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This project is financed by the European Union in the framework of the Euromed Audiovisual programme.

Arab Focus at Filmfestival Augsburg
20. März - 25. März 2007

The film festival consists of four columns – the days of independent film – the short film week-end – the international symposium for young film-makers „Cinema of Tomorrow“ as well as the 25th edition of the Children‘s Film Festival.

Arab Focus at the Filmfestival Augsburg 2007

Filmfestival Augsburg is focusing on Arab filmmaking this year. In 20 programmes with fictional-, documentary-, and short films of the last three years from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq and Morocco the festival shows the variety of Arab independent filmmaking.

Most of the films will be presented by the directors in person. Festival successes and audience hits Ghasan Salhab‘s THE LAST MAN is mirroring the pulse of the city of Beirut, Mohamed Mustafa‘s LEISURE TIME was the surprise independent box office hit of summer 2006 in Egypt.

Hala Alabdallah‘s and Ammar Albeik‘s documentation I AM THE ONE WHO BRINGS THE FLOWERS TO HER GRAVE celebrated his world premiere in Venice and was hence shown at many festival all over the world. It is one of the poetic documentary road movies that will be shown in Augsburg.

In FROM BEIRUT, WITH LOVE Wael Nourredine returns to his hometown Beirut, where he finds one‘s list of options ranges from the army to religion, and from religion to the army and where fix of heroin costs five dollar. Bassem Fayad travels with three friends across Iraq and shares his search for hope an dimages not shown by the media in ROAD BEYOND SUNSET.

In I WANT TO TELL YOU... Dalila Ennadre crosses Morocco and gives the women a voice that is generally not heard.

Night of Shorts

The short films take us to Syria, Switzerland, Norway, France, Palestine and Egypt. The programme shows comedy, animated film and love stories.

Meyar al-Roumi, director of photography of acknowledged Syrian
documentary filmmaker Omar Amiralay, shows RABIA‘S JOURNEY, the first journey that takes the young woman out of her village.

TV producer and director Fouad Alaywan`s comedy SEE YOU LATER tells about a Lebanese family in Switzerland.

Ula Tabari, assistant director of Samir and Elia Suleiman, deals in DIASPORA with the life in a foreign country. In ON MONDAY Tamer el-Said is nearly flirting with his audience.

Conference on Arab New Channels:
From al –Jazeera to al –Arabiyya

In addition the programme is looking at Arab TV. At a conference media experts give background information on Arab TV – especially the transnational news channels al-Jazeera and al-Arabiyya. Producers and directors will present selected series in Workshops. Episodes of the TV-series will be screened as part of the festival programme.