12th Annual Festival

Celebrate the spirited storytelling, captivating cinematography and artistic innovation of independent Arab cinema at the 12th Annual Arab Film Festival October 16 to 28 at venues in San Francisco, the East Bay, San Jose and Los Angeles.
 
Opening & Awards Night
October 16th at the Castro Theater in San Francisco

Join us for a very special evening at the historic Castro Theater for the 2nd Annual Noor Awards Ceremony.  A cash prize will be given to the director of the winning film in four categories: Best Feature Fiction, Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Fiction, and Best Short Documentary.  We will also present a Lifetime Achievement Award honoring the work of the late Egyptian film director, Youssef Chahine. 

Opening Night -SF Bay Area Premiere
Following the Awards Ceremony
AFF Presents the Bay Area Premiere of
Waiting for Pasolini, the latest feature by Moroccan director, Daoud Aoulad-Syad.
6:00PM Reception
8:00 Awards Ceremony & Opening Film

Los Angeles Centerpiece Event
AFF Kicks off its second year in L.A. with the Los Angeles Premiere of, Captain Abu-Raed, winner of 2008 Sundance Audience Award, by Jordanian director, Amin Matalqa. 
 
Film Screening Locations

San Francisco: Delancey Screening Room, Castro Theater, Clay Theater, San Francisco State University
Berkeley: Shattuck Cinemas, La Pena Cultural Center
San Jose: Camera 12 Cinemas, San Jose State University
Oakland: Parkway Theater
Los Angeles: Writers Guild of America Theater, University of Southern California, UC Los Angeles
 

Special Programs

Panel Discussion with Visiting Filmmakers

Monday, October 20th: 6:30PM
Alliance Française in San Francisco ($5-10 sliding scale)
Expected participants include directors, producers and actors from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Syria.

AFF Screenwriting Panel Hosted by WGA

Thursday, Oct 23, 6:30 Reception / 7:30 Panel
Los Angeles: WGA-West, 2nd Floor Multi-Purpose Room
Exclusive event for AFF Pass Holders and WGA Members

Slingshot Hip Hop & DAM Concerts

Berkeley, Friday October 24th
7:00PM Screening, 10:00PM Concert (Location TBA)
Filmmaker, Jackie Salloum expected at the screening
Concert sponsored by Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC)

Los Angeles, Saturday, October 25th
3:30PM Screening, 8:00PM Concert (Location TBA)
Concert sponsored by Al-Awda, Right to Return Coalition

AFF & Sunbula, Arab Feminists for Change present:

At the Mercy of Patriarchy

Wednesday, October 22, 6:30PM
At the La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley ($5-10 sliding scale)
AFF & Sunbula, Arab Feminists for Change present:
Reception with the panelists will be followed by an AFF screening and panel discussion.  Sponsored by La Pena Cultural Center.

Screening of Amina & Panel Discussion
Sunday, October 26, 2:00PM
At the Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley
AFF & Sunbula, Arab Feminists for Change present:
Screening and discussion on women in prison with visiting Yemeni filmmaker, Khadija Al-Salami.

Shorts Program: Palestine and Jordan

Monday: October 27th, 7:00 PM
AFF and the Arab Cultural and Community Center present:
Palestinian Audio-Visual Project 2008 Student Films & Amman Filmmakers' Cooperative shorts

Environs of Seeing: Experimental nonfiction program curated by Peter Limbrick
Tuesday, October 28th

At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco
6:30 PM Program 1: In the Real of the Senses
Nights and Days, (Posthumous), Merely a Smell, Roundabout Chatila
9:00PM
Program 2: Immediacy of Place
Against the Light, Waiting for the Day, Refugees for Life

FREE SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Life After the Fall Free Screening & Panel
Tuesday, October 21st, 7:00PM
Annenberg Theater at USC, Los Angeles

Samira's Garden Screening & Panel
Wednesday, October 22nd, 7:30PM
Melnitz Theater at UCLA, Los Angeles

Festival at the Schools
AFF is holding four free weekday daytime screenings for high school students, of the Palestinian documentary, Sling Shot Hip Hop, in theaters in Berkeley, San Jose, San Francisco (co-presented by the General Union of Palestine Students: GUPS) and Los Angeles.  If your class is interested in participating or would like more details, please contact schools@aff.org.
 
Ticket Information

Regular admission tickets are $12 for the general public.  An "All Festival Pass" (including Opening Night) is $100 for the general public.  Opening Night screening $15, with the reception $25.  For ticket information, please contact the Arab Film Festival office at 415-564-1100 or visit the Arab Film Festival at www.aff.org  Advance ticket purchase is recommended.
 
Arab Film Festival (AFF): www.aff.org; info@aff.org