Fourth BBC Arabic Festival programme brings bold films and filmmakers to London

The Festival will also feature screen talks, panel discussions and special events about journalism, broadcast and filmmaking in the region. All events are free and open to everyone to attend.

This year will feature, for the first time, a new day-long Digital Journalism focus. Other unique events include a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of BBC Arabic television (Monday 23 April, 3pm), exclusive screenings of unreleased BBC Arabic documentaries, and a special episode of BBC World Service’s The Cultural Frontline which will broadcast from the Festival and ask Is This a Golden Age For Arab Film? (Wednesday 25 April, 7pm).

Our week-long festival opens (Friday 20 April, 7.30pm) with a screening of award-winning shorts exploring the refugee experience: Mare Nostrum, portrays a father's decision to put his daughter's life at risk and Fate, Wherever It Takes Us, a self-reflective, experimental film about a journey from Syrian minefields to asylum in Jordan, plus clips from a new film by 2017 Young Journalist Award Winner Mohamed Jabaly (Dir. Ambulance), following six asylum seekers living in Tromso, Norway. The closing awards ceremony (Thursday 26 April, 7.30pm) will be hosted by celebrated Korean/Vietnamese comedian Wonho Chung, who recently made his London debut, and musical guest Lekhfa will also be performing live.

This year’s film selection will feature stories about occupation, immigration, religious extremism, and everyday life during war as well as child labour, the right to play music, and the stigma of divorce. The films are made by first time as well as established filmmakers from Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Iran, Mexico, USA and the UK.

The feature films this year include:

• Eliane Raheb's UK premiere of Those Who Remain (2016) about a farmer based in Akkar, Northern Lebanon, who struggles to build his family home while grappling with not only sectarian Lebanese tensions but also those arising from the nearby war in Syria (Monday 23 April, 7.30pm + Dir Q&A).
• The Ulysses Of The 21st Century (2017) by director Lidia Peralta Garcia, looks at Moroccan cinema’s portrayal of the myth, metaphor and mentality of Moroccan migrants through the decades (Saturday 21 April, 5pm + Dir Q&A).
• Upon The Shadow (2017) by Tunisian Director Nada Mezni Hafaideh follows Femen activist Amina Sboui's return to Tunisia and the safe house she cultivated for LGBTQ friends (Saturday 21 April 8pm + Dir Q&A with Alex Kartosch, Fringe Film Festival Director).
• Whose Country directed by Mohamed Siam (Sunday 22 April 4pm + Dir Q&A) tells the story of a jaded defected policeman from Cairo who reveals the reality behind the violence and torture by the force, and its link to the 2011 uprising.
• 300 Miles directed by Orwa Almokdad (Sunday 22 April 7pm + Producer Eyas AlMokdad Q&A), follows the human side of the Syrian conflict via close up interviews with militia and a video diary by the director’s niece.
• Hebron Exposed: A Weapon For Life (a BBC Arabic production, screens Monday 23 April, midday + Director Q&A) by Tom Roberts a powerful film following the training of a team of teenage video activists shooting the violence by the Israeli army on the streets of Hebron.
• Sedition On The Banks Of The Tigris (a BBC Arabic production, screens Monday 23 April, 5pm + Dir Q&A) by Feras Kilani is made up of rare, previously unseen footage shot throughout Kilani's coverage since the Battle of Mosul in 2014.

The Digital Journalism Day (Tuesday 24 April from 10.30am - 6pm) includes three panel discussions looking at how traditional media is moving to 360 and VR and what we can expect from the future of digital journalism, with speakers: Cameron Clarke (Deputy Editor, The Drum), Massimiliano Fusari (Digital Consultant, Visual Storyteller and Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster’s Emerging Media Labs), Rachel Rodriguez (Senior Producer for social media for CNN Digital Worldwide), Christian Broughton (Editor of The Independent), Jayisha Patel (award-winning documentary and VR experience-maker and a teacher of Immersive Storytelling at University College London), Janet Jones (Dean of Arts and Creative Industries at London South Bank University), Zillah Watson (Commissioning Editor for Virtual Reality at the BBC), Tom Millen (Co-director of Crossover Labs), Namak Khoshnow (Producer of award-winning 360 virtual reality reports for BBC Arabic and the New York Times), and Marc Perkins (BBC Africa’s Investigations Editor).

• Events will take place daily over the course of one week
• All events will take place in the Radio Theatre at the BBC Broadcasting House, W1A 1AA
• All events are free and open to the public by registering at www.bbcarabic.com/festival
• All events will be for an English speaking audience
• 25 films in total
• 20 films in competition
• 15 events
• Opening night and Closing Awards Ceremony have limited public availability. Email bbcarabicfestival@bbc.co.uk for tickets

