Editor

The 2007 New York Arab & South Asian Film Festival presented by Alwan for the Arts, opene in New York City Feb 23rd and runs through March 4th. Programmed by a diverse group of visual artists, political and cultural activists, writers and filmmakers, this year the Festival offers many ground breaking films and programs, unique cultural slants, as well as many cinematic “firsts”, which include:

• First Saudi Arabian Feature film to be shown in US - Shadow of Silence, by Abdullah Al Muheisen. Mr. Al Muheisen will be in attendance.
• First Bahraini Feature to be shown in US - Bahraini Tale, by Bassam Al Thawadi.
• Artists in Exile Series – Documentaries focusing on a Palestinian Artist in Exile, an Egyptian Poetess and an Iranian/American Filmmaker.
• New Documentaries from Afghanistan – includes: Afghan Women: A History of Struggle, which was recently purchased by Woman Make Films followed by a panel with Kathleen Foster, Acting Director of Women for Afghan Women Esther Hyneman, and other women's rights activists, and moderated by Tami Alpert, a DCTV producer and reporter who was in Afghanistan to make the documentary "From Ground Zero to Ground Zero" (2001).
• Nacer Khemir– Screening and Master Class, by the internationally renowned painter, sculptor, story-teller, and award-winning filmmaker, Nacer Khemir. The Film Festival will screen a trilogy of films by Khemir, portraying a very unique representation of modern desert culture Khemir will also be holding a Master Class.
• Palestinian Revolution Cinema - This festival will pay tribute to a group of Palestinian and other film makers who made significant contributions to various categories of Palestinian Revolution Cinema. New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival will screen a select group of films produced in the period from 1969 – 1981, which were lost in the invasion. A number of these historic films have been recovered and will be shown for the first time in the US and for the first time with English subtitles.
• War Diaries - Throughout the festival, NYASAFF will screen footage shot by videographers and ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. Minimally edited and presented without voiceover commentary, these "War Diaries" will screen before feature films much like the newsreels of yesteryear, as well as in outdoor projections, and on an LCD screen at Tribeca Cinemas.

Film Highlights:
• Bled Number One, by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, won best director in Cannes
• Border Café, by Kambozia Partovi, is this year’s Iranian Submission for the Oscars.
• Born Out of Death, by Monica Maurer, the German revolutionary Film Maker.
• A few Days Later… - by Niki Karimi, one of the leading figures in Iranian Cinema
• For Bread Alone – Based on the gripping novel about child prostitution; which was hugely controversy and banned from the American University of Cairo.
• Other Spotlight films include: These Girls, Heavens Door, Perfect Day, Forsaken Land, Anuranan