Big Read: "Egypt Dances" 

 

Big Read: Celebrating Mahfouz 
Chased by the Dogs (125min) at 12:00 pm
Midaq Alley (140min) at 3:00 pm

 

"Big Read Opening Ceremony and Reception: A Talk on The Thief and the Dogs" 

Screening of the film adaptation of the book to follow talk (Chased by the Dogs, 1964)

"I Love HipHop in Morocco" 

Co-sponsors: The Center for African Education (TC), School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), & The Gottesman Libraries
Website: http://library.tc.columbia.edu/news.php?id=375
*RSVP by Monday, November 10 to library@tc.edu

Followed by Q&A with filmmakers: Sinan Antoon, Bassam Haddad, Maya Mikdashi and Suzy Salamy
 

Followed by Q & A with award winning and critically acclaimed director Jackie Salloum
Co-sponsor: Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department

Followed by a Panel Discussion and Q&A with Mariam Said, Vice-President of the Barenboim-Said Foundation; Nicole Foster, Project Manager; and musicians from the orchestra.
 

Co-sponsor: MEALAC

A special film screening
Presented in cooperation with the Columbia student group SAFAA

Please join us for a screening of "Persepolis Recreated," a documentary by Iranian filmmaker Farzin Rezaeian, which features extraordinary reconstructions of Persepolis, the most spectacular palace of ancient Achaemenid Iran, before it was destroyed by Alexander the Great’s conquering army more than two thousand years ago. The film includes commentary from renowned scholars from France, the United States and Iran, and has received wide acclaim throughout the United States and Europe.

A special screening of six short Turkish documentaries Presented in cooperation with the SIPA Turkish Initiative, Turkish Students Association, and the Light Millennium

This special screening will be an opportunity to all students and scholars as well as all interested people to see these short documentaries, representing diverse approaches in terms of concept and style, as well as to meet with the six Turkish guest producers and directors. They include Mustafa Ünlü (“The Old Town’s Newsmen”), Nurdan Arca (“Time Capsules”), Sehbal Senyurt (“The Adyghe: The Exodus of the Circassian People”), Murad Özdemir (“Tinkos Fish Tinkos”), Ersan Ocak (“Ankara – an experimental documtary”), and Ozgur E. Arik (“Ribat”). Entry is free of charge, and open to general public.

The acclaimed 2005 Turkish film written by Umit Unal

Presented in cooperation with the SIPA Turkish Initiative

Istanbul is a metropolis spanning two continents, situated at the westernmost point of the East and the easternmost point of the West. It is here that the best-known fairytales of the West are enacted in the captivating film "Istanbul Tales," a movie consisting of five stories that bring to life fairytale characters in Istanbul. Everyday people happen to meet Little Red Riding Hood, the Pied Piper, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, and all tales are interconnected--a single murder, for example, can change the lives of not only the murderer and the victim, but those of many other people. The most insignificant and unconscious act can have awesome consequences.

Directed by five different Turkish directors, "Istanbul Tales" celebrates the allure of the city of Istanbul while reminding us that true fairytales are the same the world over.

An Evening of Egyptian Films with Director Hala Galal

Reception to follow at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (754 Schermerhorn Extension)

Free and open to the public

Please join Egyptian director Hala Galal for a screening of her documentary “Women's Chit Chat,” about generations of feminist women in Egypt. Galal is one of the key figures in the founding of the independent production company SEMAT, which has been responsible for making some of the most interesting short and documentary films coming out of Egypt in recent years, as well as training young filmmakers and producing a film magazine. She is also currently working together with Syrian director Omar Amiralay on starting a new film school that will be traveling throughout the region.

Along with "Women's Chit Chat," two other films, both by woman directors and produced through SEMAT, will be shown at this special evening of Egyptian films. These are a short film called “The Elevator” and a short documentary called “Do You Know Why” about a teenager trying to break into the world of film acting.

This special event takes place in the context of ArteEast's first CinemaEast film festival, which will take place at the Quad Cinema from November 4 to 10. In addition to a screening a selection of films from throughout the region, ArteEast will offer a number of workshops with visiting filmmakers and critics from the region, dealing with a range of issues such as cinema of trauma and the independent documentary.

Sponsored by ArteEast, the Middle East Institute of Columbia University, the Columbia Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the Columbia Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures, and Turath.

A film by Anat Halachmi

Subliminal is described in the local rap scene as the "reinventor of Hebrew language". He presents himself as the first proud Zionist rapper. Similarly, Tamer (TN) an Arab rapper from Lod who became a cultural icon for Israeli Arab youth, is no less proud of his Palestinian identity. Just like Siamese twins, Subliminal and Tamer are the two inseparable parts of the same unsolved conflict, which defines our lives. A patriotic Zionist rapper and a nationalist Arab rapper use the power of words and music to state as loud as they can what politicians in Israel can’t seem to put into words. Channels of Rage won an award for 'Best Documentary' at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.

