Thank you to our:
Festival funder: Festival sponsor:
Arts partner: Arts partner:
The Toronto Arab Film Festival acknowledges that we live and work on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and that it is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
We are forever grateful to be able to live and work on this land. We invite you to reflect more on this by evaluating your relationship with and contribution to the land we are on today and its peoples.
Learn more on the land you are on by visiting native-land.ca
Welcome to the 4th annual Toronto Arab Film Festival. On behalf of the entire team, I am delighted to extend my warmest greetings to all the cinephiles, filmmakers, industry professionals, and guests joining us for this fourth edition of the Festival, celebrating and showcasing the rich cultural tapestry and artistic brilliance of the Arab world.
Over the years, our festival has evolved into a significant platform for Arab filmmakers, both emerging and established, to share their films with a Canadian audience. With each year, our programmers are overwhelmed by the talent displayed in the submissions, which is testament to the need for a platform such as TAF.
This year, our program features an array of films that not only explore a variety of themes but that are in themselves formally diverse, signalling the burgeoning of Arab talent across the world and especially in Canada. Beyond the screenings, we invite you to engage in insightful discussions, by attending our workshop, panels, and community conversations, all designed to allow us to better serve our community of filmmakers and stakeholders at large.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to our funder Telefilm Canada, our sponsor, Warner Bros Access Canada and arts partner the Goethe Institut Toronto. I would also like to thank the team and our board of directors who all work tirelessly and passionately behind the scenes and from across the world, to make this festival possible. See you at the movies!
Yours sincerely,
Rolla Tahir Artistic Director Toronto Arab Film Festival
Please visit arabfilm.ca for tickets, along with the most up-to-date schedule of screenings and events. This year, films are available in person and online. Join us in one of two ways:
VENUES: Please refer to your ticket for your screening’s venue.
The Revue Cinema
400 Roncesvalles Ave, M6R 2M9
Innis Quad - University of Toronto
2 Sussex Avenue, M5S 1J5
1411_D
1411, Dufferin St. M6H 4C7
Goethe Institute
100 University Ave. M5J 1V6
Tickets at: arabfilm.ca
Films are available on demand from Thursday, June 1- 6PM until Sunday, June 11 - 11:59 PM
Due to geoblocking, virtual films are only made available in Canada. Before purchasing tickets for virtual screenings, please check the geographical restrictions for the film you would like to see.
“how to festival”
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
6:45PM @ The Revue
Feature: Mediterranean Fever (Palestine, France, Germany, Qatar, Cyprus)
SATRUDAY, JUNE 3
1pm @ 1411_D
Canadian Shorts Film Program
Hamza - Chasing the Ghost Chasing Me (Palestine)
Buzz (Sudan)
Paradiso, XXXI, 108 (Palestine, Germany)
The Window (Lebanon)
Memory’s Consolation (Lebanon)
SUNDAY, JUNE 4
3pm @ The Revue
Canadian Shorts Film Program
04.23.2018//A Hail Mary (Canada)
45th Parallel (Lebanon)
Leila and the Cigarette (Canada)
Simo (Canada)
FREE - 8pm @ Innis Quad
Feature: Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo (Syria, Canada)
SATURDAY, JUNE 10
1pm @ The Revue
Feature:The Desert Rocker (Algeria, Morocco, Canada, France)
4pm @ The Revue
Feature: Streams (Tunis)
4pm @ The Revue
Feature:The Lebanese Burger Mafia (Lebanon, Canada)
7pm @ The Revue
Feature: A Gaza Weekend (Palestine)
VIRTUAL FILMS: Available online in Canada June 1-11 arabfilm.ca
Virual Feature Films
Fiasco (Lebanon)
Foragers (Palestine, Spain)
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? (Egypt)
Virutal Canadian Shorts
04.23.2018//A Hail Mary (Canada)
Space Woman (Lebanon)
Simo (Canada)
Virutal Shorts Program 3
Kingdom of Strangers (Egypt)
He’s Dead Now (Egypt)
Crocodile Tears (Egypt)
Virtual Shorts Program 4
Lower Ground (Lebanon + UK)
The Disaster Cannot Be Contained (Lebanon)
Killing Bagheera (Germany)
WORKSHOPS: Details at arabfilm.ca and on pages 18-20
DIGITAL MARKETING MASTERY FOR FILMMAKERS & PRODUCERS
Monday June 5, 6PM @ Goethe Institute
UNLOCKING DOORS: EXPLORING ENTRYWAYS INTO THE CANADIAN FILM INDUSTRY
Thursday June 8, 6PM @ Goethe Institute
PANEL: CRAFTING COMPELLING NARRATIVES: STORY EDITING ESSENTIALS IN FILM
Wednesday June 7, 6PM @ Zoom
dir. Maha Haj
Palestine, France, Germany, Qatar, Cyprus (108 mins) Fiction
Friday, June 2 - 6:45 PM @ The Revue
Waleed (40) lives in Haifa with his wife and children and dreams of a writing career while suffering from chronic depression. He develops a close relationship with his neighbor (a small-time crook) with an ulterior plot in mind. While the scheme turns into an unexpected friendship between the two men, it leads them into a journey of dark encounters.
