Cairo Refugee Film Festival

NEW ADDITION-CRAFTS AND FOOD BAZAAR!

2010-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

This year, the Cairo Refugee Film Festival is going to be complemented by a two-day bazaar at the venue of the screenings. The arcades opposite the main building at DARB 1718 Contemporary Art and Culture Center will be used to put up tables and display the handicrafts made by Eritrean, Eithiopian and Sudanese women. A great opportunity to buy some unique gifts for friends and family back home.

Food is a very important part of the culture of a place and there will be some mouth-watering and delectable spread available. A chance to sample the delicious cuisine from Eithopia, Eritrea and Iraq!

The food and handicrafts for sale at the bazaar are made by women belonging to the refugee communities. These self-employed women have refused to submit to their unfortunate circumstances and have carved out a niche for themselves as suppliers of handicrafts and food. They serve as role models to not only the other women from their community.
The bazaar will be held on the 18th and the 19th of June from 6.00 p.m. onwards.

SCHEDULE FOR THE CRFF 2010

2010-06-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

June 17, 2010
7.30 p.m. Opening Remarks by Festival Co-ordinators
Keynote Speaker, Professor Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE and
Director, Refugee Progeam, Fahamu
8.15 p.m. Opening Reception
9.00 p.m. War Child Screening (94 mins), USA, 2008, English with Arabic subtitles, Documentary

June 18, 2010

8.00 p.m. Cambodia Dreams (65 mins), New Zealand, 2008, Engish with Arabic subtitles, Documentary
9.15 p.m. In search of My home (30 mins), India, 2010, English, Documentary
10.00 p.m. 4 us (50 mins), Australia, 2008, English, Documentary
11.00 p.m. Dreaming of Tibet (60 mins), USA, 2003, English with Arabic subtitles, Documentary

6.00 p.m. onwards-Refugee Crafts and food bazaar

June 19, 2010

8.00 p.m. Das Fraulein (The Women)(60 mins), Switzerland, 2006, Bosnian, Swiss and German with English and Arabic subtitles, Fiction
9.00 p.m. Rain in A Dry Land (83 mins), USA, 2007, English with Arabic subtitles, Documentary
10.30 p.m. East to West (16 mins), Switzerland, 2005, Arabic with English subtitles, Documentary
11.00 p.m. Last Days of Tanf (30 mins), Syria, 2010, English and Arabic with Arabic subtitles, Documentary

6.00 p.m. onwards Refugee crafts and food bazaar

June 20, 2010
8.00 p.m. Refugees from Russia (30 mins), Belarus, 2009, English with Arabic subtitles, Documentary
8.30. p.m. Pray the Devil to Hell (72 mins), Brazil, 2009, English with Arabic subtitles, Documentary
10.00 p.m. Closing Concert by various artists featuring reggae, blues and folk music

FILMS THIS YEAR

2010-06-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

There have been some changes to the schedule from the time that I posted the last one. Mishaps with the DVDs, disappearance from the mail of some films, promises not being kept etc etc...

But we think that now we have a good line-up of films and they are the ones that will hopefully convey the theme that we have chosen for the festival this year...that of Hope, Adjustment and Integration. Rather than concentrating on the circumstances that lead to the creation of a refugee population, this year we have moved forward and chosen narratives that emphasise the resilience and adaptability of man. Against all odds, the lives that have been uprooted and disrupted are healed in their new environment. The barriers of culture and language are overcome and new lives are built.

Maybe in this strife-torn world, intergration and adaptation are the answers/solution to the quesitons and the problem

Map to the Venue

2010-06-09T23:34:00.001-07:00

Venue and Directions

2010-06-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

This year, the venue is DARB 1718 Contemporary Art and Culture Center. They have recently inaugrated the "Cinema Al Fourn"-an open air theatre. Instead of chairs there are orange coloured bean bags. Under the star-studded (forget the pollution of Cairo for a moment) summer sky, with a diet coke in hand, watching some thought-provoking cinema.........If this sounds interesting, head to DARB between June 17 to June 20

HOW TO GET THERE?
Coming From Downtown
Take the Corniche Direction Maadi. When the Nile Crystal Boat is on your right, take a U-turn and get onto the bridge (Kubri Al Asher) facing the Al Tawoon Fuel Station. After the bridge, take the first u-turn, then the first right and go straight ahead. Look for a white building with domes

Coming from maadi
Take the Corniche direction downtown. When the Al Tawoon Fuel Station is on your right, get on to the bridge (Kubri Al Asher). After the bridge, take the first U-tuen, then the first right and go straight ahead. Look for a white building with domes.

Coming from Nasr City/Heliopolis
Take Al Sayida Aisha Bridge. Go straight until the first U-turn, then right after Mobil. Go straight till the wall on your right finishes, take a right and go straight ahead. Look for a white building with domes.

The nearest metro station is mary Girgis and it is a five minute walk from there.!

