Middle East Film Festival runs Oct. 8-11

Films from Morocco, Israel, Iran and Palestine will be shown during the first Middle East Film Festival at Grand Valley State University.

The festival, which runs Oct. 8-11, also features a musical performance by the band Salaam — whose name is Arabic for “peace” and talks by experts and an appearance by one of the directors.

“There are several vibrant film scenes throughout the Middle East, and this festival will give people a taste of the breadth of films being produced in the region,” said Majd Al-Mallah, director of Grand Valley’s Middle Eastern Studies program.

All shows begin at 7 p.m. in the Cook DeWitt Center. The events are free and open to the public. The festival is sponsored by Middle East Studies, Arab Culture Club, College of Interdisciplinary Studies, School of Communications, Padnos International Center, and the Modern Languages and Literatures Department. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/mes

The films include:
-- Rana’s Wedding (2002, director Hany Abu-Assad): Rana is a young Palestinian woman living in East Jerusalem. She wakes early one morning determined to create her own destiny. Her wealthy father is moving to Cairo that evening and she is supposed to go with him--unless she marries first. Her father has given her a list of eligible suitors, but Rana is in love with Khalil, a theater director. She needs to find him and make the necessary arrangements before her father heads to the airport. Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2002 Marrakesh International Film Festival, Rana's Wedding premiered during the 2002 International Critic's Week at Cannes and has been a festival favorite in Palm Springs, Montreal, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and London. Not Rated. Monday, October 8 at 7 p.m. in the Cook-DeWitt Center, followed by a performance by the band Salaam.

-- Broken Wings (2002, Director: Nir Bergman): K'Nafayim Shvurot (Broken Wings), is a powerful film that captures the struggles of an Israeli family attempting to come to terms with the unexpected death of the husband and father. Nine months after the father’s passing, each character struggles with his or her fears and dreams, and the family's emotional and financial situation grows dire. Broken Wings was screened at both the Berlin Film Festival and the Palm Springs Film Festival, and is winner of 15 international awards. Rated R. Tuesday, October 9 at 7 p.m. in the Cook-DeWitt Center The screening will be followed by a talk by Ruth Tsoffar, associate professor of Comparative Literature and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan and author of The Stains of Culture: an Ethno-Reading of Karaite Jewish Women.

-- Offside (2006, Director: Jafar Panahi): This internationally award-winning film casually and sometimes caustically uncovers what binds us — and blinds us — to the differences between our ways of life in the west and in modern day Iran. Fascinating, funny and tragic, an Iranian comedy about female football fans. The Tehran Soccer stadium roars with 100,000 cheering men and only men. The film focuses on six Iranian girls who disguise themselves as boys in order to enter Tehran's Azadi Stadium to watch the 2006 World Cup Asian zone qualifier between Iran and Bahrain. As citizens of Iran, female sports fans are barred from attending public sports matches. This comedy-drama follows the struggle o f these young women and girls as they try their hardest to watch their favorite team play. Rated PG. Wednesday, October 10 at 7 p.m. in the Cook DeWitt Center. The screening is followed by a talk by Negar Mottahedeh a professor of film, literature and women's studies and the co-curator of the Reel Evil: Films from the Axis of Evil and Aftershocks: 9/11 film series at Duke University.

-- Le Grand Voyage (2004, Director: Ismaël Ferroukhi): Le Grand Voyage portrays the relationship between father and son as both embark on a religious pilgrimage trip by car. A few weeks before his college entrance exams, Reda, a young man who lives in the south of France, finds himself obligated to drive his father to Mecca. From the start, the journey looks to be difficult: Reda and his father have nothing in common. The wide cultural and generational gap between the two is worsened by the lack of communication between the two. Reda finds it hard to accommodate his father, who demands respect for himself and his pilgrimage. From France, through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan to Saudi Arabia, the two embark on a road trip that will change their lives. Winner of 8 international awards including the Lion of the Future Award for a First Feature Film at the 61st Venice Film Festival. Le Grand Voyage has been a favorite at the Toronto and Venice International Film Festivals, the New York International Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival. Not Rated. Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:00 pm—Cook DeWitt Center. The screening will be followed by remarks and discussion with the director, Ismaël Ferroukhi.