The Shorts programmes

Stories from Across the Arab World
Saturday 21 April, 11.30am

• The Youngest Survivor From Al-Salam Boccaccio - On February 3, 2006, the MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 ferry sank in the Red Sea on its way from Saudi Arabia to Safaga in southern Egypt. Of the 1,310 travellers, 388 survived. This report is about the youngest of those survivors. Five years old at the time, he lost his entire family in the accident. He went on to have nightmares, developed a fear of the sea, and was left unable to speak. Now, 12 years after the accident Mohamed has regained his voice but has to see a therapist, he is plagued by the details of what happened to his family and seeks justice.
• Necessity Has No Law - Gamal is 14 years old but unlike most children his age he doesn’t have dreams and ambitions for the future. He comes from a small city in Egypt and works from dusk until dawn in a brick factory alongside older men who are ready to retire. Gamal shares the sharp wit and big heart of his Egyptian compatriots, offering us a glimpse into a day in his life.
• 3 Stolen Cameras - This is a story about breaking censorship in an area where the Moroccan authorities have been accused by NGOs of implementing a near total media blockade. Journalists are not allowed to enter Western Sahara, yet here members of Equipe Media fight to keep their cameras to shoot this unique footage.
• Musical Lesson - This is a story about love and hope in wartime. Lotfy Shenouda has spent almost 40 years of his life in ElArish, North Sinai, teaching displaced children and adults how to play various musical instruments. Shot secretly on a mobile phone, the film tells a forgotten tale from an underexposed and remote area of Sinai.
• The Town The Men Left - This short documentary visits Omay, Eyo and Sokar, each from a different Nubian village in Aswan, Egypt. These women share a similar struggle; abandoned by their husbands, they live the paradox of being neither married nor divorced and are stigmatized by their communities for working to support themselves and their children.

Syrian Focus Shorts
Saturday 21 April, 2pm

• One Day In Aleppo - Aleppo, 2017: It’s a city with no food, fuel or water; no place to bury the dead and nowhere to treat the wounded. This observational film brings audiences closer to a quotidian of loss and destruction, exposing the daily life of people trying to live normally.
• To Climb The Tree - A short documentary about AbuSaleh and OmSaleh, a married couple in Damascus. They have lost much during the war in Syria but now a chance to recoup some of their losses shows how their priorities have changed. Among the things that have remained the same however, is undaunted optimism towards their future, their love for each other and the humour they carry with them along the way.
• The Day We Left Aleppo - Saleh and Marwa are a young couple who love Aleppo, but now, like thousands of others, they are forced to leave. Through this intimate short film we feel the weight of being stuck on the exodus and waiting in the evacuation route, heart-broken over their homeland.
• Why? - Many boys in Jordan must work at an early age to help their families. Ayman, a young Syrian refugee is no exception; he works day in day out at the market as he dreams of going to school and making friends. His access to schooling has already been denied by the state, a situation made more difficult due to his parents’ lack of education, on top of this the local children refuse to let him join in their football match, leaving us pondering the question posed in the film’s title.
• Six Year Old Fears - Sara is 6 years old, the same age as the war in Syria. She has spent her entire life in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Now, she is about to be a big sister. In this short documentary Sara tells us of her life and dreams for her and her new sister, innocently optimistic even though the new arrival could risk her mother’s life.

Cinematic Reflections: Short Films from Today's Arab World
Sunday 22 April, 1pm

• Nocturne In Black - This immaculately shot, high-energy short drama is inspired by a true story. Karim is a young man who continues to play his piano despite IS threats during the Syrian civil war. In spite of the despair and daily fear of death, he insists on reminding the people around him that beautiful things persist, and music is one of them. After his piano is destroyed by Jihadists, Karim defiantly rebuilds his beloved instrument.
• The Silence - Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugees in Italy. On their visit to a doctor, Fatma has to translate the Doctor’s diagnosis to her mother but she keeps silent. This sparse short film speaks volumes about the complications of language, the comfort in silence and the uncertainty of life in a strange land.
• Burning - A chaotic composite film reflecting the aspirations of a group of characters in Algeria’s Kabyle Mountains, including Lounes, the fisherman, Ounissa, the village girl, Rachid, the cab driver - and a huge frozen fish.
• Sayeda - A social drama based on true events, this tense story follows an Egyptian mother and her 7-year-old son as they try to get him medical care. They are obstructed by unorganized schedules, chaotic traffic, and physical barriers.
• Ayny - Devastated and made homeless by war, a mother is anxious about her two young sons’ wellbeing. To keep them safe, she fosters a new love in their life: music. As they venture outside to collect scrap metal to save money for a cherished instrument, the oud, the two boys get trapped in fatal danger. This enchanting animated short film has been the recipient of numerous international awards from the Student Academy Awards (2016) to Film Fest Gent, Belgium (2017), Amarji International Film Festival, Iraq (2017) and the Boston Palestine Film Festival (2017).

Background

BBC Arabic Festival held its first edition in 2014 as a four-day, London based event. Today, the Festival runs for a full week, doubling the audience in attendance while continuously developing live content for BBC Arabic TV, radio and web to a potential 43 million viewers. The Festival is keen to build on its strength in seeking original works by new talent and screening films by established directors delivering unique stories from across the Arab world. These screenings are complimented by Q&A's with directors, special presentations and panel discussions on the challenges and developments of film, documentary and journalism production.

The BBC Arabic Festival's commitment to giving platform to emerging and established filmmakers continues, particularly through the BBC Arabic Young Journalist Award, which endorses the training of one winning recipient per year.

AFG