Synopsis of Films

2010-06-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

1. WAR CHILD
Production: 2008, USA
Synopsis: Before becoming a successful rapper, Sudanese born hip hop artist, Emmanuel Jal, served for nearly 5 years as a child soldier in the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. With the help of an aid worker, he escaped the army. Ever since, Jal has dedicated himself to peace in Sudan and a better future for Africa. The film won awards in Tribeca International Film Festival (2008), Crystal Heart Truly Moving Pictures Film Festival (2008), Bologna International Film Festival (2008), Maui International Film Festival (2008) and Norway Bergen International Film Festival (2008).
Director: Christian Karim Chrobog
Duration: 94 minutes
Genre: Documentary

2. CAMBODIA DREAMS
Production: 2008, New Zealand
Synopsis: The film chronicles the parallel lives of a family divided by the Thai-Cambodian border after the Khmer Rouge regime. The hopes and the dreams finally come true as the family reunites in their Cambodian village after 12 years in the refugee camp.
Director: Stanley Harper
Duration: 65 minutes
Genre: Documentary

3. DAS FRAULEIN
Production: 2006, Switzerland
Synopsis: The film gazes intimately into the lives of 3 women from former Yugoslavia who now live in Switzerland. It is an exploration of physical and emotional displacement, as more and more people move between cultures and countries, in the increasingly borderless world.
The film won awards as best film and best actress at Sarajevo Film Festival (2006) and the Swiss Film Prize for best script (2007) and the FIPRESCI Award at the International Film Festival in Spain.
Director: Andrea Staka
Duration: 81 minutes
Genre: Fiction

4. EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN
Production: 2008, Canada
Synopsis: Both Sallieu and Joyce seem like ordinary teenagers living in Toronto. Having revealed their tragic background, the camera features strong and courageous refugees making new lives for themselves in a city away from home.
Director: Monika Delmos
Duration: 52 minutes
Genre: Documentary

5. RAIN IN A DRY LAND
Production: 2007, USA
Synopsis: In 2004, more than 13,000 Somali Bantus moved (legally) to the United States where they started new lives. Despite the struggle against racism and discrimination, the two families portrayed in the movie maintain a high degree of optimism, attempt to see their lives from an optimistic angle, and try to make the best out of their new lives.
Director: Ann Makepeace
Duration: 83 minutes
Genre: Documentary

6. IN SEARCH OF MY HOME

Production: 2010, India
Synopsis: Sheltering one of the largest refugee populations in the world, India still lacks a comprehensive domestic refugee law that could guarantee them their basic human needs. In Search of My Home is a journey with a Burmese and an Afghan family, as it explores the complexities in their everyday battle for survival.
Director: Sushmit Ghosh & Rintu Thomas
Duration: 30 minutes
Genre: Documentary

7. EAST TO WEST
Production: 2005, Switzerland
Synopsis: In 2004, a wall is being built and the family of Enas must leave their home and move so they do not find themselves on the wrong side. It is the father’s second experience. He was born in a house in Jaffa but, in 1948, he had to leave. Between Jerusalem and Jaffa – to each generation its own move.
Director: Enas I. Al-Muthaffar
Duration: 16 minutes
Genre: Documentary

8. LAST DAYS OF TANF
Production: 2010, Syria
Synopsis: In May 2006, hundreds of Palestinians fleeing persecution in Iraq tried to cross into Syrian territory. For almost four years, they remained stranded in the no man’s land along the Syrian-Iraqi border where they endured the misery of an isolated desert refugee camp. As the camp approaches closure in early 2010, its inhabitants are offered a chance at a new life. UNHCR documents the last days of life in al-Tanf.
Director: Edith Champagne
Duration: 30 minutes
Genre: Documentary

9. REFUGEES FROM RUSSIA
Production: 2009, Russia
Synopsis: The film tells the story of a Russian family, the Frenkels, who had to move from one country to another for more than 100 years. In 1905, they had to leave their native town in Russia to avoid pogroms. Palestine, Egypt, and France were the destinations they were forced to reach. In 2005, Didier Frenkel (grandson) came back to the Frenkels’ native town 100 years after the escape of the family in 1905.
Director: Vladimir Bokun
Duration: 26 minutes
Genre: Documentary

10. DREAMING OF TIBET
Production: 2003, USA
Synopsis: This film looks at the lives of three extraordinary Tibetans who have survived in exile and are deeply involved in working for the survival of their culture. It captures the difficult challenges they each face and conveys the sense of hope they bring to their day-to-day lives in spite of great hardship and loss.
The film won the Audience Award at Amnesty International Film Festival and Honorable Mention at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.
Director: Will Parrinello
Duration: 58 minutes
Genre: Documentary

11. THE FACES OF HOPE
Production: 2008, Burundi
Synopsis: In the film, young Burundian refugees talk about the challenges they face. They express their hopes and dreams for the future, with certain optimism that they will not remain refugees forever despite the fact that majority of them have been in refugee camps for over 10 years.
Director: Nezia Munezero
Duration: 35 minutes
Genre: Documentary

Film Schedule 2010

2010-05-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

June 17, 2010

7.30 p.m. Welcoming remarks by Sankalita Shome and Sara Sadek; co-ordinators, 2nd Cairo Refugee Film Festival
p.m. Keynote Speaker: Professor Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE and Director Refugee Program, Fahamu
8.15. p.m. Opening Reception
9.00 Film Screening: War Child (94 mins)
10.30 Q & A moderated by War Child filmmaker Karim Chrobog
11.00 East to West (16 mins)

June 18, 2010

8.00 p.m. Das Fraulein (81 mins)
9.15 Dreaming of Tibet (52 mins)/ Refugees (52 mins)
10.15 In Search of My Home (30 mins)
11.00 Last Days of Tanf (30 mins)

June 19, 2010

8.00 p.m. Cambodia Dreams (65 mins)
9.15 Rain in a Dry Land (83 mins)
10.30 Everybody's Children (52 mins)
11.30 Closing Concert

COLLABORATORS

2010-05-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/cmrs/Pages/default.aspx

Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights (EFRR)
http://www.efrr-eg.com/1en.html

