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Event details

The seventeenth edition of Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival (TCAFF) takes place September 27–October 1, 2023. This year’s festival takes place in-person at The Main Cinema with a special opening night screening at the Walker Art Center. A select number of films will be available virtually across the US.

The 2023 Arab Film Fest marks the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or the mass displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people, with a special spotlight on contemporary and archival Palestinian films.

The full schedule is now available! Check out the line-up and get tickets for in-person screenings and virtual offerings.

Love and Diaspora + POST-SCREENING DISCUSSION

Mizna presents a screening of Love and Diaspora shorts segment by followed by a discussion with some of the filmmakers and actors of the short films.

WHEN: October 1, 2023 at 12:15pm
WHERE: 115 SE Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55414, United States
TICKETS

ABOUT THE FILM

In this short segment, love takes many forms and it underpins stories of diaspora, longing, and relocation, demonstrating the strength of relationships between family and friends, old and new, to provide solace and support. Featuring Simo (dir. Aziz Zoromba), I Come from the Sea (dir. Feyrouz Serhal), Tales of the Marvelous and News of the Strange (dir. Lily Ekimian, Ahmed T. Ragheb), Sweet Refuge (dir. Maryam Mir), Eitr (dir. Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller), P.D.O. (dir. Samy Sidali). Join us for a post-screening Q&A with visiting filmmakers Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller, Lily Ekimian, Maryam Mir, and Ahmed Ragheb.  MORE INFO

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller is a Queer mixed-race Palestinian-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her work explores themes of fragmented identity, isolation, and connection through grounded “oh no, should I laugh?” comedy. Fateema’s background in improvisation and clown greatly influences all of her work as she strives to create with integrity, depth, and a sense of humor. She is particularly passionate about bringing to life nuanced and humanizing representations of Arabs and Muslims for the screen and prioritizes building spaces for marginalized voices to thrive both in front of and behind the camera. Fateema’s short film Eitr was one of eight world-wide recipients of InsideOut’s RE:Focus Fund, she is a Women in the Director’s Chair alumnus and is currently in development for her first feature film, the coming-of-age dramedy, Waves (‘Amwaj).

Lily Ekimian and Ahmed T. Ragheb are independent filmmakers based in Pittsburgh. Lily––part American, part Russian––grew up between Washington, DC and Cairo, Egypt. Ahmed––Egyptian, Dutch, and American––was born and raised in Cairo. Lily received her MA in English literature and film & visual culture from the University of Aberdeen, and Ahmed received his BA in political science and government from the George Washington University. Their work deals with the concepts of identity and place, with an emphasis on language, feminism, cultural dislocation, and domestic relationships. Their short films have been screened at festivals around the world including Arab Film & Media Institute’s Arab Film Festival and Uppsala Short Film Festival (where they were nominated for the Ingmar Bergman Award). In addition to their short film work they directed a feature documentary, Portrait (2020), and music videos. Alongside their production company Studio Ragheb, together they co-founded and run The Pittsburgher, an online arts and culture magazine.

 

Maryam Mir is a writer/director currently pursuing her MFA in film production at NYU Tisch, where she is an Ang Lee Scholar. As a Kashmiri-Canadian with Kenyan ancestry born in Germany and raised in Bahrain, Maryam has always found inspiration in stories that center the immigrant experience in all its joy, delight, and magic. She is a HEAR US awardee (2021), a UCP Thousand Miles Project workshop participant (2022), a Tasveer Film Fund recipient (2022), a NYFA Canadian Women Artists’ awardee (2022), and a Gotham Marcie Bloom Fellow (2023). Her latest short film, Sweet Refuge, starring Laith Nakli and Mahira Kakkar, was awarded a Jury Award at the Director’s Guild of America Student Film Awards and a distribution grant from the Islamic Scholarship Fund. Her previous short film, Birdwatching, was an official selection at the International Film Festival of South Asia) and the Asian American International Film Festival.

 

Laith Nakli is a Syrian actor/writer. He graduated from the prestigious William Esper Studio Professional Actor Training Program. Laith made his stage debut in War at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Company. Other credits include Cry of the Reed, Inana, Aftermath, Lidless, Food & Fadwa and Cyrano, at New York Theatre Workshop, Goodspeed and others. He is one of the regular characters in the Hulu series Ramy.

 

AFF TICKETS

In-person tickets: $12

Student / Senior / Low Income in-person tickets: $10

Virtual tickets: Pay-what-you-can, minimum $5

Virtual screenings are available across the US with a select few available in Minnesota only.

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS

PASSES

Festival Pass: $100

Festival Passes include access to all in-person and virtual screenings, excluding the opening night film. Festival Pass-holders receive discounted opening night tickets and a free drink at the reception.

Virtual Pass: $100

PASSES