Arab Film Distribution

Goal Dreams

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:15:00 +0000

Directed by Maya Sanbar, Jeffrey Saunders

Originally projected onto the Separation Wall in Palestine/Jerusalem on the eve of the 2006 World Cup, Goal Dreams is a documentary account of the struggles the Palestine National (Football) Team faced to whip up what is so strikingly absent in Palestinian culture: hope. Even if you don’t give two stuffed grape leaves about sports, this edu-docu-drama will capture, break and embolden your heart. The sport itself is not entirely incidental, but the film is about unity amongst people who have been essentially homeless for over fifty years.

The football (that’s soccer, you know) players, all of whom have Palestinian blood, come to Egypt from around the world to play for Palestine. Goal Dreams highlights the thirty incredibly stressful days prior to the “decision match” between Palestine and Uzbekistan, which will determine who goes on to play in the World Cup.

Training camp, if it can be called that, takes place in Egypt because (in case you didn’t know) there’s political tension in Israel and Palestinian Territories. As the film observes, any discussion about Palestine becomes—inevitably—a political discussion. Goal Dreams shows-not-tells what it means to be a Palestinian today, whether in New York, Chile or Gaza. Strangely, the team’s coach is a very difficult to like Austrian named Riedl. Given to fits of brow furrows and eye rolling, Riedl yells a lot, but does little coaching.

The team’s goalkeeper, Ramzi Saleh—a distractingly beautiful Gazan Palestinian—is key in keeping our non-politically-based attention. He is a devoted husband, father, son and brother. We kind of love him for that. However, we can’t help thinking about the palpable absence of women in this story. The women we do see are wearing abayas; some are munaqqabat (women who wear niqab, a full face cover).

Additionally, one player makes a frat boy observation about Swedish girls and Riedl considers “We are looking like girls!” the ultimate insult. (The Palestinian Territories National Women’s Soccer Team might disagree.)

Maya Sanbar, a Brit with Palestinian heritage, and Jeffery Saunders, a Jewish-American, are skilled directors who keep an unflinching tone throughout the film. There is a tastefully indulgent moment at the end when a player opines, “everyone should dream because without dreaming, there is no life.” Nice by itself, but even nicer with an image of David Beckham shouting from a wall ad in the background.

Written by: Michelle C. Schaefer, March 5th 2007

Nazrah: A Muslim Woman's Perspective

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:08:00 +0000

Directed by Farah Nousheen

Arab Film Distribution

Muslim women have received a lot of media attention recently: driver's license bureaus insisting they remove their head covering, fellow travelers regarding them suspiciously and with pity, and an enterprising Australian woman recently came out with a “burqini” that allows Muslim women to swim without violating their modesty standards. Rarely, though, do Westerners get to hear from Muslim women themselves.

Farah Nousheen is an activist based in Seattle, WA. Nazrah (Arabic for "perspective") is her first documentary, consisting of interviews she conducted with Muslim girls and women from the Pacific Northwest of the Uniteds States.

The film looks like it was recorded with a handheld camcorder, and sometimes the interviewee's face drops out of the frame completely. What is compelling is not the visuals, but the message and the variety of views. Nousheem interviewed a variety of women: though most are of Middle Eastern descent, several are African American and one is a white convert, whose acquaintance with Islam began when she saw a scroll in a museum. They are activists, housewives and law students. Their shared religion unites them much more strongly than I expected given the uneasy racial relations in the mostly-Christian U.S.

The documentary begins with a discussion of hijab. Most of the women did not seem to view it as a symbol of male oppression, but rather a sign of devotion to Allah. Some view it as another way to make themselves beautiful, albeit in a modest way. The sheer variety of scarves from market footage supports that idea. One woman chooses not to wear hijab because, in her eyes, a woman who wears hijab represents all Muslim women to Westerners – and she wants to be seen for herself.