St. Andrew’s Refugee Services
http://www.standrewsrefugeeservices.org/

Tadamon: Egypt-Refugee Multicultural Council

LIST OF ORGANISERS

2010-05-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Coordinators:
1. Sankalita Shome: Legal Advisor at the Resettlement Legal Aid Project, St. Andrew's Church and Congregation for Refugee Services.
2. Sara Sadek: Outreach Program Coordinator at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo; and consultant on urban refugee issues

Organizing Committee members:
1. Peter Fares: Program Coordinator at Al Mawred Al Thaqafy or Culture resource
2. Shaimaa Yehia: Project officer at Arab digital Expression Foundation,www.arabdigitalexpression.com
3. Sharmarke Mohamed: Community facilitator at Africa and Refugee Middle East Assistance AMERA; and research assistant with the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo
4. Marwa Fikry: Undergraduate student and Director of Student Action for Refugees (STAR) at the American University in Cairo

SECOND EDITION OF THE CAIRO REFUGEE FILM FESTIVAL!

2010-05-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

It is that time fo the year again! And we are heavily into preparations for the second edition of the Cairo Refugee Film Festival. last year, the stupenduous response to the festival has enthused and encouraged us to go ahead and make this an annual event.

So, mark your calenders for June 17-June 19 for an outing to the Cairo refugee Film Festival 2010.

Venue-The newly inaugrated Cinema Al Fourn at DARB 1718 shall be the venue for the Festival this year. Orange bean bags on the green grass under the star studded sky and some thought provoking films!

1st Cairo Refugees Film Festival Documentary

2010-04-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

1st Cairo Refugee Film Festival Documentary from Cairo Refugee Film Festival on Vimeo.

Day 5-Synopsis

2009-06-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hope

Amal Basry, one of the seven survivors, tells the story of four hundred Iraqi asylum seekers who were pitched into the ocean in 2001 when their people-smuggling boat from Indonesia sank on its way to Australia.

Amal Basry watched “The Titanic” at a cinema in Baghdad the night before she fled Iraq. Eighteen months later, in October 2001, four hundred asylum seekers were pitched into the ocean when their people-smuggling boat from Indonesia sank on its way to Australia. Amal Basry was one of the seven survivors. In public, Amal became an advocate for the survivors. In private, she fought to reunite her fragmented family, cope with illness and the personal consequences of the disaster.

Language English and Arabic
Director & Producer Steve Thomas

Running (Berlari)

Captures the experiences of Burmese refugees in Malaysia

Running follows the plight of different individuals who ran away from their homes in Burma in the hopes of freedom and a better life. They are each a refugee, asylum seeker and/or stateless person. As they tell their stories, they delve into their difficult lives in Malaysia in search of stability and the hope of a better future that is denied to them in their home country. Their story represents the stories of many other refugees who are currently in Malaysia.

Language Malay-Chinese
By: Mien Lor

Shahed Shatila (Witness Shatila)

Looks at the situation of Palestinian refugees in Shatila camps, with a special focus on the work done by a group of students and artists with the youngster Palestinians.

The film looks at the situation of Palestinian refugees in Shatila Camps. A group of students and artists who visited the camps conducted art workshops with the youngster Palestinians.

Language Arabic
Director Nagy Ismail

Crossing the Dust

A five-year old boy named Sadam struggles to find his way home in post-American invasion Iraq.

During the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, a 5-year-old Arab boy gets lost. Two Pershmega (Kurdish resistance) soldiers, Rashid and Azad, who are fighting against Saddam Hussein’s troops, find the boy wandering around in the chaos which ensued after the war. Azad, who lost his brother in the horrific Anfal campaign against the Kurds in the north, intends to take the boy back to his family. When Rashid finds out that the boy’s name is Saddam, he wants no part in it. He would rather get on with delivering food to the other soldiers and begins to torment the boy. A fierce argument starts between the two men. They take the boy everywhere but are unable to find anybody who recognizes him. Rashid and Azad try to hand the boy over to the Americans but they refuse to take him. Even the aged mullah at the mosque doesn’t want to help. Then their car is stolen. But they find it abandoned later on. Meanwhile the boy’s parents are searching for him. The father is angry that they decided to call their son Saddam. He blames his wife for giving the boy a name which is now taboo and is determined to change it. Two militants, still loyal to Saddam, lure Rashid and Azad into deathtrap near to the boy’s home. Only Rashid survives. Left alone with the boy, he is forced to accept him after all.

Language Kurdish and Arabic
Director Shawkat Amin Korki

Slingshot Hip Hop

Young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank, and inside Israel employ Hip Hop as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty

Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them

Language Arabic, English, and Hebrew
Director Jackie Reem Salloum

Day 4-Synopsis

2009-06-05T04:22:00.000-07:00

The Presence of Absence in the Ruins of Kafr Bir'im

Through his narrative and poetry, Ibrahim Issa recounts his experiences and youth in the Palestinian village of Kafr Bir’im and the hardships of a life in exile.

Shot on location in the ruins and cemetery of Kafr Bir’im, a Palestinian village located in the Northern Galilee, the film introduces the viewer to Mr. Ibrahim Essa, an elderly poet who survived the ethnic cleansing of his village in 1948. Through his narrative and poetry, Ibrahim Issa recounts his experiences as a youth in the village, the hardships of a life in exile and the intense emotional, physical and historical connections to the land that he shares with the 5,000,000 Palestinians who currently live in the Palestinian Diaspora.
Language Arabic
Director John Halaka

This Palestinian Life

Documents the aspects of perseverance or steadfastness of the Palestinian nonviolent struggle against Israeli occupation and the deliberate, ongoing, illegal annexation of Palestinian land.

