26 - 27 November: Campbelltown Arts Centre 2 - 4 December: Hoyts Bankstown

29 November: Film & Forum - Riverside Theatres, Parramattawww.sydneyarabfilmfestival.com

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FESTIVAL GREETINGThe mountains of Lebanon, the shores of Algiers, the timeless gaze of unrequited love, the melancholic rip of having two homelands, dancers in Palestine, the lyrical sound of Oud, the secret joy of forbidden love, the bridges of Alexandria, a mother’s anguish, a father’s pride, a village lost to borders. All at the 2nd Sydney Arab Film Festival as we explore the intricate world of Arab Cinema over 2 jam-packed weekends at Campbelltown Arts Centre, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, Hoyts Bankstown from Saturday 26 November - Sunday 4 December. We had a great time tenderly choosing the film programme... please JOIN US! Ahlan wa sahlan!

Festival Co-ordinators - Fadia Abboud & Anna Cominos

About Us The aim of the Sydney Arab Film Festival is to showcase stories emerging from diverse Arabic speaking cultures to all Australian audiences that reflect the complexity and diversity of Arab experiences. Furthermore we aim to address the (mis)representations of Arab culture through film by providing critical spaces and give exposure to alternative representations of Arab culture, Arab commentary and self-representation.

History The Sydney Arab Film Festival was first held in April 2001 with a 3 day Program at the Roxy Cinema in Parramatta. It was a joint project of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Information and Cultural Exchange, Fairfield Community Resource Centre and the Powerhouse Museum. It was an associated event of East of Somewhere - a contemporary Arab Australian cultural project initiated by Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

Organising Committee members: Abbas Makrab, Alice Ansara, Anna Cominos, Alissar Chidiac, Alissar Gazal, Daniela Flaxl, Elie Assi, Fadia Abboud, Fatima Mawas, Joanne Saad, Maissa Alameddine, Mireille Astore, Omar Qadora, Razy Eid, Sohail Dahdal & Soraya Asmar.

PREFACEInformation and Cultural Exchange (ICE) is proud to host the 2nd Sydney Arab Film Festival.

In the current political climate, under which negative stereotypes of Arabs once again circulate in abundance, this cultural event provides a space for diverse audiences to constructively engage with films focusing on the Arab world and diaspora. In New South Wales, Arabic is the second most spoken language after English, and yet Arabic self-expression needs a much higher profile within Australian film and television culture.

Supporting and promoting dialogue in the arena of cultural production is central to ICE’s work with grass-roots communities. The Festival fills an enormous gap in Sydney’s cultural landscape. In recent years, ICE has worked with artists, emerging communities and Arabic young people to develop new work in digital arts and multimedia. We are committed to supporting the Festival in becoming a sustainable and independent entity.

Lena Nahlous Director, ICE & SWITCH

Cover photos by Soraya Asmar

AL HODOUD (BORDERS) Film, Fun & Forum1987 | Syria | 100 minsFeaturing Dorade Lahham as Abdel Wadud and Raghda as SodfehWritten by Mohammad Al Maghout

This is a not-to-be missed event of the Sydney Arab Film Festival – designed to bring everyone together for a serious laugh in these absurd times! Bring your family and friends, share vintage Arab comedy and talk across the aisles after the film!

Al Hodoud (Borders) is a much-loved comedy classic and a timeless political satire, made almost 20 years ago. The Sydney Arab Film Festival gives you the opportunity to re/discover how this great work speaks to us today. From the moment we meet Abdel Wadud on the road with his painted-up yellow car, we are on an ironic ride through scenarios and dialogues that resonate with realities of 2005, whether in the Arab World or in Australia. Movie goers coined Lahham as “the Arabic Charlie Chaplin”. www.duraidlahham.com/filmography.htm

Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Cnr Church St and Market St, Parramatta Tuesday 29 November • 7pm - 10pm Free event

JAMMIN’UNDER THE STARS Local Short FilmsXROADS - Your Gone • Le Pacour • Judging Amir

JAMMIN’ IN THE MIDDLE E Australia | 2005 | 50 mins | Dir: Kim Mordaunt

Grab your friends and/or family, bring your picnic basket & blanket, stake out your spot and wait for the sun to set. When the stars start to twinkle, sit back and enjoy a night of homebaked, hilarious short films, Rap crews and other live performances made/created/brought to you by the young and gifted people in your neighbourhood... And it’s all free!