Co-sponsored by The Turkish Initiative

The epic adventures of the legendary Baran the Bandit following his release from prison. After serving 35 years, it is no surprise that the world has changed dramatically. Still, Baran can't help but be shocked to discover that his home village is now underwater thanks to the construction of a new dam. He then heads for Istanbul to get revenge upon his former best friend, the man who snitched on him and stole his lover Keje. Along the way, Baran teams up with Cumali, a tough young punk who finds the thief's old-fashioned ways rather quaint. When Cumali gets into deep trouble with a crime boss, Baran adds another vengeful task to his roster.

A documentary by Danae Elon

Director Danae Elon, daughter of Israeli intellectual Amos Elon, grew up in Jerusalem and was taken care of by an Arab housekeeper, whom her parents hired after the 6 Day War. Years later Danae goes in search of Moussa Mahmoud Obeidallah, the man who cared for her from the time she was a baby until she went into the army. Danae’s journey takes her to Paterson, New Jersey, to visit with six of Moussa’s eight sons, now settled in America’s largest Palestinian community and tending to families and businesses of their own. Over the course of the documentary Danae allows distances to come into focus: the distance between the Obeidallah family and the left-leaning, well-intentioned Elons and the distance between herself and her own father.

The Middle East Institute, MEALAC and the East Central European Center invite you to an evening with film director Roni Aboulafia

We will screen two of her films, both of which premiered at the 2004 Jerusalem Film Festival. Discussion will follow.

Ida Fink-Traces (Israel 2004, 50 minutes)

A film by Roni Aboulafia and Uri Cohen (Hebrew/Polish with English subtitles)

The writer Ida Fink was born in Zbaraz, (now in Ukraine), to a Jewish family. On the eve of World War II she began to study music at the Lvov Conservatory. In 1941, under the Nazi occupation, Ida Fink survived 4 selections and worked as a forced laborer. With the liquidation of the ghetto, she and her sister disguised themselves as Polish peasants and fled to Germany where they survived until the end of the war in constant danger of being identified. In 1957, she immigrated to Israel with her sister, father and husband Brunek, a survivor of four camps. She has written one novel Podroz (THE JOURNEY) (1990) and two collections of stories Skrawek Czasu (A SCRAP OF TIME) (1987), and Slady (TRACES) (1996) and was honored with the Anne Frank Prize in 1985.

The film follows Ida on a vacation trip to the Galilee, accompanied by Uri, a young writer who wants to understand her past. The film moves between the hills of the Galilee, the kitchen and the porch and between Hebrew, Israeli, and Polish literature focusing on Ida and the history that she embodies in her life and writing. Above all this is an attempt to touch the coattails of a great artist.

Followed by a short:

Meet Michael Oppenheim
Michael Shlomo Oppenheim is one year old. Through a series of family portraits we get a picture of the people, the exploits and the genes that brought Michael to the world and the world, as it is, to Michael. Faces that together tell the story of the Jews in the twentieth century and the story of the State of Israel. The face of us all: fighters, victims, human beings.

Roni Aboulafia is a graduate of Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, Israel. She regularly directs for TV magazine shows and entertainment programs in Israel.

Uri Cohen is an Israeli writer and teaches Israeli literature and culture at Columbia

Co-sponsored by The Columbia Iranian Students Association and the SIPA Iranian Transition.

Join us for our second movie screening of the year..."Children of Heaven" directed by Majid Majidi. "Children of Heaven" has recently become Iran's first-ever Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Language Picture (1998).

Set in modern-day Iran, the story tells of an eight-year-old boy Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, who are accustomed to shouldering much responsibility. When Ali loses Zahra's only-and recently mended-pair of shoes, the siblings are too scared to tell their father about the loss and can't afford to buy another pair. When the shoes are finally found on another girl, who probably needs them just as much, it's up to the boy to find a way to get his sister a new pair of shoes. A fascinating film about the lower rungs of society, where what you wear on your feet says much about your status.

Co-sponsored by MEALAC

"Out for Love...Be Back Soon", is a groundbreaking documentary picturing Dan Katzir in Israel torn by the Oslo agreements and the violent protest against them. The author’s quest for love runs along with the quest for peace, culminating with the murder of P.M Yitzchak Rabin.

Dan Kazir's grandfather - Aharon Katzir, was killed by the notorious Japanese terrorist Kozo Akomoto at Ben Gurion Airport in 1972. Aharon's brother - Efraim became the fifth president of Israel 1973-1978.

By Lina Yakobova, Yerevan State University

Screening of "Assyrians in Armenia", an English language documentary with Aramaic (Syriac) dialogue.

Arab, Turkish and Iranian Films: Cinema East Spring Schedule

The Society of Fellows in the Humanities' Invitation
to the U.S Premiere.

6:00 pm Film showing Fragment 1: The South
8:00 pm Film showing Fragment 2: The Center
FREE ADMISSION
9:30 pm Discussion with Directors
Road 181 is the first film jointly directed by a Palestinian and an Israeli. It will be followed by a discussion with theDirectors, chaired by Joseph Massad, Columbia University

Sponsored by the Society of Fellows in the Humanities, the Center for Comparative Literature and Society, Middle East and Asian Literatures and Culture, the Middle East Institute and ArteEast. 

The Plight of Women in Afghanistan under the Taliban Regime.