THIS PALESTINIAN LIFE is a film about people who persevere despite the odds stacked against them. The film documents specifically the aspects of perseverance or steadfastness of the Palestinian nonviolent struggle against Israeli occupation and the deliberate, ongoing, illegal annexation of Palestinian land. An Arabic term used for everyday acts of nonviolent resistance is sumoud – steadfastness, perseverance. In the film, Egyptian activist and filmmaker, Philip Rizk, tells the stories of Palestinian villagers who attempt to remain steadfast, to persevere, in the face of settler violence, the injustice and duplicity of the Israeli government.
Language English and Arabic
Director Philip Rizk

Rightful yet Right less

Explores the Sudanese refugees’ failed expectations, hopelessness, and despair in Cairo.

Over one million Sudanese who escaped their war-torn country now live in Cairo. Under international human rights agreements, these refugees have the right to education, employment, health care, welfare and protection. But, in Egypt, they are right-less. This documentary explores the refugees' failed expectations, hopelessness, and despair.
Language English & Arabic
Director Juliana Tarfur

Monkey Dance

Three Cambodian-American teenagers come of age in a world shadowed by their parents' nightmares of the Khmer Rouge.

Three Cambodian-American teenagers come of age in a world shadowed by their parents' nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Traditional Cambodian dance links them to their parents’culture, but fast cars, hip consumerism, and new romance pull harder. Gradually coming to appreciate their parents’ sacrifices, the three teens find a balance between their parents’ dreams and their own.
Language English and Khmer
Director Julie Mallozzi

Day 3-Synopsis

2009-06-05T02:12:00.000-07:00

Seoul Train

Captures the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China.

With its riveting footage of a secretive “underground railroad,” SEOUL TRAIN is the gripping documentary exposé into the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China. SEOUL TRAIN also delves into the complex geopolitics behind this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. By combining vérité footage, personal stories and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists that put themselves in harm’s way to save the refugees.
Language English, Korean, Mandarin
Directors Jim Butterworth,Lisa Sleeth,Aaron Lubarksy

Iraqis in Egypt: Time is Running Out

Captures the hardships and challenges faced by 5 Iraqi families living now in exile, in Cairo

A short documentary film that follows the lives of five Iraqi families who are now living in exile in Cairo. They recall the disturbing events that forced them to flee their homes and discuss the challenges they are now facing in Egypt as they try to live as refugees. While all of the Iraqis featured in this film have been persecuted for different reasons, once in Egypt they all find themselves subjected to similar problems as they struggle to survive. For now, their lives are in limbo as they wait for the help they so desperately need.
Language English and Arabic
Director Joshua Van Parag

Genocide in me

Dealing with the impact of the 1915 Armenian genocide, this film captures the life of Araz Artinian – one of the five million Armenian refugees – who lives in Canada and who asks herself the universal question “Where do I belong?”.

An angry, tender and funny film, The Genocide in Me deals with the impact of the 1915 Armenian Genocide on the life of young filmmaker Araz Artinian, who has had to carry this legacy since her childhood. In this personal journey, Artinian, torn between her father’s passionate commitment to the Armenians of the Diaspora and her own personal needs, confronts the reality of living in a multicultural melting pot, and asks herself the universal question “Where do I belong?”. The documentary deftly weaves together 8mm film footage shot by the filmmaker’s grandfather from the 1940’s to the 1980’s in Egypt and in Canada, with riveting photographic archives of the Genocide, the filmmaker’s present-day video journals, and a deeply honest narration. Through moving interviews with the last survivors of this Genocide in the USA and through a risky trip to Turkey, Artinian goes back to the origin of her father’s obsession, an obsession born of the Turkish denial and the fear of losing the Armenian culture.
Language English
Director Araz Artinian

Arna’s Children

In spite of her Zionist family background, Arna starts a theatre group for Palestinian children as a way to help them express their frustration, anger, bitterness, and fear.

ARNA'S CHILDREN tells the story of a theatre group that was established by Arna Mer Khamis. Arna comes from a Zionist family and, in the 1950s, married a Palestinian Arab, Saliba Khamis. On the West Bank, she opened an alternative education system for children whose regular life was disrupted by the Israeli occupation. The theatre group that she started engaged children from Jenin, helping them to express their everyday frustrations, anger, bitterness and fear. Arna's son Juliano, director of this film, was also one of the directors of Jenin's theatre. With his camera, he filmed the children during rehearsal periods from 1989 to 1996. Now, he goes back to see what happened to them. Yussef committed a suicide attack in Hadera in 2001, Ashraf was killed in the battle of Jenin, Alla leads a resistance group. Shifting back and forth in time, the film reveals the tragedy and horror of lives trapped by the circumstances of the Israeli occupation.
Language English & Arabic
By: Juliano Mer Khamis

New Year Baby

Impelled to confront and give human face to her childhood shadows, Socheata travels to Cambodia to unravel the mystery shrouding her family’s survival and eventual escape.