dir. Marya Zarif, André Kadi
Canada (72 mins) Animation
FREE SCREENING Sunday, June 4 - 8PM @ Innis Quad
Forced to leave Syria because of the war, Dounia and her grandparents go in search of a new safe haven. As she traverses the world in search of asylum, Dounia draws strength from the wisdom of the ancient world, brought to light by her grandmother’s magic nigella seeds.
dir. Sara Nacer
Algeria, Morocco, Canada, France (75 mins) Documentary
Satruday, June 10 - 1PM @ The Revue
The Desert Rocker is an intimate, witty and profound portrait of the extraordinary Hasna El Becharia, a pioneer Gnawa artist. The first musician to break through the social barrier of this culture, she empowers and inspires women of all ages by reclaiming a musical tradition reserved for men for centuries . A singularly talented artist, she leads women to redefine their roles and challenge cultural norms, one musical performance at a time.
dir. Mehdi Hmili
Tunisia (122 mins) Drama
Saurday, June 10 - 4PM @ The Revue
Forced to leave Syria because of the war, Dounia and her grandparents go in search of a new safe haven. As she traverses the world in search of asylum, Dounia draws strength from the wisdom of the ancient world, brought to light by her grandmother’s magic nigella seeds.
dir. Omar Mouallem
Canada, Lebanon (103 mins) Documentary, Comedy
Sunday, June 11 - 4PM @ The Revue
The Lebanese Burger Mafia captures the trials and tribulations of Arab immigrants by telling the story of Burger Baron, a rogue fast-food chain likened to the mob. To unearth the mysterious origins of the chain, writer/ director Omar Mouallem travels across rural Alberta where the institution persists despite the restaurant’s many dysfunctions. He discovers how hundreds of immigrants like his parents spread their trade secrets to uplift their communities, while paradoxically fighting one another for ownership of a company none of them created.
dir. Basil Khalil
Palestine, UK (90 mins) Comedy
Sunday, June 11 - 7PM @ The Revue
A bumbling Englishman and an uptight Israeli are desperate to get into the Gaza strip—“the safest place in the world”—when a virus breaks out, in this hilariously irreverent satire from British-Palestinian writer-director Basil Khalil.
Saturday, June 3
1PM @11411_D
dir. Ward Kayyal
Palestine (18 mins) Documentary
After his recovery, middle-aged Hamza has continued a practice he began 20 years ago when he was freed from an Israeli prison: he goes into the woods every day to chase the lion that the locals don’t think exists.
Buzz
dir. Mohamed Fawi
Sudan (23 mins) Fiction
As her health deteriorates, a mother watches her son and daughter prepare for her inevitable passing and their new reality.
Paradiso, XXXI, 108
dir. Kamal Aljafari
Palestine, Germany (19 mins) Documentary Culled from Israeli military propaganda materials from the ‘60s and ‘70s, Paradiso, XXI, 108 regards (with irony) towards a “cinematic self-portrait of men playing war”, to quote its author.
dir. Sarah Kaskas
Lebanon (16cmins)
A year after Beirut’s port explosion, Basma and Mariam reunite in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship.
dir. Chadi Hazime
Lebanon (18 mins) Documentary
An exploration of the past and history of Hilton Cinema, which was the silent witness to many of the harsh circumstances that occurred in the region
Sunday, June 4
3PM @The Revue 04.23.2018//A Hail Mary
dir. Faisal Karadsheh
Canada (10 mins) Experimental
04.23.2018// A Hail Mary explores the intricacies and unique challenges faced by Karadsheh’s family during their immigration to Toronto, from the widelypublicized death of his grandfather to the personal experiences and intimacies of home.
45th Parallel
dir. Lawrence Abu Hamdan
UK (15 mins) Documentary
The performance about one border conflict is set on the site of a grey legal area and looks at how each border implicates the other, and how borders are not lines but, rather, richly layered spaces.
dir. Leah Manasseh
Canada, Lebanon (15 mins) Documentary
Through memories and poems, the filmmaker draws a portrait of her grandmother in homage to her unique character
Simo
dir. Aziz Zoromba
Canada (23 mins) Fiction
The usual rivalries and jealousies that exist between the two teenage brothers Simo and Emad take a dangerous turn that may seriously impact the future of their family.with Farah.
