Festival Spotlight: Women Directors
ROCK THE CASBAH
November 6, 6:30 pm | Morocco/France
Directed by Laïla Marakchi
“Sharp observations about the role of women in an upper-class milieu torn between Muslim traditions and Western influences” — Variety
When a wealthy, self-made patriarch suddenly dies, his three daughters gather at the family’s palatial Tangiers home for the multi-day funeral. Unresolved discord resurfaces, while the matriarch attempts to clean up after her late husband’s mess. Family members sulk and spar so as to participate in a hilarious comedy of errors against a beautiful backdrop. Meanwhile, a certain ghost lingers, observes, and gleefully quips. Starring Omar Sharif, Hiam Abbass, and Nadine Labaki. View the trailer
SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY
November 9, 10:30 am | Lebanon
Directed by Zeina Decache
“The women of Baabda Prison share their personal stories and in doing so, hold up a mirror on Lebanese society.” — Indiewire
Scheherazade, legendary narrator of 1001 Nights, here becomes any one of the female inmates of Baabda Prison in Beirut, Lebanon. Psychologist and theater and film director Zeina Dacchace’s documentary depicts an instance of drama therapy that culminates in a theatrical performance titled Scheherazade in Baabda, where twenty inmates act out their own stories and experiences in a society that restricts the rights of women. Far from dour, these women find empowerment in their sorority and seek to come to terms with their past lives and to prepare for a better future on the outside, in a different sort of prison. View the trailer
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS | November 8, 8:30 pm
Lebanon
Directed by Eliane Rahebd
“Eliane Raheb’s emotionally trenchant pic slices through fuzzy notions of forgiveness and reconciliation” — Variety
Who would sleep worse, the victimizer or the victim? Director Eliane Raheb mines the psychical depths of the fraught, irrevocable connection between these two positions. At its surface, the documentary is a suspenseful investigative report, linking the lives of two people: the mother of a 15-year-old Popular Guard communist militia member, missing since the 1982 Lebanese Civil War, and an ex-intelligence officer with the right-wing Lebanese Forces at the time. The officer admitted publicly to his atrocities, but can he tell the mother what she needs to know. Lensed evocatively, scored poignantly, Sleepless Nights portrays both characters with equal depth. View the trailer
AMAL’S GARDEN | NOVEMBER 9, 3:00 pm
Iraq
Directed by Nadia Shihab
“The unexpected portrait of one Turkmen couple moving forward in a new Iraq, where, even in the stillness of night, life is blooming.” — MBC
Amal’s Garden is an intimate and telling cinematic portrait of an elderly Turkmen couple who decide to renovate their home, an act symbolizing their commitment to continuing the long life they have led together in Northern Iraq, in the shadows of war as part of an ethnic minority. View the trailer
Screening with Rags and Tatters.
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