Fresh from a red-carpet premiere, enjoy the short film XROADS - Your Gone and local boys made good, 9 Lives bringing their truly original physical performance style that blends combat with music in the hi-NRG Le Pacour and the final short film is Judging Amir.

Jammin’ in the Middle E is an Arab Australian comedy about families, fast cars, gangster rap and... rosewater. A story of siblings Naima and Ishak growing up Arab in Western Sydney. Campbelltown Arts Centre Sunday 27 November • 7.30pm Free event

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sA MAN IN THE HOUSE MAEgypt | 1961 | 115 Mins | Dir: Henri Barakat

Based on the famous novel by Ihsan Abdel Qoddous, this 1961 classic is set prior to the 1952 revolution and stars the legendary Omar Sharif who plays Ibrahim, a member of the underground resistance who seeks refuge from the so-called “political police”.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 3pm

FATMA MAEgypt | 1947 | 126 Mins | Dir: Ahmed Badrakhan

The legendary diva Umm Kulthum stars in this classic film about a poor nurse who falls in love with the son of one of her wealthy patients. Abandoned by her husband while pregnant, she must fight her husband’s wealthy and powerful family in court.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 3pm

ADRIFT ON THE NILE MAEgypt | 1971 | 115 Mins | Dir: Hussein Kamal

A group of hedonistic middle-aged friends who gather each night on a luxurious houseboat for dancing, love-making and smoking hashish. Based on the novel by the Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz.Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 3.30pm

AFRITA HANEM MAEgypt | 1950 | 111 Mins | Dir: Henri Barakat

Farid Al Atrache is Asfour, a poor singer/actor who stumbles upon a magic lamp and its wish-granting genie, Samia Gamal. Using his new-found power to woo his gold-digging girlfriend away from her rich suitor, but the Genie has a few wishes of her own. Beautiful song and dance from Egypt’s great stars.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 1pm Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 December • 11am

THE NIGHTINGALE’S PRAYER MAEgypt | 1959 | 126 Mins | Dir: Henri Barakat

Based on the novel by the great Egyptian novelist, Taha Hussein, and starring the first lady of the Arab silver screen, Faten Hamama. This compelling tale of love and betrayal, set in the upper Egyptian countryside, follows the story of Amna (Hamama) as she plots her revenge on the engineer (Ahmed Mazhar) who destroyed her family’s honor.

Hoyts Bankstown • Sunday 4 December • 6.30pm

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MESHWAR MA

Lebanon | 2005 | 105 Mins Dir: Samir Habshy

Hadi is walking in the night; reconsidering his commitment to the girl he is supposed to marry, when Reem dressed as a boy in her attempt to runaway from home jumps and falls in his arms. Immediately he realises that he is holding a girl who will take him in an improvised journey, made of humor, mystery and surprisingly of undeclared love. A happy venture enriched by innocent deceit, unexpected encounters and sweet emotions.

THE BEST OF TIMES MA

THE DOOR TO THE SUN MA

Campbelltown Arts Centre Sunday 27 November • 5.30pm

Hoyts Bankstown Saturday 3 Dec • 6.30pm

Egypt | 2004 | 114 Mins Dir: Hala Khalil

A young woman finds herself awkwardly living with her

step-father after her mother’s tragic death and decides to

search for her real father. We are given an insight into the lives of three very different women in contemporary Egyptian society.

Hoyts Bankstown Friday 2 Dec • 8.45pm

Palestine to Lebanon | 2004 | 278 Mins | Dir: Yousry Nasrallah

In the beginning was Palestine, just when the story of Younes’ life began. Younes sometimes went under the name of Abou Salem, sometimes the Man and some other times Ibrahim’s father.

This was also when the story of his wife Nahila began – she became his bride at the age of 12, she was to breast-feed their first baby during the exhausting walks as she fled with the other villagers towards the North and left behind their burnt-down house.

He would visit her in Bab El Chams, a cave in Galilee and tell her about Saladin and Nasser and Nahil believed his tales. This was also the story of Younes’ father, Cheikh Ibrahim, the old blind man who knew where the sun stood just by the smell of the trees lining the exile roads. This was also the story of Doctor Khalil, forsaken by his own mother in the confusion of the refugee camps. And this was the story of Chams, whom Khalil loved and who was executed by her comrades-in-arms.

