CAFF spotlights Middle Eastern cinema
Hip hop comedy young love and gutsy women: The second annual Calgary Arab Film Festival (CAFF) is chock-full of challenges to media stereotypes of the Middle East. The festival which runs Friday to Sunday at the Uptown Stage and Screen features award-winning comedies dramas and documentaries showcasing the diversity and ideas of average people throughout the Arab world.
“Given how Calgary is becoming as cosmopolitan as it is” says CAFF executive director Moness Rizkalla “I think there’s a readiness (for this festival) on the one hand and a need on the other: A readiness because Calgary is getting more varied in its makeup and a need to convey a more realistic picture of how life is in the Middle East. No sugar-coating but just show love humour and that there’s more to it than you see in the news.”
The festival kicks off Friday October 22 with a gala at 6:30 p.m. at the Marquee Room which includes live Arab music and an array of different culinary delights followed by the critically lauded Algerian comedy Masquerades. The festival has lowered gala ticket prices to $40 from last year’s $100 says Rizkalla “because we really want to open it a lot more to the community.”
Other highlights include Pomegranates and Myrrh by Palestinian director Najwa Najjar which Al-Jazeera television has described as “a film packed with girl power”; Just Like Us by Egyptian-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed about a group of international standup comedians touring in the Middle East; and the fest’s closing feature Slingshot Hip Hop.
“We’re very excited about Slingshot Hip Hop ” says Rizkalla. “It’s by far the most recognized in terms of awards it received and I think it’s a very clever idea: How people are using (hip-hop music) as a vehicle to cope with the challenges of life in Gaza and the West Bank.”
“CAFF welcomes all Calgarians to come down to Uptown…. You’re getting familiar with their food you’re getting gradually familiar with their music” says Rizkalla. “Here’s a couple more angles: their day-to-day life and culture.”
