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New York Arab & South Asian Film Festival: March 5-16 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kamala Seals Phone: 917-536-2732, Fax: 800-866-9064 sankalpamedia@mac.com http://www.nyasaff.org The 2008 New York Arab & South Asian Film Festival Screens Over 65 films from North Africa, The Middle East, and South Asia The NYASAFF is at the forefront of exploring and expanding otherwise unknown horizons in South Asian, Arabic and African film. The festival makes an enormous contribution toward informing New York audiences through access to images and representation that are not otherwise available through U.S. media outlets. In particular, the NYASAFF, provides opportunities to engage with fresh voices and personal visions of the troubled terrains of the Arab and Muslim world, as well as introduces U.S. audiences to the ground-breaking work of South Asia's emerging independent filmmakers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India. The festival venues include Tribeca Cinemas and Two Boots Pioneer Theater for recent features and docs, Art in General for programs of Art Videos, and Columbia University for a Retrospective on South Indian Director Murali Nair. This year's festival offers a number of intriguing themes and noteworthy films, including but not limited to the following: - "In the Name of God" is an independent feature from Pakistan that has been surrounded by controversy since its 2007 release. This debut epic which won its director the Silver Pyramid award at the 2007 Cairo International Film Festival is about two brothers who are pop musicians in Lahore. The issue of pop music in relation to Islam caused extremists to protest the film and call for it to be banned. A court case ensued which called into question the role of music in Islamic practice. - Controversial scholar, and Columbia University Professor, Joseph Massad, curates a series of films about Belly Dancing in Egyptian Cinema related to his latest book, "Desiring Arabs" which traces the intellectual history of sexual representation in Arab Culture. - Leading Iranian film expert, Hamid Dabashi, will introduce his new book on Moshen Makmalbaf (director of Kandehar), Makhmalbaf at Large: The Making of a Rebel Filmmaker, at the NY Premier of his daughter, Hana Makmalbaf's, film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame. Set in Bamian, the actual town where the Taliban’s destruction of cultural treasures sickened the world, Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame is an exotic and frightening journey into the minds of the children who live in that desolate area – and children affected by violence everywhere. - Director Heshem Issawi will attend the NYC premiere of AmericanEast on March 15. Featuring Sayed Badreya (Three Kings and The Insider) and Kais Nashif (of Paradise Now fame), the film demonstrates, with both humor and raw emotion, how friendships are tested amongst diverse patrons of a Middle Eastern restaurant in Los Angeles when the owner decides to partner with a Jewish businessman. A one-page informational flyer further delineating thematic highlights and special events, as well as a detailed list of films, are attached to this release, Festival Tickets are $12 for Adults, $8 for Students & Seniors, and are available through the fesitval website www.nyasaff.org or through Smarttix at (212) 868-4444. ### |
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| - For more information about ASA please visit us online at www.asainc.org. | ||||
| - You may send a message to the NY ASA with any questions at newyork_asa@yahoo.com | ||||
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