This was the story of the Palestinians, driven forcefully from the camps in Galilee to the camps in Lebanon, enduring fifty years of hardship, of hope and of love.

NOTE: Screening is 4.5 hours with 20 minute intermission

Hoyts Bankstown Sunday 4 Dec • 10.30am

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PRIVATE MAPalestine | 2004 | 90 Mins | Dir: Saverio Constanzo

Inspired by real events, a Palestinian family of seven suddenly confronted with a volatile situation in their home that in many ways reflects the ongoing confilct between Palestine and Israel.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 8pm Hoyts Bankstown • Sunday 4 December • 8.45pm

TERRA INCOGNITA MALebanon | 2002 | 120 Mins | Dir: Ghassan Salhab

Beirut today: a city destroyed seven times over and each time reconstructed; a city/construction site, a city that is changing. One that reflects Soraya, Tarek, Nadim and Haidar. We don’t dare look back, much less imagine a future.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 6pm

ALEXANDRIA - NEW YORK MAEgypt & USA | 2004 | 128 Mins | Dir: Youssef Chahine

Egyptian film director Yehia encounters his first love Ginger as he was being celebrated in New York. The world has changed and 50 years on they meet again.

Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 December • 6.30pm

BAB EL WEB MA

France | 2005 | 99 Mins | Dir: Merzak Allouache

Bouzid spends his time in a cybercafe “chatting” with girls from around the world and inviting them to his homeland. But he didn’t expect a visit form a French webpal to his working class suburb in Algiers.

Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 8.45pm

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I REMEMBER 1948 MA

Australia | 2004 | 24 mins Dir: Fadia Abboud Personal memories of the tumultuous days of Al Nakba, ‘the catastrophe’, May 15th 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled freom their homes. ‘If I live one thousand years, you think I will forget that?’

I Remember 1948 is a locally produced documentary, with original music by the talented Oud player Joseph Tawadros.

Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 December • 3.30pm

Lebanon | 2003 | 13 mins Dir: Cynthia Choucair

Elie Darwish has a voice similar to that of famous Lebanese singer Fairuz. The film traces the story of this man with a woman’s voice and his life.

THE SIREN MA

Egypt | 2005 | 23 mins Dir: Zakaria Ibrahim

The siren explores a mysterious legend associated with the Simsimiyyia an ancient Egyptian lute dating back to the times of Pharaohs. This legend warns how the Simsimiyyia will bewitch her players through music.

ELIEFAYROUZ MA

EMBRACE MA

Australia | 2005 | 5 mins Dir: Kate Gaul

A young Lebansese man explores what growing up is like in contemporary Sydney.

ABOUT BAGHDAD MAIraq | 2004 | 90 mins Dir: Sinan Antoon

Exiled writer and poet Sinan Antoon returns to his native Baghdad with a team of independent filmakers, artists and poets to document the effects that decades of oppression, war, sanctions and occupation have had on his city resulting in a fascinating mosaic of opinions, perspectives and memories.

Hoyts Bankstown • Sunday 4 December • 3.30pm

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11amHoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 11amHoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 1pm

Campbelltown Arts Centre Sunday 27 November • 11am

Hoyts Bankstown Saturday 3 December • 11am

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Palestine | 2005 | 60 mins | MA Dir: Raed Andoni

Raed Andoni’s Improvisation explores the conflict of identity faced by different generations of Palestinians, as told through the story of a family of musicians who are divided in their political views, but united by their passion for Oud and Arab classical music.

Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 1pm

LIKE TWENTYIMPOSSIBLESPalestine | 2003 | 17 mins | MA Dir: Annemarie Jacir

A Palestinian film crew decides to avert a closed checkpoint by taking a remote side road. From here onward the crew is taken apart by the mundane brutality of military occupation. This film questions the politics of film making and the opportunism of artists.

IMPROVSATION

REVEILATIONS: INSIGHT INTO THE HIJAB

Australia | 2005 | 23 mins | MA Dir: Nazneen Reehman

This documentary covers the idea of veiling by Muslim women (better known as hijab by the Muslims) and the many questions instigated by it among Muslims and non-Muslims.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 11am

BEING OSAMACanada | 2004 | 45 mins | MA Dir: Mahmoud Kaabour and Tim Schwab

An intimate look at six men with highly diverse backgrounds, interests and personalities, united by their first names and the experience of living as an Arab in the post 9/11 world.

