Cape Cod Festival of Arab
&
Middle Eastern Cinema
September 12 - 15, 2013
JERRY & ME
In her intimate documentary "Jerry & Me," filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeedvafa examines the significant role that Hollywood movies played in her life, both as a young film lover growing up in pre-revolutionary Iran, and as an adult working as a filmmaker and educator in both Iran and the USA. Of particular focus in "Jerry & Me" is the intimate relationship young Mehrnaz develops with the image of Jerry Lewis, the iconic American film auteur who delighted audiences around the world with hilarious portrayals of outcasts and misfits in popular Hollywood comedies of the 1950s and '60s. As illustrated through a variety of Lewis' film clips, the shifts in the comedian's on-screen persona reflected the twists and turns of Saeedvafa’s own life, providing her much needed comfort and companionship during a time that was tumultuous and chaotic. Mehrnaz's illusion of Lewis as an empathetic fellow outsider is ultimately shattered, however, by the stark reality of a real-life encounter with the star.
NEW ARAB CINEMA PROGRAM (Includes Both Films and Post-Screening Discussion of New Arab Cinema with Rebecca M. Alvin (Associate Teaching Professor of Film & Media Studies, The New School)
WANDERERS OF THE DESERT
Directors: Nacer Khemir Year: 1984
Country: Tunisia Running Time: 95 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Saturday, September 14, 6:45 p.m.
(Showing after "Sheikhates Blues")
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
335 Main St.
Wellfleet
Sanctity is a short film by actress and director Ahd, the first Saudi woman to study film direction and acting in the USA. She worked on many Hollywood films and she lives between the USA and the Arab World. Ahd dreamed of making a film about the poor areas in Saudi Arabia, specifically in Jeddah, which is usually depicted in films and series as the homeland of skyscrapers, highways, fancy malls, and rich people driving luxurious cars and wearing expensive clothes. She did not want to focus on such clichés, which are considered an outer shell that hides horrific facts that no one dared to discuss before. About her film, Saudi director Ahd said "The film’s title is about the sanctity of life, aside from the already known concepts of sanctity such as sanctity of women, orphans or houses. Sanctity is about a pregnant young Saudi widow who will endure anything to protect her unborn child, a story based on a personal experience and some true stories in Saudi Arabia". She added "in KSA, we have the unmarriageable kin and the legal guardian, concepts that I'm not totally against, but I see they need to be adapted to fit the times that we are living in. Women and men are equal and they must take control of their own lives." The Saudi director continues "The films asks a questions which personally baffles me, what would a woman do if she finds herself without a man?"
Directors: Ali Essafi Year: 2004
Country: Morocco Running Time: 52 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Saturday, September 14, 5:30 p.m.
(Showing before "Wanderers of the Desert")
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
335 Main St.
Wellfleet
Questions? Want to donate or volunteer? Need more info? Email: filmsociety@comcast.net
The Cape Cod Festival of Arab & Middle Eastern Cinema received support from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and from individual donors. To make a tax-deductible contribution to this and other programs of the Cape Cod Film Society (a project of the Provincetown Community Compact), send check made payable to "The Compact/Cape Cdo Film Society" to PO Box 819, Provincetown, MA 02657.
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SANCTITY
Directors: Ahd Year: 2013
Country: Saudi Arabia Running Time: 35 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Friday, September 13, 6 p.m. (Showing before"The Professor")
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
335 Main St.
Wellfleet
Directors: Mehrnaz Saeedvafa Year: 2012
Country: USA Running Time: 38 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Thursday, September 12, 5:30 p.m.
Waters Edge Cinema
237 Commercial St., 2nd Fl. (in Whalers Wharf mall)
Provincetown
THE PROFESSOR
Directors: Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud Year: 2013
Country: Tunisia Running Time: 92 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Friday, September 13, 7 p.m.
(Showing after "Sanctity")
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
335 Main St.
Wellfleet
In 1977, Kh'lil Khalsawi, a law professor in Tunisia, under the ruling party’s instructions, would represent the party in a league of human rights that has been founded not long ago. His mission is to defend the official positions inside the league during this turbulent time when the government and the labor union are on bad terms. One day, Kh’lil learns that Houda, who is at the same time his student and his mistress with who he is having an extra marital affair was arrested in the south of the country. Along with her are two Italian reporters who have come to investigate the phosphate mine strike…
SHEIKHATES BLUES
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NORTH AFRICA ON THE SCREEN PROGRAM (Includes Both Films and Post-Screening Discussion of Moroccan & Tunisian Culture with Nargis Virani (Assistant Professor of Arabic, The New School)
The female Moroccan musicians known as sheikhates sing about the realities of life – about the land, nature, wars, mountains, crises and, of course, they sing about love. In short, their music represents the heritage of Morocco. Director Ali Essafi offers a marvelous portrait of the daily lives of these regional folk singers, exploring how their music has evolved over the years – along with society’s acceptance of the women who perform this music in public.
With Wanderers of the Desert, Tunisian writer and poet Nacer Khemir creates a visually hypnotic cinematic masterpiece, the first in his highly-regarded Desert Trilogy. When a young teacher arrives for a position at an isolated village school in the heart of the shimmering desert, mysterious events begin to unfold: Legendary figures materialize out of the village well and from the desert itself; groups of children hurry through a labyrinth of underground corridors; villagers gather around a ship that has mysteriously washed up in the desert sand; the young men of the village disappear one by one and never return. With a richly expressive visual style and superb use of color, director Nacer Khemir shows how legend, tradition, and fate hang heavily over this community, and how nothing is ever quite what it seems.
THE CLOSED DOORS
Directors: Atef Hetata Year: 1999
Country: Egypt Running Time: 105 minutes
SHOWTIMES: Sunday, September 15, 1 p.m.
Waters Edge Cinema
237 Commercial St., 2nd Fl. (in Whalers Wharf mall)
Provincetown
Directed by Youssef Chahine's longtime assistant, The Closed Doors touches on several taboos in contemporary Egyptian society, examining their social and political implications. Set during the Gulf War, it tells the story of Mohamad, a highly impressionable young man who embraces fundamentalist ideas as a way of dealing with the confusion of adolescence and sexual awakening. This powerful first feature by one of Egypt's most promising young directors tackles complex themes like oppression, jealousy, virtue, the love ideal and violence in an uncompromising way.
Includes Post-Screening Discussion with Nargis Virani (Assistant Professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies, The New School)
NOTE: We will be updating the site later this year for the 2014 edition. For now, have a look at last year's program. Click on images for trailers & clips. To sign up for updates, email us: filmsociety@comcast.net.