The second Mirage Festival of Arabic films runs in Birmingham April 19th – 22nd. Tasawar Bashir, Festival Curator, says:
This is a pivotal time for Arab cinema; from across North Africa, the Middle East and Iran many new film festivals have sprung up as film industries ride something of a new wave. The West’s daily news coverage from Baghdad, Beirut, Ramallah and Tehran often fragments the personal dimension of human suffering and tragedy. In direct response, post 9/11 film-makers, driven by a new urgency to tell their stories are arguably making some of the best cinema in the world.
Many films selected for this festival are made by non-professional actors promoting a school of film-making that aims to lend each frame an immediacy and conviction that will, it is hoped, overcome the abstracting effect of the news camera, in order to magically make their stories real again.
The screenings are taking place at mac, The Drum and The Baboush Centre in Moseley. Please come along with an open and questioning mind.
More details, including showing times, in the press release.