by Alex Deleon for <filmfestivals.com> The sixteenth edition of the Arab Film Festival (which travels to five cities in California) opened here on Friday, October 19 with a festive reception at the Screen writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. This is an intensive three day event which will screen as many films as can be squeezed into a long weekend. The opening night film was "Man Without a Cell Phone", a debut feature by Palestinian filmmaker Sameh Zoabi who has won various...

  The President, Board of Directors of the Arab Film Festival in the USA! : "Dear Friends and Supporters of the Arab Film Festival, I am delighted to announce the hiring of our new executive director, Mr. David Andrusia. This was a very competitive process as we had over 50 talented applicants and a very intensive review process. After careful consideration and many interviews, David overwhelming emerged as the best candidate. I am pleased to say that David has accepted the...

The Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of film makers since 2006, when it introduced the Best First Feature Award. The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, donated by the GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrecht), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quali...

2009 Arab Film Festival Thursday, December 3 through Saturday, December 5, 2009 Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI 48126 Tickets required This popular annual event presents short and feature-length films made by Arab American and Arab World filmmakers, and films focusing on topics of interest to Arab Americans – all of which are accessible to mainstream audiences of all backgrounds. Many of these films are rarely screened in commercially in U.S. ...

Three leading Arab film festivals today agreed that the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will chair the proposed Arab Film Festival Guild, the first of its kind in the Arab world. The purpose of the proposed guild is to increase cooperation and exchange of expertise between festivals in everything from selection of stars to programming, position the Arab film industry internationally, and coordinate with international festivals to increase the presence of Arab films. Bi-annual meetings w...

The Arab Film Festival marks its tenth anniversary this year with its most ambitious lineup to date: a total of 45 films (including full-length features, documentaries, and short subjects) representing 12 countries from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. With screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley, and in the south bay at Stanford University, AFF has become a small festival with a considerable reach. "To me, it's somewhat of a different operation than it used to be," explains AFF executive directo...