The Santander Banespa bank will hold a screening, from today (12) until Sunday, featuring eight Arab films, two documentaries and two fiction films. Made in Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia and Mauritania, in partnership with European countries, the productions tackle social issues from the Arab world:

São Paulo - Today (13) will see the beginning of a film screening featuring eight Arab movies, in the city of Porto Alegre, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Held by the Santander Banespa bank at Cine Santander Cultural, the screening will present six fiction films awarded at the Arab Film Biennial in Paris, and two documentary films. The screening will begin today in the afternoon and will continue until next Sunday, March 18. The screening will be promoted through a partnership with the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), which is in charge of translating the films into Portuguese and is authorized to show the productions in Brazil.

Based in the capital of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, the Icarabe has organised four film exhibitions in Brazil. However, this is the first time that the Institute takes a film screening outside the state of São Paulo. "There is a large Arab community in the state of Porto Alegre, and it is very well integrated into the society," said the president of Icarabe and curator of the screening, Soraya Smaili, regarding the Arab immigrants and descendents who live in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. According to Soraya, Arab film screenings are sought after both by the colony and by other people. "People are really interested in understanding what the Arab world is," the curator said.

The fiction films participating in the screening are from Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and Tunisia. All were co-produced with European countries, mainly France, and most deal with social issues of the Arab world. "The Beach of Lost Children" ("La Plage des Enfants Perdus"), a Moroccan and French production, deals with the complicated relationship of young Mina, a Moroccan from a small town, with her family. Mina kills the man who got her pregnant and is locked by her father in an empty house. The mother-in-law, who is infertile, proceeds to takes Mina's son from her.

"Bab El-Oued City", a co-production between Algeria, France, Germany and Switzerland, tells the story of a young Algerian baker who, soon after the country was affected by conflict, gets annoyed at the sermons that are preached in front of his house. "West Beyrouth" portrays the life of two boys who, unaware of the tragedy that takes place in April 1975, when the Lebanese civil war erupted, continue shooting in Beirut with their Super 8 camera. The film is a French, Norwegian, Lebanese and Belgian production. "The Season of Men", a Tunisian and French production, features young Aisha, who lives in a Tunisian village, as she awaits for years and years to go live in Tunis: first she has to give a male child to her husband, Said, who works in the capital eleven months a year.

"Waiting for Happiness" ("Heremakono"), a film made in France and in Mauritania, features a boy named Abdallah, who awaits an opportunity to travel to Europe with his mother. In the meantime, he becomes acquainted with people like Nana, a sensual woman who tries to seduce him, and Makan, who wants to leave just like he does. "In the Battlefields" ("Maarek Hob"), a Lebanese, French, Belgian and German production, tells the story of Lina, a 12-year-old girl in the middle of the Lebanese civil war. She helps the maid at her grandmother's home to meet her boyfriend secretly, as she watches the violent behaviour of her own father.

Arab cinema

According to Soraya, there are very good film productions in the Arab world. Due to the lack of commercial distribution for the films, though, these films are not widely known among Brazilians. The screenings, according to Soraya, are helping to attract interest. By promoting the films, the goal of Icarabe, according to the curator, is to show the Arab world what the media does not portray. "We are interested in showing that there is an intelligent cultural life there, with quality writers, painters, filmmakers," he said. According to Soraya, currently the best film productions of the Arab world are from Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia.

The documentary films to be featured in the Porto Alegre screening are "Selves and Others: A Portrait of Edward Said," about the life of the Palestinian intellectual, and "Écrivains des frontières - Un voyage en Palestine(s)" ("Writers at the Borders"), which tells the story of a trip made by internationally renowned writers, in March 2002, to Palestine. On Saturday, after the screening of these two films, a debate will be held with historian Christian Da Camino Karam, a specialist in the Islam and the Middle East, and with Fátima Ali, president of the Palestinian Society of Porto Alegre. The film screenings in Porto Alegre will be entitled "Special Screening of the Arab World."

In São Paulo

Also to begin today in São Paulo is the "Imagens do Oriente" (Images of the East) screening, at Centro Cultural São Paulo. Until March 22, 27 films will be shown, including documentary films, fiction, animation, and short films. The initiative is a partnership between Icarabe and the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, based in Iran, featuring productions that present different views of the Middle East. Lectures and debates will also be held during the screening.

Special Screening of the Arab World - Porto Alegre

March 13 to 18

Cine Santander Cultural, rua Sete de Setembro, 1028
Tickets: R$ 6 (approximately US$ 3 at current exchange rates; half-price for elderly, students, and clients of Santander Banespa)

Programme

March 13 - Tuesday

3:00 pm - The Season of Men - Moufida Tlatli
05:30 pm - Selves and Others: A Portrait of Edward Said - Emmanuel Hamon
07:00 pm - West Beyrouth - Ziad Doueiri

March 14 - Wednesday

15h - Waiting for Happiness ("Heremakono") - Abderrahmane Sissako
17h - West Beyrouth - Ziad Doueiri
19h - The Beach of Lost Children ("La Plage des enfants perdus") - Jillali Ferhati

March 15 - Thursday

15h - The Season of Men - Moufida Tlatli
17h30 - Écrivains des frontières - Un voyage en Palestine(s) ("Writers at the Borders") - Samir Abdallah, José Reynès
19h - In the Battlefields ("Maarek Hob") - Danielle Arbid

March 16 - Friday

15h - West Beyrouth - Ziad Doueiri
17h - In the Battlefields ("Maarek Hob") - Danielle Arbid
19h - Bab El-Oued City - Merzak Allouache

March 17 - Saturday

15h - The Beach of Lost Children ("La Plage des enfants perdus") - Jillali Ferhati
17h - Écrivains des frontières - Un voyage en Palestine(s) ("Writers at the Borders") - Samir Abdallah, José Reynès
19h - Selves and Others: A Portrait of Edward Said - Emmanuel Hamon
Commented session featuring Fátima Ali and Christian Karam

March 18 - Sunday

15h - Bab El-Oued City - Merzak Allouache
17h - Waiting for Happiness ("Heremakono") - Abderrahmane Sissako
19h - The Season of Men - Moufida Tlatli