SERHELDANLebanon | 2004 | 18 mins | MA Dir: Serheldan Ahmad and Christine Chamas

Serheldan is 13, Kurdish, living in Beirut. She tries to understand her identity and shows us her neighbourhood through several interviews shot with her friend Christine.

Campbelltown Arts Centre Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown Saturday 3 December • 11am

THE CHILDREN OF IBDAAPalestine | 2002 | 29 mins | MA Dir: S. Smith Patrick

To create something out of nothing is about the lives of several adolescents in a Palestinian children’s dance troupe from Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank.

Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 December • 3.30pm

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 11amHoyts Bankstown • Sunday 4 December • 3.30pm

Hoyts Bankstown Friday 2 December • 3.30pm

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COUSINS MA Algeria | 2003 | 32 mins | Dir: Lyess SalemDriss is to spend a month in Algiers to meet up with his family and visit a country which has deeply changed ever since he left. He meets Nedjma, a distant cousin, who is promised to Amran.

Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 November • 1.30pm

FATIMA’S SECRET MA Algeria | 2003 | 30 mins | Dir: Karim Ben SalahFilm based on true events in Algiers, 1998: Fatima is 65 years old and lives in a popular area ravaged by domestic violence and terrorism. But behind the obvious indifference hides a terrible secret.

Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 November • 1.30pm

GLOBALISATION MA Lebanon | 2002 | 2.40 mins | Dir: Abdel Rahim El-AoujiA man, a TV... and the devil between them.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am

NOT FROM HERE MA

Australia | 2005 | 2 mins | Dir: Mireille AstoreNot From Here is a short film that challenges the historical photograph as it morphs before our very eyes.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am

A GLIMPSE TO THE SKY MA Egypt | 2003 | 10 mins | Dir: Kamla Abou ZikriA boy, a girl, a love story, and an uncle that discovers them, what happens next is only up to God.Hoyts Bankstown • Friday 2 December • 1.30pm

THE ELEVATOR MA Egypt | 2004 | 13 mins | Dir: Hadil NazmyA girl of late twenties is stuck inside an elevator when it breaks down, at the same time she receives a wrong telephone call, what happens next is totally unexpected.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27th of November • 11 am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3rd of December • 11 am

WELL PLAYED MA

Lebanon | 2004 | 6:35 mins | Dir: Koussay HamzehA 10-year-old boy watches his favourite daily TV program through the window of his 16-year-old female neighbour. There is no time for games.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 8.45pm

JEAN-FARES MA

Algeria & France | 2001 | 8.00 mins | Dir: Lyes SalemThe day his son was born, Driss calls his parents in Algeria and his parents-in-law in Versailles. They both asked the same questions: “What will you name your son?”

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am

LOST HORIZON MA

Morocco | 2002 | 12 mins | Dir: Laila MarrakchiThe film follows Abdel Salam’s final hours in Tangiers as he prepares to leave his lover, Rhimou, and his country for a questionably better life on the other side of the horizon.

Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 11am

SHADI IN THE BEAUTIFUL WELL MA Palestine | 2003 | 10 mins | Dir: Mahdi FleifelShadi is an autistic boy living in the heart of the Palestinian refugee camp One day, his neighbour’s son steals his white pet dove, an event that constantly torments him.Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 8pm Campbelltown Arts Centre • Sunday 27 November • 11am Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 Sunday 4December • 11am

THE DISPLACED MA Australia | 2005 | 5 mins | Dir: Chadi SankaryThe film visualises the concept of displacement of the Palestinian people and how Palestine lives in their memory and in their daily life in their “exile”Hoyts Bankstown • Saturday 3 December • 1pm

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The 2nd Sydney Arab Film Festival is proud to present the ALBA Short films Session. These short films were made by students of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts.

BADKON SHI...T? Lebanon | 2005 | 17.30 mins | Dir: Badih Massaad A bunch of friends go to the Bekaa valley to buy some cannabis. The dealer asks them to take a metal box to some address in Beirut...

GREYSCALE Lebanon | 2003 | 6 mins | Dir: Amin Dora Grey refuses the dullness of his city, he creates his own life in colors...

IT’S NOT YOU...? - MESH ENTA...? Lebanon | 2003 | 16.22 mins | Dir: Amin Dora While getting ready to go to his parents, he stops a moment to see the TV ad in which he is starred. He then takes the “usual” road to the town.

