Zayn Alexander
, 2018
, 9 min
Jad and Rania, a Lebanese couple living in New York City, struggle to achieve their shared dream of breaking into the acting industry due, in part, to the typecasting of Middle-Eastern actors. The combined pressures of juggling multiple day jobs and living so far from home begin to eat away at Jad, while Rania relishes…
Jenna Mahmoud-Bosco
, 2021
, 14 min
Gamal, a new immigrant who works as a dishwasher at a diner, has to find a place to live after his friend kicks him out. Gamal’s coworker, Jose, encourages him to call Fritzie, a friendly regular customer who’s looking for a tenant. Fritzie’s high strung daughter, Rachel, pressures Fritzie to sell her house and live…
Shayma Aziz
, 2023
, 10 min
Between Land and Sky is an experimental moving image project which involves narration, stop motion animation, performance, ritual music and manipulated video. It explores the idea of estrangement by following a sequence of nonlinear events that connect childhood trauma, and vague memories to longing for a sense of home. The connection comes through the voice…
Darine Hotait
, 2015
Two Arab-American women in New York City fall in love, argue about home and identity, engage in a chess battle, and express themselves through the power of the spoken word.
Lily Ekimian Ragheb and Ahmed T. Ragheb
, 11 min
An Egyptian living and working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reflects on his new surroundings through a series of images and observations. The resulting montage is a poignant cinematic postcard that explores the contradictory nature of the immigrant experience: at once lonely, frightening, and exhilarating.
Reem Jubran
, 13 min
Zaid, a young Arab-American amateur drag queen, has to confront his conservative father and ailing grandfather about his identity.
July 2023
Nadia Shihab, Yto Barrada, Firouzeh Khosrovani
FAMILY PORTRAIT presents a compelling program of personal works by filmmakers who courageously turn the lens on their own families, revealing the resulting fractures that shape the fabric of their personal identities. Through these films, the filmmakers embark on a journey of excavation, unearthing their family histories and sharing intimate narratives that illuminate the interplay…
Nadia Shihab
, 8 min
Echolocation is a film of voices distant and nearby: the rain in Oakland, my grandmother’s home in Baghdad, my aunts’ voices in What’s App, my daughter learning to count to 10, my brother playing the darbuka, the cicadas in Texas, the walls of my studio. As fragments resonate and accumulate, spaces of loss are subsumed…
April 2023
Sarah Kaskas, Aziz Zoromba, Karina Dandashi, Dania Bdeir, Adam Ali, Sam Arbor, Naures Sager
ARAB FILM SERIES PRESENTS: WHO WE ARE In honor of Pride Month, the Arab Film Series presents: Who We Are a collection of award-winning short films that highlight the experiences of Queer Arabs around the globe. Each film tells the story of a character whose desire to live authentically comes in conflict with the people and society…
Karina Dandashi
, 2022
On the eve of her sister’s wedding, Karina brings her “best friend” home to meet the family. When the groom-to-be joins them, she is reminded of her family’s expectations and her queer anxieties begin to unravel in a film that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
