LES FILMS

Friday, October 16

Les Petits Chats
Sherif Nakhla - Egypt - 80 mins
7:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Get ready to tap your feet to James Brown's "I Feel Good", The Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends" and Ray Charles' "Unchain My Heart" - as performed by Egypt's legendary Les Petits Chats. Concerts by the 60s and 70s rock band were mobbed by loyal fans who danced the night away.

Far From Men
David Oelhoffen - France - 101 mins
8:45 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
The year is 1954 at the onset of the Algerian War of Independence. The place is Algeria and former French Army solider Daru (Viggo Mortensen) just wants to a lead a peaceful, quiet life as a schoolteacher in a remote mountainous town.

Saturday, October 17

Far From Men
David Oelhoffen - France - 101 mins
4:15 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
The year is 1954 at the onset of the Algerian War of Independence. The place is Algeria and former French Army solider Daru (Viggo Mortensen) just wants to a lead a peaceful, quiet life as a schoolteacher in a remote mountainous town.

A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans
Abe Kasbo - United States - 84 mins
6:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Abe Kasbo's timely new film vividly paints a portrait of the Arab-American immigrant experience through the stories of people who came to the United States hoping to find the American Dream, including Senator George Mitchell, Jamie Farr, General John Abizaid, Anthony Shadid, Andy Shallal, Helen Thomas, and others.

Les Petits Chats
Sherif Nakhla - Egypt - 80 mins
9:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Get ready to tap your feet to James Brown's "I Feel Good", The Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends" and Ray Charles' "Unchain My Heart" - as performed by Egypt's legendary Les Petits Chats. Concerts by the 60s and 70s rock band were mobbed by loyal fans who danced the night away.

Sunday, October 18

The Man from Oran
Lyes Salem - France - 128 mins
2:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
From the director of Masquerades (Arabian Sights, 2009), Lyes Salem presents a poignant political drama spanning 30 years. Following the independence of Algeria, two close friends, Djaffer (director Lyes Salem), a modest idealist, and Hamid (Khaled Benaissa), a wheeler-dealer, face a promising future.

The Intruder
Shariff Korver - The Netherlands - 87 mins
5:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
In this captivating and intense thriller, a Dutch cop of Moroccan descent goes deep undercover to infiltrate a drug-trafficking Moroccan family. The deeper he embeds himself in the family's inner circles, the more he realizes a sense of belonging and a feeling of brotherhood that has until now eluded him.

A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans
Abe Kasbo - United States - 84 mins
7:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Abe Kasbo's timely new film vividly paints a portrait of the Arab-American immigrant experience through the stories of people who came to the United States hoping to find the American Dream, including Senator George Mitchell, Jamie Farr, General John Abizaid, Anthony Shadid, Andy Shallal, Helen Thomas, and others.

Friday, October 23

Eyes of a Thief
Najwa Najjar - Palestine - 98 mins
6:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Inspired by real events, Eyes of a Thief is a rare glimpse into Palestinian society from the inside out, operating simultaneously as a thriller, a relationships drama, and as a nuanced slice of everyday Palestinian life under the Occupation.

Zinzana
Majid Al Ansari - United Arab Emirates - 93 mins
8:50 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Talal (Saleh Bakri) has just woken up in a police cell with no memory of the night before and no identification. His predicament gets a lot worse with the arrival of brilliant psychopath Dabaan (Ali Suliman) who seems determined to play vicious and unexpected mind games with him.

Saturday, October 24

The New Arab Cinema
- 90 mins
4:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Since the inception of the Arabian Sights Film Festival twenty years ago, there have been wide-ranging and significant strides in the evolution of Arab cinema, regionally as well as internationally. Has this evolution opened the doors for a strong industry with solid foundations?

20th Anniversary Happy Hour
5:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - FREE
Enjoy complimentary refreshments and mingle with fellow festival attendees as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Arabian Sights....

I Am Nojoom, Age 10 And Divorced
Khadija Al Salami - France, Yemen, United Arab Emirates - 99 mins
6:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
A 10-year-old girl walks into a courtroom, looks the judge straight in the eye and tells him, "I want a divorce." In Yemen, where there is no age restriction for marriage, Nojoom Ali's father, terrified of shame and desperate for money, arranges for Nojoom to marry a villager who is three times her age in exchange for a trivial dowry....

Zinzana
Majid Al Ansari - United Arab Emirates - 93 mins
9:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Talal (Saleh Bakri) has just woken up in a police cell with no memory of the night before and no identification. His predicament gets a lot worse with the arrival of brilliant psychopath Dabaan (Ali Suliman) who seems determined to play vicious and unexpected mind games with him.

Sunday, October 25

I Am Nojoom, Age 10 And Divorced
Khadija Al Salami - France, Yemen, United Arab Emirates - 99 mins
2:00 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
A 10-year-old girl walks into a courtroom, looks the judge straight in the eye and tells him, "I want a divorce." In Yemen, where there is no age restriction for marriage, Nojoom Ali's father, terrified of shame and desperate for money, arranges for Nojoom to marry a villager who is three times her age in exchange for a trivial dowry....

Cairo Time
Amir Ramses - Egypt - 110 mins
4:15 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $13.00
Taking place over a single day, Cairo Time is the multigenerational story of six interconnected characters, all at a turning point in their lives. Lila, a retired actress is looking for her last acting partner, Sam, to resolve unfinished business. Salma, a germaphobe, is dating Wael and they are in a friend's apartment arguing...

From A to B
Ali F. Mostafa - United Arab Emirates, Jordan - 107 mins
6:30 PM - AMC Mazza Gallerie - $20.00
From the director of City of Life (Arabian Sights, 2010), comes From A to B, a comedic road trip film, brimming with heart. From A to B tells the story of three long lost childhood friends Rami, Yousef and Omar (an Egyptian, a Saudi and a Syrian) who reluctantly embark on a journey from Abu Dhabi to Beirut


Awards 2015

The Arabian Sights Audience Award was introduced in 2005 and is awarded to the feature film voted the most popular by our audience. This year, the Arabian Sights Audience Award is sponsored by Movie Pigs, a brand new online platform for independent cinema featuring Arab films and offering the audience the opportunity to communicate with talented Arab filmmakers.

New this year will be the Arabian Sights Jury Award, a competition of selected films that deserve increased recognition. Films selected for this year's competition are:
Eyes of a Thief (Palestine)
I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced (France/Yemen/United Arab Emirates)
Les Petits Chats (Egypt)
Zinzana (United Arab Emirates)

The award jury consists of:
Thomas Gorguissian - Journalist specializing in Arab film, culture and politics.
Mokhless al-Hariri - President of the Georgetown Design Group, Inc.
Bahaa El-Taweal - Senior Producer and a Foreign Affairs Correspondent.

Audience Award
2015: I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced, directed by Khadija Al Salami.

Jury Award 2015
I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced, directed by Khadija Al Salami.