13th Arab Film Festival comes to Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in August

Now in its 13th year, the Arab Film Festival is back for 2014 and lucky viewers in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra will get the chance throughout August to see some of the best films coming out of the region. Kicking off in Sydney from August 14^th to 17^th, the Festival will move to Melbourne from August 21^st to 23^rd, then finishing in Canberra from August 29^th to 31^st.

The Festival promises a rich range of provocative films, as evidenced by the following brief from the Festival press release:

As revolutions continue to play out in many parts of the Arab world and with no winners in sight, these filmmakers are finding previously untapped ways in which to tell these rich stories. The films in this year’s lineup are politically charged narratives, intertwined with stories of women who dare to push the boundaries within their communities and live the lives they desire to lead. This year’s Festival has an exciting mixture of new feature dramas and documentaries that capture these dynamic times from Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan; giving an insightful glimpse into these complex yet beautiful societies.

The Festival will open on Friday August 14^th in Sydney with a screening of When I Saw You, a first ever look at the secret camps of the Freedom Fighters of the Palestinian Resistance in 1967. To celebrate the opening of the festival, the screening will be followed by an Opening Night Party. Other films being screened as part of the festival include May in the Summer, The United, Ten Years of My Life, Factory Girl and Scheherazade’s Diary.

Festival co-directors Mouna Zaylah and Fadia Abboud said the following of the Festival’s incredible 2014 film selection: “Our films with them bring stories of brides on the run, doomed grooms, family feuds and the Arab diaspora experience of living between cultures. They talk about love, loss and cultural collisions. They show men and women challenging cultural expectations in a climate of complex political revolution.”

The Arab Film Festival Australia launches on August 14-17 in Sydney, before making its way through to Melbourne on August 21-23 and Canberra on August 29-31. For more information including scheduling and tickets, head to www.arabfilmfestival.com.au

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