LE BALLON ROUGE Lebanon | 2004 | 3.32 | Dir: Rana Salem Loulou loses her red balloon.

THE BIG FALL Lebanon | 2005 | 5 mins | Dir: Antoine Waked Professional hitman, Mr. Fall has a big day.

THE MERMAID - AL HOURIYA Lebanon | 1999 | 18 mins | Dir: Nadine Ghorra Nadia, a young girl lives in the mountains and has never seen the sea. The railways near her house make her dream. One day a fisherman arrives to the village and makes her listen to the sea.

ZIG AU PURGATOIRE Lebanon | 2004 | 2.48 mins | Dir: Yara Nashawaty Zig worn out, decides to free himself from the past

WAYN YO Lebanon | 1998 | 13 mins | Dir: Andre Chammas The story is about the “day to day” life on the square of a village, theatre to all kinds of customs, traditions and characters. It is an ironic vision of the reality of the village Zahle.

’83... THE SERIES - ’83... AL MOUSALSAL Lebanon | 1999 | 21 mins | Dir: Ziad Nassif The story of a family (the father, a sculptor, his wife and their son) in a Lebanese village on the eve of its destruction. The woman gets panicked. The man bound to his principles, refuses to leave the village like the others...The conflict continues till the exodus...

All ALBA Student Shorts screen in the one session Campbelltown Arts Centre • Saturday 26 November • 1pm

CAMPBELLTOWN ARTS CENTRE - Saturday 26 November

11am FACE THE NAMERevalation’s into the Veil + Being Osama + The Siren

1pm ALBA Short Film Session

3pm Egyptian Classic - A Man in Our House

6pm Terra Incognita

8pm Shadi and the Beautiful Well + Private

CAMPBELLTOWN ARTS CENTRE - Sunday 27 November

11am SUBHIYEH OF ARAB SHORTS Well Played + Globalisation + Jean Fares + The Elevator + Embrace + Shadi & the Beautiful Well + Not From here + Lost Horizon + Serheldan + Ellie Fayrouz

1pm Egyptian Classic - Afrita Hanem

3pm Egyptian Classic - Fatma

5.30pm Meshwar

7.30pm JAMMIN’ UNDER THE STARS + Xroads Video Clip - Your Gone + Judging Amir + Le Pecour + Jammin’ in the Middle E

RIVERSIDE THEATRES, PARRAMATTA- Tuesday 29 November

7pm Hedude (Borders) film + fun + forum

HOYTS BANKSTOWN - Friday 2 December

11am Bankstown Mayor Launch - Afrita Hanem

1.30pm A GLIMPSE OF THE ARAB WORLD Fatima’s Secret + A Glimpse to the Sky + Cousins

3.30pm I Remember 1948 + Like 20 Impossibles + The Children of Ibdaa

6.30pm Alexandria - New York

8.45pm The Best of Times

HOYTS BANKSTOWN - Saturday 3 December

11am SUBHIYEH OF ARAB SHORTS Well Played + Globalisation + Jean Fares + The Elevator + Embrace + Shadi & the Beautiful Well + Not From here + Lost Horizon + Serheldan + Ellie Fayrouz

1pm The Siren + Improvisation + Displaced

3.30pm Egyptian Classic - Adrift on the Nile

6.30pm Meshwar

8.45pm Well Played + Bab el Web

HOYTS BANKSTOWN - Sunday 4 December

10.30am The Door to the Sun - with intermission

3.30pm Being Osama - About Baghdad

6.30pm Egyptian Classic - The Nightingale’s Prayer

8.45pm Shadi and the Beautiful Well + Private

VENUESHOYTS BANKSTOWN Cnr The Mall & Jacob Streets Bankstown Tel:(02) 9796 4888

Hoyts Hotline 1900-9-HOYTS Bankstown express code 275 Calls charged at 83c p/min, higher for mobile & payphones

Parking Parking is available free of charge.

Public Transport Close to Bankstown train station.

Private and Government buses service the South Western suburbs.

CAMPBELLTOWN ARTS CENTRE Cnr Camden & Appin Roads Campbelltown Tel: 02 4645 4100 Email: art.gallery@campbelltown.nsw.gov.au

Car Take the second Campbelltown (Narellan Road) exit off the M5 motorway and turn left into Narellan Road. Follow Narellan Road and look out for signs to the Arts Centre on the left. Turn left at the fourth set of lights onto Moore-Oxley Street and immediately left again into Art Gallery Road.

