festival may become a part of the city’s official schedule,” says Smaili.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will co-produce this year’s event. “This year, we are coming in strong in the cultural area to mark the Chamber’s 60th anniversary. We will promote a host of events including cinema, theatre, dancing and cuisine to celebrate the date alongside the Arab and Brazilian communities,” says Karina Cassapula, the Marketing coordinator.
After being featured in São Paulo and Rio, some films in the festival will also go to Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte. In São Paulo, the festival will take place at Cinemateca (free of charge), CineSESC and Cine Olido (price: 1 real). In Rio de Janeiro, the films will be screened at Instituto Moreira Salles (free of charge). The full program is yet to be defined, and will be available at www.icarabe.org.br.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
