Loading ...Arab Film Festival 2015 at Cinetopia
About
Created for the people of southeastern Michigan, the Cinetopia International Film Festival features the best feature-length dramas, comedies, and documentaries from the world’s best film festivals (e.g. Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW, Tribeca, etc.).
The extensive festival program is selected exclusively for Cinetopia by a team that includes Indiewire Influencer Russ Collins (from the Michigan Theater) and the national “dean” of art house programming Elliot Wilhelm (from the Detroit Film Theatre).
Cinetopia honors the rich heritage of cinematic culture and Michigan’s proud legacy of outstanding cinema artists through special pre- and post-film events, including presentations, discussion panels, and Q&A sessions with directors, writers, and stars.
Celebrating Arab Women in Film
Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. Six short films featuring the work of women filmmakers in the Arab world, these films tell a gamut of stories, from tales of family to art to imagination to rebellion. Each film captures a different place and emotion, while highlighting the work of some of the best female Arab filmmakers.
Eyes of a Thief
Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. Everyone has secrets .. some are more dangerous than others. Eyes of a Thief begins at the height of the seconPd Palestinian Uprising in 2002 with Tareq, an enigmatic man bearing fresh wounds. Tended to by local nuns and a priest, who help him escape, he’s soon arrested by Israeli soldiers.
Factory Girl
MICHIGAN PREMIERE.Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. Hiyam, a young factory worker, falls head over heels for her new factory supervisor, Salah. A seemingly deep connection between the two turns against Hiyam when she is accused of acting immoral and attacked by those closest to her. She is caught between the struggles of love, societal pressure, maturity, and heartache. – David Serio
From A to B
U.S. PREMIERE. Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. Three estranged childhood friends, Omar, Ramy, and Jay, travel on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of their lost friend. If what happens en route doesn’t make them crazy, it might just bring them closer.
Ghadi
MICHIGAN PREMIERE Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. After Ghadi, a special needs child in a Lebanese coastal town, begins making unintelligible sounds that disturb the neighbors, they try to evict Ghadi and his parents from the town. His parents then turn to their friends to help convince the town to let them stay, in this heartwarming and redemptive story.
May in the Summer
Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. May in the Summer follows sophisticated New Yorker May Brennan to her childhood home of Amman, Jordan for her wedding. Shortly after reuniting with her sisters and their long-since divorced parents, myriad familial and cultural conflicts lead May to question the big step she is about to take. – David Serio
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
MICHIGAN PREMIERE Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. Based on one of the most popular books of poetry in the world, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is an animated epic weaving together stunningly beautiful narratives of freedom, love, and the meaning of work, the centerpiece of which is the friendship between a young girl (QUVENZHANÉ WALLIS) and an imprisoned poet (LIAM NEESON). -MM
Wadjda
Presented by the Arab American National Museum as part of the Arab Film Festival. A young girl in Saudi Arabia longs for all the things girls shouldn’t have: American music, friendship with a neighborhood boy, and most importantly, a bicycle. She enters a Quran recitation competition at school to try to win the money to ride her bike, not realizing how large the boundaries she is pushing against really are.