Nousheen interviewed several girls from the Islamic School of Seattle. Even there the opinions ran a wide gamut. Some girls cover their hair, others do not. Some outspokenly object to being seated behind boys in classes, while others feel more comfortable in sex-segregated environments.

For a rather short (55 minutes) documentary, Nousheen touches on many topics, in some ways doing them a disservice for the lack of depth given to a given issue. Only a couple of women talked about sex; one focused on rape, saying that the blame should be divided between the victim and the attacker - one for being enticing, the other for succumbing to weakness. A lesbian woman recalled her initial fears of being "struck by lightning" despite a former lover telling her that being a Muslim and a lesbian are not mutually exclusive. Another area that deserves more in-depth focus is how these women reconcile being an American and being a Muslim. Few touched on it, one mentioning Western interference in Palestine and Americans' surprise at being hated by most Arabs.

The video ended with a voiceover by Nousheen speaking of her gratitude at being able to serve as the envoy for these women's stories in a culture of over consumption, an interesting dig.

Written by: Vita Foster, March 1st 2007

Arab-American Comedy Tour

admin — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:15:00 +0000

Directed by Ahmed Ahmed, Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid

Arab Film Distribution

Most of the time stand-up comedy is either hot or cold for me, but Arab-American Comedy Tour was lukewarm. Dean Obeidallah made being politically insightful hilarious, but the stereotyping and misconceptions began to be redundant. I do think some of the material was fresh. What I liked about Dean was that he is versatile. What I loved about him is that I always fall for guys with good mock-Bush impressions.

Ahmed Ahmed reminded me of off-brand Jerry Seinfield, but with repetitive storytelling and observations. Ahmed was kind of stale, and I felt like he was trying to send me subliminal messages when he repeated his name over and over.. and over. Maysoon Zayid, the founder of The Arab-American Comedy Tour, let me down by being a somewhat typical Arab-American woman: a Virgin (because she's not married) and sort of insecure about not being married in the first place.

When you're used to seeing angry, crazy white guys on stage, this is definitely something to look forward to. At the same time, I expected there to be a lot of talk about the misconceptions and stereotypes of Arab-Americans and, unfortunately, I was right. The positive is that I do think it's great that this DVD is a step toward a greater color palette on mainstream TV and film. The negative is that what really matters is if it's funny or not, and two out of the three comedians nearly put me to sleep.

Written by: Jessaruh, February 26th 2007

Lady of the Palace

admin — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 18:46:00 +0000

By Samir Habchi

Arab Film Distribution

To hear it told by those who were there, Nazira Joumblat, the Lady of the Palace was nothing but extraordinary. This documentary presents an interesting cross-section of Lebanese history by telling her story. Her rise to power was a groundbreaking event, the first instance in three centuries of Druze history that a woman assumed any sort of power role. In the absence of any male heir old enough to hold sway, Nazira Joumblat stepped up, securing her family’s reign over the Moukhtara palace. Initially met with resistance from traditionalists who opposed any involvement by women in what were regarded as "the affairs of men," Nazira’s strength and wisdom as a leader earned her respect and acceptance from even the most firmly entrenched fundamentalists. The palace and the persona become inextricably linked throughout the film. The narration personifies the palace throughout, as an entity who speaks to Nazira and acts as both her confidante and instructor. Nazira Joumblat’s story represents the triumph of intellect and leadership over the boundaries of gender.

This film is to be commended for commemorating the outstanding life of a respected and powerful Lebanese woman. There is no denying that the subject is a worthwhile one. The execution, however, leaves much to be desired. Stale images and even staler narration turn this film into something to be endured rather than enjoyed. I found myself wondering how many different ways a camera could possibly capture a veiled woman wandering the halls of her palace. The endless close-ups of windows, palace stairs, melting snow or flowers blowing in the wind contributed to my feeling that the images were gratuitously added to the narration to catch the eye while the history lesson was transmitted. Lady of the Palace has its weaknesses, certainly. Luckily, the subject outshines the execution.

Written by: Kelly Moritz, November 23rd 2006