Born in a Thai refugee camp on Cambodian New Year, filmmaker Socheata Poeuv grew up in the United States deemed by her family “the lucky one,” fated to good fortune. As a child in the United States, she knew that her parents had survived oppression and genocide under the Khmer Rouge, but they never spoke of it aloud. Twenty-five years later in the suburbs of Texas, her parents make a startling admission, and the impact of the Khmer Rouge suddenly becomes very real. Impelled to confront and give human face to her childhood shadows, Socheata travels to Cambodia to unravel the mystery shrouding her family’s survival and eventual escape. Her voyage parallels her family’s emotional journey through a series of revelations: unimaginable sacrifice; promises made and kept; the fierce and solemn love for those who were left behind, and finally, one long unsung hero, a “Cambodian cowboy,” is unveiled. With disarming candor, humor and poetic animation, Poeuv’s debut feature resurrects memory and personal history to reclaim her family’s past, and what is easily a heartbreaking story also becomes one of triumph.
Language English
Director Socheata Poeuv

Day 2-Synopsis

2009-06-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Chronicles of a Refugee: Part IV: Identity Without Homeland

Unpacks the meaning and attributes of Palestinian identity in different parts of the world after 60 years of dispossession and refugee status

Unpacks the meaning and attributes of Palestinian identity in different parts of the world after 60 years of dispossession and refugee status. Palestinians debate the role of refugee camps, usefulness of citizenship and the effect of living outside the Arab world on Palestinian identity.
Language Arabic and English
Directors Adam Shapiro, Perla Issa, Aseel Mansour

Relocated Mountains

After 25 years of exile due to Saddam’s repression of the Kurds, Sirwan travels back to Iraq in order to reconnect with the family he was forced to leave.

Synopsis In 1982, five year-old Sirwan Namo from Northern Iraq flees from Saddam Hussein’s military repression of the Kurds. He spends 16 years living in a refugee camp in northern Iran. In 2007, now thirty years old, Sirwan and his family resettle in New Zealand. Feeling that he cannot simply carry on living a good life whilst ignoring his past, we follow Sirwan’s journey as he travels back to Iraq, 25 years since fleeing, in order to reconnect with the family he was forced to leave.
Language English and Arabic

Director Matthew Metcalfe

Mujahjaheen

Captures the daily trials and tribulations of a Sudanese refugee family in Cairo’s unfamiliar environment.

Hussein Abdel Hameed, his wife Hanan and their five children fled war and discrimination in their native Sudan 7 years ago. They came to Egypt with hopes of better life only to find themselves facing hardships and alienation in an unfamiliar environment.
Language Arabic
Directors Jasmin Bauomy, Mariam Mekiwi, and Sarah Wali

Telling Strings

Connecting the history of two generations of Palestinians (Elias Jubran and his children), the film questions cultural identity between protest, resignation, and hope

The film connects the history of two generations of Palestinians: Elias Jubran (born 1933), a music teacher and oud builder in Al Jaleel in Galileo, and his children who all live very different lives in Israel, or have indeed left the country in search of a more open existence. What is necessary so that a culture – stuck in the threatening environment of the Israeli State – may continue to develop itself? The film questions cultural identity between protest, resignation and hope.
Language Arabic
Director Anne-Marie Haller

Day 1-Synopsis

2009-06-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

Giraffe in the Rain (animated)

Fitting into a new home is not easy, especially when you are a giraffe and everyone around you is a dog.

In Djambali, water is scarce, and what little there is, is reserved for the luxurious swimming pool of Sir Lion. When one brave giraffe attempts to tap into the lion's supply, she is caught and deported from her own country and forced to seek asylum up north. Fitting into her new home is not easy, especially when everyone around her is a dog.

Salt of This Sea

Soraya, a Palestinian-American woman is stubborn and determined to reclaim what is hers and fulfill her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine.

Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Direct, stubborn, and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine. Slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it's illegal.

HUNT FOR A SUITABLE VENUE

2009-06-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

The venue for the upcoming Cairo Refugee Film Festival had to be chosen with a lot of care. It’s location had to provide for easy accessibility and be popular enough to attract the “regulars” at the venue. And of course the rent had to fit within our budget (Money matters have been the bane of organizing this festival).

Sakya or the Culture Wheel at Zamalek was our foremost choice. Its reputation for encouraging new talent gave us hope. But our hopes were dashed when we realized that hosting the festival at the Sakya would require dealing with a maze of bureaucratic tangles.

We had the option of hosting the festival at the American University of Cairo (AUC) campus in downtown but the AUC premises can be construed a very ‘elitist” venue. It may deter the average Egyptian from attending the festival. Further, we wanted to avoid the festival being perceived as being meant for the academia, which would be the case if AUC were to be the venue.

Cairo Opera House was also considered as a venue for the festival before we finally decided on the Rawabet theatre, which had collaborated earlier in 2007 with the UNHCR and the Townhouse Gallery to celebrate the World Refugee Day.

The Rawabet theatre is located next to the factory space of Townhouse in downtown Cairo. The neighbourhood is a “working area” with car mechanics, sign painters, carpenters and coffee shops occupying the surrounding space. Probably the best example of bringing art to the community. This was commensurate with the ideology for the refugee film festival which was bringing using art (the films) to bring communities together.

The physical address of the venue is
3, Hussein Al Me'mar Pasha St., Off Mahmoud Bassiouny St.Cairo,

Agonies and Angst of the Films Committee

2009-06-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Films had started trickling in much to the delight of the films committee. What had seemed unachievable some time back-getting quality films to be screened at the festival- now seemed attainable.

It was refreshing to come across filmmakers who really believed in what we were doing. Like Anne Marie Jacir, the award winning Palestinian filmmaker of “Salt of this Sea”, who intervened on behalf of the Cairo Refugee Film Festival with the producers of the film. The result was that we got the perfect film to open our festival with.

The Movies that Matter, a Netherlands based foundation proved to be a good resource for starting on the kind of films that we wanted for the films that we wanted for the festival. We had approached them for funds-that took some time reaching fruition but their recommendation as to films that can be screened was timely and welcome. We also drew inspiration from other Film Festivals around the world.