Available Thursday June 1, 7PM - Sunday June 11, 11:59PM (arabfilm.ca - In Canada only)
dir. Nicolas Khoury
Lebanon, Netherlands (70 mins) Documentary
For half of his life Nicolas, the director, used the camera as confidant to film his video diary. This intimate film shows the strong and, at time, dysfunctional relationship that binds Nicolas to his mother and sister after the death of his father. His sister gets married and moves away from home leaving the mother face to face with her son. “Your life is such a Fiasco” says Nicolas’ mother to him, referring to his lack of interest in finding a wife and getting married. However, Nicolas seems to be carrying a fear she knows nothing about.
dir. Jumana Manna
Palestine,Spain (65 mins) Documentary
Foragers interweaves documentary and fiction to report on a searing conflict between the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and Palestinian foragers. Through an elaborate and elegant composition, the film successfully captures the inherited love, resilience and knowledge of these traditions, over an eminently political backdrop.
Available Thursday June 1, 7PM - Sunday June 11, 11:59PM (arabfilm.ca - In Canada only)
dir. Mohammad Shawky Hassan Egypt, Lebanon, Germany (63 mins) Experimental
The director turns the diary of his sexual adventures into a serial narrative in the style of “One Thousand and One Nights”. This polyamorously-minded queer musical applies the same playful approach to folk tales as it does to Egyptian pop music.
Available Thursday June 1, 7PM - Sunday June 11, 11:59PM
(arabfilm.ca - In Canada only)
dir. Faisal Karadsheh
Canada (10 mins) Experimental
04.23.2018// A Hail Mary explores the intricacies and unique challenges faced by Karadsheh’s family during their immigration to Toronto, from the widelypublicized death of his grandfather to the personal experiences and intimacies of home.
Simo
dir. Aziz Zoromba
Canada (23 mins) Fiction
The usual rivalries and jealousies that exist between the two teenage brothers Simo and Emad take a dangerous turn that may seriously impact the future of their family.with Farah.
dir. Hadi Moussally
Lebanon (20 mins) Fantasy
At 64, Maha has just taken her retirement from teaching....Had not she always dreamed of being an astronaut? And what if she lets herself drift to this promise of escape?
dir. Shehab Fatoum
Germany (14 mins) Fiction
Jihad must go to a military academy, but his dream is to become a footballer. The Uprising, which is taking place on the Olive Planet, arrives in his city Taubez, and he decides to secretly stand by it.
dir. Yazan Rabee
Syria, Netherlands (7 mins) Experimentals
A pursuit, footsteps, a house that runs off. The universal nightmare of many a refugee. This empathic documentary shows what it is like to be confronted in the dead of night with mortal fear, trauma and displacement.
Available Thursday June 1, 7PM - Sunday June 11, 11:59PM
(arabfilm.ca - In Canada only)
dir. Randa Ali
Egypt, USA (15 mins) Memory
On the Pacific coast of Los Angeles, Ali and Yaffa struggle to remember the Arab Mediterranean cities they have left behind.
He’s Dead Now
dir. Tarek El Sherbeny
Egypt (10 mins) Fiction
On a cold winter night in Cairo, 28-year-old Hazem welcomes men to his father’s funeral. His mother crashes the funeral, hurling accusations at her late husband in total hysteria. What will Hazem do?
dir. Khaled Moeit
Saudi Arabia, Egypt (16 mins) Fantasy
On a road that is overshadowed by its roamers, a Taxi driver takes off with his cousin who wants to deliver money to another city.
Available Thursday June 1, 7PM - Sunday June 11, 11:59PM
(arabfilm.ca - In Canada only)
dir. Firas Itani
Lebanon, UK (14 mins) Fiction
A concierge prepares dinner for his nephew when a resident demands his immediate assistance. The concierge finds himself torn between attending to his employer’s never-ending requests and the boy’s growing hunger.
dir. Diana Al-Halabi
Lebanon, Netherlands (25 mins) Documentary
Port workers narrate their direct exposure to trauma and loss, while the filmmaker narrates her relationship to them, and how the disaster cannot be contained through a screen.
dir. Muschirf Shekh Zeyn
Germany (13 mins)
On the run, two Kurdish brothers are confronted with their hidden fears, which divide them deep inside.
dir. Chantal Partamian
Canada, Lebanon (9 mins) Fiction
In the midst of the rubble of a torn building, a reel of film. An unlikely unraveling of queer bodies taking shape and form, while the war-torn city around and its spectacle of toxic masculinity glitches and disintegrates.
Facilitated by: Carolina Oliveira - Marketing Director at Entertainment One
Monday June 5, 6PM @ Goethe Institute
This workshop will demystify the process of marketing films in the digital age. Dive deep into the principles of positioning, social media marketing, and branding, and learn how to apply these principles to your film promotion strategy.
