Netflix.
Exclusive: Arab Film Club, a popular monthly film club about Arab films based in London, is expanding.
The club's founder and curator, actress and presenter Sarah Agha, is launching the Arab Film Club Podcast, which will debut on Wednesday, May 1 with its first five-episode season. Episodes then drop every other Wednesday on Podbean, Apple, and Spotify.
The first season of the pod will be dedicated to Palestinian cinema, focusing on five different Palestinian filmmakers through intimate interviews. Featured filmmakers include Darin J. Salam, known for his blockbuster films; farha, which was Jordan's 2022 Best International Film Oscar Award. Aga also Bye-bye, Tiberias Directed by Lina Soualem. scroll down Check out the full Season 1 lineup.
An actress, author, presenter and film curator, Aga is of Palestinian and Irish descent. She is perhaps best known for presenting her critically acclaimed BBC Girlfriend documentary. Sacred Places and Us: Our Untold Stories Rob Linder talks with us about how the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians led to the creation of the state of Israel and forever changed their family's history. As a writer, she has written articles and interviews for The New Arab, Middle East Eye, Backstage Magazine, and GQ ME. Before her work in film and television, she read Theology and Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. She records regularly as a voiceover artist for the Guardian, Audible, and BBC Radio 3 and 4.
Organizers said they made the decision to launch the pod because they felt it was necessary to “elevate the voice of the Palestinian people” amid continued violence in the Middle East.
“Palestinians are often dehumanized and demonized in Western media, or downplayed by death toll statistics. Palestinian cinema plays an important role in what is known as cultural resistance,” they said. , added that the episode's drop was timed to commemorate the 1948 Nakba, the Palestinian word for mass displacement during the war.
The Arab Film Club, which was launched virtually during the COVID-19 lockdown, has gained significant visibility in the UK film industry, with theaters at the Southbank Centre, Glasgow Film Theatre, Garden Cinema and The・We host in-person screenings and industry Q&A events at venues such as Prince. Charles of Leicester Square. The selected films included features and shorts from Algeria, Egypt, the Golan Heights, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia.
Watch the entire first season of the Arab Film Club pod below.
May 1 – Episode 1 – Darin J. Salam’s film “Farha”
Darin J. Salam wrote and directed the award-winning, groundbreaking feature Farha (2021).
Logline: “After convincing her father to continue her education in the city, a Palestinian girl's dreams are shattered by the tragic turn of the Nakba.”
May 15th – Episode 2 – Lina Soualem’s film “Bye Bye Tiberius”
Lina Soualem directed “Bye Bye Tiberias” (2023), about her mother, Hollywood actress Hiam Abbas.
Logline: “Years after leaving her village in Palestine, Hiam returns to her homeland in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.”
May 29th – Episode 3 – Ameen Naifeh’s film “200 Meters”
Ameen Naifeh wrote and directed 200 Meters (2020), based on his own experiences growing up in the West Bank.
Logline: “Israel's separation wall stands between Mustafa and his family. Denied entry due to technical issues, Mustafa will stop at nothing to get his injured son to his opponents.”
June 12 – Episode 4 – Annemarie Jaseer’s film “Wajib”
Annemarie Jacir wrote and directed Wajib (2017), which stars father and son Mohammad and Salih Bakri in the lead roles.
Logline: “A son, estranged from his father, must come together to hand over an invitation to his daughter's wedding. Their relationship becomes strained as the two spend the day together in Nazareth. reaches its peak.
June 26th – Episode 5 – About Farah Nabulsi’s movie “The Teacher”
Farah Nabulsi wrote and directed her debut feature, The Teacher (2023), following the success of her BAFTA-winning short film, The Present.
Logline: “A Palestinian schoolteacher is caught between a risky commitment to political resistance and an unexpected opportunity for new relationships.”