While selecting films, the films committee had to strike a balance between art and academics. The Cairo Refugee film Festival aims to bring the narratives of the trials, tribulations and the triumphs of the refugee community into the public sphere and at the same time ensure that the narratives are entertaining enough to attract the host community (Egyptians).

At times, the films committee felt like a trapeze artist walking the tightrope. Some films were really interesting but too academic. Some were entertaining but not a true reflection of the circumstances. Over the course of 20 meetings or maybe more, the films committee selected films that would be educating, entertaining and non-controversial too.

Illegal Economic Migrants Vs Refugees-This issue was debated extensively during the meetings and the sound bytes generated would have been enough to fill the pages of a research project on the subject. We wanted films that dealt with refugees who had fled their countries due to persecution and share stories about their success in rebuilding their lives despite all odds.

We are proud of getting films like “Slingshot Hip Hop”, which will be premiering in Egypt at the Cairo Refugee Film Festival and was the official selection at the Sundance Film Festival 2008. “The New Year Baby” is the winner of the 2007 Amsterdam International Film Festival Movies That Matter Award. It is a documentary film on a girl born in a refugee camp on Cambodian New Year.

Fundraising-A Roller Coaster Ride

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Terms like economic depression, hard times, took on a whole new meaning for the fundraising committee of the Cairo Refugee Film Festival.

UNHCR which had collaborated on most of the World Refugee Day celebrations in Cairo could not support us, which was a big dampener for us as we had been heavily relying on their participation. They did offer us a valuable advice though-to trim the festival duration from the proposed 8 days. A very pertinent suggestion, in view of the current economic scenario.

Reem had painstakingly researched on the potential funders but had not met with any luck. Mai was wary of approaching the corporate sponsors and the usual collaborators like the UNHCR had said no. Where did that leave us?

And then the first breakthrough came when UNICEF decided to collaborate with us on the workshops and our media campaign. Though we were still by no means any closer to the required amount, it was at least a beginning.

After the response from UNICEF, there was a lull for so long that we were becoming nervous. Our volunteers-Tamara and Ligia-came up with great ideas to get funding but nothing seemed to work.

All our hopes were pinned on the upcoming meeting with the Netherlands embassy. On the day of our first meeting at the Netherlands embassy, Mai and Sankalita took special care with their dressing-turning up in their “Sunday best”. An exercise in futility because the concerned person had called in sick that morning and there was no meeting. An ominous sign?

When the meeting with the Netherlands embassy finally took place, Sankalita’s forceful defence of the relevance of the proposed film festival to the average Egyptian was brought to an abrupt halt by the insightful question of the Netherlands embassy representative “You are not an Egyptian, are you?” This broke the ice as the discussion meandered into how much time must be spent in a country before a person starts referring to it as his/her own. A very satisfactory meeting but there was slight hitch-the lady was going to go away on vacation, though she promised that a colleague of hers would be in touch with us. Our project was approved the very next day but we spent a tension-filled week because the mail approving our project had been sent to the wrong mail ID! Anyways, at this point, we were ecstatic!

The icing on the cake was when Mai’s perseverance and optimism in relation to Movies that Matter turned out to be well founded and they approved a princely sum for the festival.

Money makes the world go round and no one knows this better than the fundraising committee at the Cairo Refugee Film Festival.

Cherry on the cake?-the Gothe institute agreed to lend us their projector for screening the films for the festival, apart from supporting us with funds. As they say “now we are in business.”

Thanks

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Our sincere and heartfelt thanks to our team of talented and enthusiastic volunteers

Amira Moe, Annah Pyndiah, Dorothea Kohler, Ligia Laacava, Letizia Polizzi, Maria Tarancón, Sonja Etzelsdorfer, Tamara Shogaolu, Tarnue Seek-pah.

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the following:

Barbara Harrel-Bond-our most enthusiastic supporter
Amanda Kerdahi Matt-our talented graphic designer-check our logo!
Prohelvetia
Suchitra and Emilie for their support in the crucial stage of initial planning.

Early Days=Heady Days

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First Meeting

I still remember the first meeting of the organizing committee for the film festival that took place in early Jan at the old offices of Tadamon. What a heady start it was! There were around 12-15 of us and we had to join two tables to accommodate all of us. Like the large group, we were also big on ideas. From a 10 day film festival, Angelina Jolie as the chief guest, getting the most expensive films to grace the festival to panel discussions with the filmmakers, screenings at more than one venue, the ideas flew fast and furious. After all, the proposed film festival was going to be the first of its kind in the region and the organizing members wanted to leave no idea untried, no avenue unexplored and no thought unvoiced!

The confidence levels and the enthusiasm was high from the very beginning and everything seemed possible and within grasp. It has definitely been this eagerness and the wide ranging expertise of the organizing committee that has carried us through.

Forming of Committees

A product of the times that we live in, our schedules are always crammed with a thousand things that we need to do. And it may not always be possible to match the schedules of all the organizers for meetings. This led to the division of the organizing members into Fundraising Committee and Films Committee to ensure better co-ordination and productivity.

Teething Problems

Funding

Big ideas require big money to execute. And so obtaining funding became our top priority. To get our ideas across to the potential funders, we needed a good proposal, which would serve as an effective medium to communicate our ideas. Our first attempt at proposal writing resulted in a very academic kind of commentary on the refugee situation in Cairo. Then Shubra who had experience in fund raising came to the rescue and suggested that we trim down our proposal according to certain criteria. Mai, Sankalita and Shubra, after much haggling over words. managed to get the first draft out which just required some tweaking. The group heaved a collective sigh of relief!

