Loading ...Festival spotlights Arab women in Film
Christopher Wilkinson
FSU News.com
Every so often the Askew Student Life Center hosts a film festival that gives the students an opportunity to embrace a different culture. This time around the ASLC, in conjunction with the Middle East Center’s Arabic Division of Modern Language, celebrates Arab culture and feminism with its Arab Women’s Film Festival.
The festival started out with the animated independent film The Prophet based on the book of the same name by Kahlil Gibran. The film was opened with a speech from Middle East Center director Dr. Zeina Schlenoff who gave an informative speech about the Arab film scene and the rising inclusion of women in that scene.
The film itself boasts the touching story of Almitra, a speechless young rebellious girl, Kamila, her mother, and Mustafa, an artist and revolutionary leader among the people. The film follows Mustafa’s release from seven years of confinement as he meets with the people of his town and shares his wisdom about love and acceptance through poetry and song.
The strength of the film was in its art direction and its willingness to shift to different art styles throughout the film. The art of the movie combined with the beautiful animation really helped to get across all the deep ideas the film had to offer.
“There was a more in depth message to this movie than most other animated movies,” accounting graduate student Jannate Noll said. “The main character represented standing up for what you believe in.”
While this message might seem like your run of the mill animation message the films unique style and emphasis on peace and love gives the message a more unique spin. The film’s beautifully composed visuals and animation along with its touching story and characters makes it a must see for anyone who loves animation.
After the screening, the Arab Division also hosted a reception with traditional Arab cuisine and musical performances. The performances ranged from traditional folk music to belly dance. “The sound is very interesting because of the way the beats of the music and the difference of the instruments differentiates the performance from western music,” Ide Messmore, a Sophomore creative writing student said.
The night also featured dance sets from The Belly Dancers at FSU and The Student Dabke Association. The belly dancers proved to be elegant and well versed in their craft and the dabke dancers were high octane and fun to watch.
In summary, the Middle East Center clearly went above and beyond to bring this unique culture to FSU with their presentation of a great film, authentic food and live entertainment. The festival will continue over the next two weeks with a screening of I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced on Monday February 1 at 6pm, followed by a round table discussion, along with two films on Monday February 8 that will be introduced by the FSU faculty. The films are Daughter of Keltoum at 6 p.m. and Where do we go Now? at 8:30 p.m.
Source: www.fsunews.com