Movie Blog: The 9th Arab Film Festival
Mizna's 9th Arab Film Festival hits the Twin Cities this weekend with dozens of films from several countries.
This year's festival features several exciting selections, like Kaouther Ben Hania's "Challat of Tunis."
Filmed in a gripping, faux-documentary style, "Challat" is inspired by events ignored by local authorities over a decade ago concerning a biker who would slash women as they walked the streets of Tunis.
"Champ of the Camp" is a documentary about South Asians living in a labor camp in the United Arab Emirates.
The ex-pats find life in the UAE to be restrictive and alienating, but find solace in a big Bollywood music and movie trivia competition, from which the film takes its name.
Ahmad Abdalla's "Rags and Tatters" is an unforgettable look at Cairo in the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and how the most desperate portion of the populous coped with chaos.
And the festival closes Sunday night with the delightful "Excuse My French," an Egyptian comedy rejected by the government for years.
A Christian boy tries to pass for Muslim when his cash-strapped parents send him to a public school.
The fest kicks off Thursday evening and runs til Sunday night, with all screenings at St. Anthony Main Theatre in Minneapolis. Click here for a full schedule, and here for tickets.
~Stephen Swanson