Chasing funders

Did I say a sigh of relief? the sigh could well qualify as one of the shortest! The economic downturn had not left many untouched and many of the organizations and funds that we approached were operating on reduced budgets and did not have money to spare. Further, not every fund wants to associate itself with refugee issues. When UNHCR told us “no”, it was one of the lowest moments for us as a team. However, our perseverance paid off and our first breakthrough came when UNICEF agreed to sponsor us. The most frustrating part was not receiving any kind of response from some of the people that we got in touch for funding the film festival. But despite repeated reminders, we sometimes never got any response. Even if the answer was negative, we just needed to know!

Selection of Films

We are organizing a film festival and it is imperative that we get the right films! The focus had to be on getting the right films, viewing them and finally making the right selection. Plus, we had budgetary constraints-the shipping costs and the getting the film screening rights would be a huge drain on our as-yet non existent resources.

Movies that Matter, a Netherlands based fund that believes in the power of the films “to promote the observance of human rights and social change” came to our rescue by suggesting films that could be used effectively to convey the message that we were aiming for. That gave us a good start as did a look at the films that had been screened at similar festivals elsewhere in the world like the Tokyo Film Festival. The CMRS library at the AUC was a good source of films and Sara became our “courier” for ferrying the films to and fro from the library to Tadamon. But the films committee and the fundraising committee had to go through many meetings and discussions before they would taste success!

Workshops

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Cairo’s landmark first annual refugee film festival will be accompanied by three art-based workshops. Participating in these workshops will be a mix of Egyptian, Palestinian, Iraqi, and Sudanese youth. The aim of these workshops is three fold:

1) to cultivate a sustainable relationship among these youth by having them collaborate during these activities and exchange their individual perspectives on art influenced by their life experiences

2) To offer these youth an outlet for self-expression through various artistic mediums. The chance to work with cameras, flim, and theater is a unique and valuable opportunity for many of the participants

3) To give attendees at the Refugee Film Festival an insight into the lives of these youth by observing their art.

The workshops will precede the actual film festival and the art produced during them will be displayed at the festival, with the artists’ permission.

There are three anticipated workshops

1) The Photo Workshop May 29-June 5

The Photo Workshop will take place in three sessions. There will be about 12 participants who will be between the ages of 9 and 13. The first session will be held at the Nahla Center, where the participants will be introduced to the basics of photography by an established Egyptian photographer. Along with learning about the basics of photography, the participants will also be encouraged to share stories from their personal lives and how they might be able to tell these same stories using images. After the first session is finished we will distribute disposable cameras among the participants. They will be asked to follow certain guidelines, with the final result to put together a photo story that represents a particular experience they’d like to share. We will collect the cameras at the end of the day A week later, the students will reconvene at the Nahla Center. The photos will have been developed, and they will have the opportunity to physically put their photo story together and share it with their peers.

2) The Puppet Theater Workshop (TBA)

The puppet theater workshop is aimed at allowing 12-14 participants the opportunity to experiment with various artistic methods. The students will come together initially at the Nahla Center, and will have to decide on a story to tell in puppet form. After deciding on the story, the participants will be divided into three different groups. The first group will be responsible for writing the story, with characters and dialogue. The second will work with a music therapist to create a soundtrack to the play. The third will be involved with making the setting and background for the play. After these three groups are done with their preparations, all participants will need to design their own puppets to use in the theater. The final result will be a performance, of which will be taped and displayed in clips and photos during the film festival.

3) The Film Workshop June 5-10

This 5-day workshop will involve 10-15 university going Egyptian and Refugee students. They will get the opportunity to learn camera techniques and produce their own short films. The first day they will gather to learn camera techniques and brainstorm ideas. The following two days they will take on different roles in producing films, in order to understand all the various and important roles (director, cinematographer, sound) involved in film making. After this session, they will be equipped with a camera and instructed to shoot a short story or documentary. The last day they will return, and learn editing techniques. The final produce will be a 1-3 minute clip that they have produced completely on their own, which will be displayed at the film festival.

Film Schedule

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Tuesday June 16
19:00 Giraffe in the Rain (Belgium, Animation, 2007, 12 min)
19:30 Salt of this Sea (Belgium/Palestine, Fiction, 2008, 74 min, Arabic & English subtitles)
21:30 Live Concert: Massar Egbari (Egyptian Rock)

Fir synopsis of the films go to http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-1-synopsis.html

Wednesday June 17
18:00 Identity without a Homeland (US/Palestine, Documentary, 2008, 78 min, Arabic & English subtitles)
19:30 Relocated Mountains (New Zealand/US, Documentary, 2008, 95 min, Arabic subtitles)
21:20 Mujahjeheen (Egypt, Documentary, 2008, 10 min, English subtitles)
21:35 Telling Strings (Switzerland, Documentary, 2007, 60 min, Arabic & English subtitles)

For synopsis of the films, go to http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-2-synopsis.html

Thursday June 18
18:00 Seoul Train (US, Documentary, 2005, 54 min, Arabic & English subtitles)
19:20 Iraqis in Egypt (Egypt/US, Documentary, 2008, 12 min, English subtitles)
19:40 The Genocide in Me (Canada, Documentary, 2005, 53 min, Arabic subtitles)
20:45 Arna’s Children (Japan, Documentary, 2003, 85 min, English subtitles)
22:20 New Year Baby (US, Documentary, 2008, 74 min, Arabic subtitles)

For synopsis of the films. go to http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-3-synopsis.html

