With films are as diverse as the 22 countries that make up the Arab world, the New York Arab Festival 2024 Shorts Program screens at the Museum of the Moving Image on Sunday, April 14, at 1:30 pm.
Topics range from magical realism to sharp political critiques. Plus, the afternoon ends with a panel discussion, Canon Fodder: Reframing Arab Representation in Cinema Today, about depictions of Arabs in Western cinema.
Tickets cost $15, but seniors and students pay $11, and youngsters (ages three to 17) can attend for $9.
The video section is arranged in two parts with a 10-minute intermission. Here’s the schedule.
Part One
Maradona’s Legs (Director Firas Khoury, 2019, 23 minutes, Palestine, first prize at the Fabrique du Cinéma Awards) During the 1990 World Cup in Italy, two young Palestinian fans set out to find the missing piece of their sticker album and win an Atari.
Amaal (Director Dibo, 2024, 16 minutes, Egypt) The word “amaal means “hope” in Arabic. Set in the future, characters must apply to the Holding Company for Dreams Fulfillment if they want to achieve their goals. While the company was started in good faith, things have taken a different turn.
Ministry of Loneliness (Director Randa Ali, 2024, 23 minutes, United States) Ministry of Loneliness bureaucrats spend their days answering calls from citizens suffering from isolation.
Part Two
Chapter Spring (Director Mohamed Farahat, 2013, 3 minutes, Egypt/Germany) This piece explores the conflicting narratives of the Egyptian revolution eight years after the 2011 uprising that took over Tahrir Square.
Wally Gone Missing (Director Mohamed Farahat, 2013, 8 minutes, Egypt/Germany) Office, 2.45 pm, an interview. The setup is almost theatrical, and Wally plays along. Back and forth, small wins, big concessions, and underneath that glossy surface, the unsettling feeling grows that we are simply pretending—in this office, in this setup.
Salt Kills (Director Balqis Alrashed, 2017, 26 minutes, Saudi Arabia/U.S.) Part of the ongoing State of Play film-and-performance series, this work features a fully veiled central character dancing with a hoop to live music by the doom metal band Subrosa. Filmed in Salt Lake City, the sunset provides a beautiful backdrop for identities to negotiate, emerge, and disappear.
Panel Discussion
Then there’s the panel discussion with NYAF Senior Founding Producer Cindy Sibilsky as the moderator. She’s an international producer, culture and arts writer, and publicist with projects in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Expect themes to include how Arab actors see their futures in the international film and television industries and how they bring nuance to their portrayals, navigating studio expectations and their lived experience. Information on the participants follows.
Egyptian-American, New York–based Amr Kotb is an actor drawn to improv, dark comedy, and social satire. He’s also the author and director of a series of satirical shorts.
Born in Jordan, but raised in Bahrain, Karma Alami, who has a background in opera and classical performance, currently studies at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in Manhattan. She also tends toward activism, dedicated to spotlighting the Palestinian and Syrian causes.
Of Palestinian-Lebanese heritage, but born and raised in California, actress Danya El Kurd has appeared in distinctly American productions, but she was once part of a touring Palestinian children’s show with Golden Thread Productions.
The program is scheduled for MoMI’s Bartos Screening Room, which is located at 36-01 35th Ave. in Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
Established in 2022, NYAF promotes Arab culture by sharing acting, cuisine, dance, fashion, ideas, songs, and writing. (Films are only part of the activities.) It’s produced by HaRaKa Platform and Wizara.
Images: NYAF/MoMI