With expert guidance, you’ll learn to position your film, leverage social media to engage and attract audiences, and build a compelling brand that reflects your film’s essence. Whether you’re in preproduction, production, or post-production, this workshop will provide the marketing tools you need to bring your film to market
Carolina Oliveira is Marketing Director at Entertainment One, where she oversees global marketing strategy for digital, physical, AVOD, and FAST. Originally from Brazil, she has been working in the film industry in Canada for the past 15 years. Carolina is passionate about developing innovative campaigns for independent films, mentoring future marketing superstars, and learning about plants.
Thank you to our partners for this event:
Wednesday June 7, 6PM @ Zoom
Rewriting is an essential element in a screenwriter’s toolkit. Understanding why screen stories work and don’t work helps a writer develop their ability to improve their own work. In this workshop, participants will delve into the intricacies of story editing and explore the fundamental principles that make screen stories truly resonate. We will touch on how to work with a story editor and when along the process of writing should you start story editing.
Abdul Malik is a Canadian-Pakistani screenwriter based out of Toronto and Edmonton. He dropped out of film school to pursue the political, spending his twenties working in the labor movement, participating in worker struggles across Canada as an organizer and photojournalist. Abdul returned to the film industry, starting as the co-writer of the Telefilm-funded PEACE BY CHOCOLATE, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Recently, Abdul’s written on Season Three of CTV’s TRANSPLANT, the upcoming Telefilm-funded feature QUEEN TUT, and was Executive Story Editor and a Producer on the Super Channel digital series STREAMS FLOW FROM A RIVER. He is currently a Supervising Producer on a to-be-announced CBC drama, and has a bevy of projects in development with companies such as Shaftesbury, Husk Media, Lark Productions, and Sphere, alongside a first-look deal with Neshama Entertainment. Abdul is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada.
Thank you to our partners for this event:
Facilitated by: Safia Abdigir - Reelworld Screen Institute, Timaj Garad - Toronto Arts Council, and Marwa Siam Abdou - Director’s Guild of Canada
Thursday June 8, 6PM @ Goethe Institute
There are many entry ways into the film industry as an emerging filmmaker, whether you want to direct, write, produce or work below the line. This panel focuses on three particular Canadian institutions: Reelworld Institute, Toronto Arts Council and Director’s Guild of Canada. Representatives from each organization will outline the opportunities available to those who want to work in the industry and answer your questions about any of the programs they run.
Safia Abdigir is a Toronto-based arts culture worker specifically interested in the facilitation of diverse perspectives in the Canadian film/visual arts industry. Currently, she’s the Industry Programming Manager at the Reelworld Screen Institute, where she manages the programming of the film festival and runs the year long Producer Programs.
Marwa Siam Abdou is a film director, a writer and freelance journalist. She is currently the National Outreach manager at the Directors Guild of Canada, a union representing members in the areas of direction, design, production and editing in the country. At the Guild, she oversees and manages equityfocused initiatives and campaigns that amplify the voices of racialized members.
Timaj Garad is an Ethiopian-Harari Toronto-based multidisciplinary storyteller (poet, actress, singer-songwriter), arts educator, and community organizer. She works at Toronto Arts Council, where I develop and manage the Black Arts program for Black artists and Black-led organizations. She creates music with genre-bending mix of spoken word poetry, hip-hop, and R&B, soul, afro-jazz, and dance. In 2017, she founded LUMINOUS Fest, Canada’s first Black Muslim arts festival, and later co-founded The Sisters’ Retreat, a retreat series hosting arts-based wellness retreats for Muslim Women.
Thank you to our partners for this event:
qumra. is an online and annual print journal focusing on film and media art, publishing writing from the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) / MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and its diasporas.
qumra is an Arabic word meaning bright light, particularly that reflecting off of the moon. In modern times it has come to refer to the camera obscura, partly due to similar phonetics, in recognition of early work done on the nature of light and the camera obscura by early thinkers in the region such as Ibn Sina (also known as Avicenna) and Ibn Al Haytham. We use this word in celebration of our shared heritage that often intersects and evolves across cultures, borders, and time.
You can purchase your copy at any of our Festival events or online at qumra.ca/shop
qumra. is a collaboration between Toronto Arab Film Festival, MENA Film Festival, and SWANA Film Festival
There are many ways to support the festival and get involved and we are always happy to hear from anyone interested in partnering or collaborating in any way.
Become a sponsor or advertise with us: For detailed information on sponsorship and advertising opportunities, please reach out to us at development@arabfilm.ca
Donate, volunteer or simply help us spread the word about the festival and the organization’s year round activities: You can donate via arabfilm.ca To volunteer, let us know at info@arabfilm.ca
By spreading the word about the festival, you play a crucial role in building awareness and fostering a wider community of film enthusiasts and supporters.