Friday June 19
18:00 The Presence of absence in the ruins of Kafr Birim (US, Documentary, 2007, 60 min, English subtitles)
19:15 This Palestinian life (Egypt, Documentary, 2009, 28 min, 2009, English subtitles)
20:00 Panel discussion
21:00 Rightful yet Right-less (Egypt, Documentary, 2007, 49 min, 2007, English subtitles)
22:00 Screening of youth filmmaking project
22:30 Monkey Dance (US, Documentary, 2004, 60 min, Arabic subtitles)

For synopsis of the films, go to http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/2009/06/presence-of-absence-in-ruins-of-kafr.html

Saturday June 20
15:00 Hope (Australia, Documentary, 2008, 117 min, 2008, English subtitles)
17:10 Berlari (Malaysia, Documentary, 2009, 30 min, English subtitles)
17:45 Witness Shatilla (Egypt, Documentary, 2006, 40 min, English subtitles)
18:30 Crossing the dust (France/Iraq, Fiction, 2006, 73 min, English subtitles)
20:00 Slingshot hip hop (Palestine/US, Documentary, 2008, 83 min, English, Arabic and French subtitles)
21:30 Live Hip Hop Concert: Kin3an from P.R (Palestinian Rapperz)

For synopsis of the films. go to
http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-5-synopsis.html

Sponsors, Collaborators and Organisers

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Sponsors

The Netherlands Embasssy
Movies that Matter
UNICEF works for children's rights, their survival, development and protection and are partner ing us for the film making workshop.
Gothe Institute
CMRS Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies under the AUC
Cairo To Camps

Collaborators

Tadamon-Egyptian Refugee Multicultural Council-an independent, non-political network of civil society organisations working to promote the welfare of refugees and their mutual co-existence with Egyptians through information sharing and coordination of cooperative efforts.
Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is a student-run organization at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Their primary mission is to provide support to refugees of all nationalities in Cairo. One of the ways they do this is by organising accessible, affordable arts and language (English and Arabic) classes for Cairo's refugee population in accordance with the principle that access to education is a basic right guaranteed by international human rights law.

Organizers

Mahmoud Farag: Community Outreach Team Leader, Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA)
Mai Choucri: Community Outreach Coordinator, Tadamon.
Marwa Fikry: Psychology student at the American University in Cairo and Vice President of STAR (Student Action for Refugees)
Naseem Hashim: Administrative associate, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
Reem Abbas: Broadcast Journalism student at the American University in Cairo.
Sankalita Shome: Legal advisor with the Resettlement Legal Aid Project (RLAP) at Saint Andrews Refugee Services
Sara Sadek: Researcher and Consultant on Forced Migration and Refugee issues
Shaima Yehia: Coordinator at the Arab Digital Expression Camp (ADEC)
Shubra Ohri: Researcher at the Ibn Khaldun Center and a legal advisor at the Resettlement Legal Aid Project at St. Andrews Refugees Services

Rationale For The Festival

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What happens when a group of eclectic individuals made up of humanitarians, lawyers, members of civil society and students who all have in common a concern for the refugees’ well being in Egypt come together?

The outcome is Cairo Refugee Film Festival, to be held from June 16 to June 20 at the Rawabet theatre in downtown. The festival, the first of its kind in the region, is a celebration of the power of the human spirit and the courage of refugees from all around the world.

Considering that Egypt is home to a significant refugee population, hailing from all across Africa and the Middle East, a festival of such a kind is extremely relevant and provides a platform to bring together local Egyptians and refugees. The Cairo Refugee Film Festival, held in commemoration of the World Refugee Day, seeks to chronicle the lives, struggles, and achievements of refugee populations around the world from the 1930s to the present day. We aspire to break the Egyptian myth that the refugee movement is an Afro-centric problem and that refugees are always African. Through the medium of film, we aim to sensitize the Egyptian community on refugees’ stories, obstacles and resilience.

Why a Film Festival?

Films give a voice to the voiceless; they can evoke strong emotions and break down barriers. The films for the festival will focus on the narratives of different refugee populations to educate, enlighten and inspire empathy. The audio-visual medium of films will attract journalists, intellectuals, artists and general audiences to attend the functions of the festival and interact with

Background and Introduction

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In the last three decades, Egypt has become host to refugees fleeing conflicts and persecution in Africa, Asia and Middle East. Many refugees have made Egypt their home and various refugee communities live amongst Egyptian, contributing to the Egyptian society. Though Sudanese are considered to be the largest refugee population, there are also large numbers of Somalis, Eritreans, Ethiopians, North Africans, and even more from Central and West Africa as also Iraqis. Refugees from the Middle and Far East also seek asylum in Egypt. In addition, there are an estimated 70,000 Palestinians. These refugees are often falsely identified as economic migrants, rather than a vulnerable population who fled their homelands due to political unrests and violence.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the main body handling refugee affairs in Egypt in the sense of granting protection, services and other procedural issues. Recognized refugees are offered one of three durable solutions for their refugee status:

Resettlement to another country
local integration in the country of first asylum (Egypt) or
support for voluntary repatriation to the country of origin.

Resettlement as solution is only available to the most vulnerable of the refugees and with civil war and unrest having become second nature; repatriation is almost never the solution to most refugees. Since the vast majority of refugees will never be resettled, integration in Egypt is of great concern and the need of the hour. This is possible only when when the misconceptions between the host communities and the refugee communities are cleared and an appreciation and understanding of the others' circumstances is fostered.

Against this backdrop and with a view to bring the refugee and the egyptian communities together, the idea of a film festival took birth.