Train The nearest bus/rail/taxi interchange is Campbelltown Railway Station. Campbelltown Station is serviced by the South, East Hills and Inner West lines. For information timetable, call 131 500 or check www.131500.com.au

Bus Busways operates a number of services in and around Campbelltown area. For information and timetables, call 4625 8922 or check www.busways.com.au

TICKETS$13 adults / $11 concessions

3 film pass: This pass is made up of 3 separate tickets to the selected films of your choice. Maximum one ticket per screening. Selection must be made before purchasing. Not valid opening night or special events. Can only be purchased at box office.

Campbelltown Arts Centre Sessions: Tickets only available at the Campbelltown Arts Centre Box Office. Opening hours: Daily 10am-4pm or as phone bookings on (02) 4645 4100

** 7.30pm session on Sunday 27 November, Jammin Under the Stars is a free outdoor event.

Parramatta Riverside Theatre Session: This session is free; no tickets necessary. See also: Events - Education Forum (pg 3)

Hoyts Bankstown Sessions: Box Office Can be purchased from the Hoyts Bankstown box office during cinema opening hours. All major credit cards & EFTPOS accepted

Online Tickets available securely online 24 hours @ www.hoyts.com.au Online bookings incur a booking fee of $1.00 per ticket

CONDITIONS• All tickets purchased over the internet can only be collected from the Hoyts Bankstown box office• To do so you must be the credit card holder or have a letter of authorisation signed by the credit

card holder. • Dates and times are correct at the time of publication, but may need to be altered. We therefore

reserve the right to withdraw, change and replace programs without notice. • Please note that no other Hoyts Cinemas discounts or promotional offers will apply to this

festival/ special event. • All seating is unreserved. • Festival tickets once acquired are non refundable. • There will be an interval in all festival films• We anticipate that door sales will be available for most festival sessions however this cannot be

guaranteed. Patrons are urged to purchase their tickets well in advance to avoid disappointment. • All films have English subtitles unless otherwise indicated on the programme. • Lost or stolen tickets will not be refunded or replaced• All festival films start at the advertised starting times.

All screenings except ALBA short films are classified MA 15+

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THANK YOUThe 2nd Sydney Arab Film Festival is hosted by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) and driven by a volunteer organising committee.ICE aims to support the Sydney Arab Film Festival into an independently managed annual event in the coming years. Many thanks for the major support from NSW Film and Television Office, Bankstown City Council, Hoyts Cinemas, Campbelltown City Council, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Parramatta City Council, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta and Auburn Community Development Network.

SHOUKRAN AND THANKS:Research for films was done with the help of many individuals and organisations. Special thanks to:Beirut DC – for locating titles from all over the Arab worldZeina Zahreddine, Cynthia Shoucair & Hania Mroueh..né.à Beyrouth, Festival du Film Libanais - Pierre SarrafArab Film Distribution - Ryan Anne DavisPyramide Films - Paul RicherSabbah Media Corporation - Sadek Sabbah9th Annual Arab Film Festival – Sonia El-FekiCinemaEast Film Festival - Rasha SaltiDubai Women’s College - Bernard PurcellJayce SalloumZiad Nawfal at CD TECHMec Film - Irit NeidhardtKhalil Smayra ALBA - Academie Libanaise des Beaux-ArtsAlexander Weilsmann - Premiers DepartmentFadle el Harris - FilmotionTony Ishak - World MediaAnthony Alam - Arabic PagesAhmad Salim - Al-Nahar newspaperHoyts - Justin Gross, Claire Linder, especially Fiona PulfordCampbelltown Arts Centre Staff & Lisa HavilahMicheline KhouryFransisco FisherJason LewisBankstown City Council - Christopher HudsonDoug AndersonAmy Wooding - Office of Film and Literature ClassificationNadya Stani & Ann Martin - Parramatta City CouncilRobert Love & Anthony Hayes - Riverside Theatres, ParramattaAuburn Community Development Network Staff Akmal SalehDr Ghassan HageJulian Debono All the staff at Information & Cultural Exchange especially Daniela Flaxl

Our beautiful catalogues, postcards and posters were

printed with the help of Hassan Moussa at RM Gregory.

SPONSORS

Get Involved! Log on to www.sydneyarabfilmfestival.com or email info@sydneyarabfilmfestival.comTel: +61 2 9897 5744