Even in difficult, dangerous or high pressure circumstances, these films remind us that children will always be children. They will still find a way to play, create and explore the world.

Trapped in a war ridden reality, with the hope of one day playing in the neighborhood’s football field, 8 year old Tala finds solace and freedom in a forbidden television. However, the secret TV becomes a matter of life and death. Festivals &amp; Awards:WINNER Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Student Academy Awards 2021 - Gold About the filmmaker:<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/11ad00bd552b1f7a51131ade80ad5cb2.jpg" width="134" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Born in Jordan in 1992. Murad earned his bachelor degree in Design and Visual Communications with a focus on filmmaking from the German Jordanian University in 2014 in Jordan, during which he did an exchange year at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt in Germany. Following his graduation, he immersed himself deeper in his filmmaking journey and directed several short films focusing on human driven stories out of the Arab world. In 2016, Murad started studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Between 2018 and 2022, Murad wrote and directed four short films, of which most recently "Tala'vison". That went on to win various awards and honours, most recently its gold medal win at the Student Academy Awards - Oscars,&nbsp;and an official short listing to the 94th Academy awards. Following that Murad became a member of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022. In his movies, Murad is drawn to fictionalize and portray stories out of the Arab world. In order to highlight the injustices and pose critical questions to the standing socio political structures of the East Mediterranean region. Besides his life in academia and filmmaking, Murad is the founder and coordinator for "Follow The Nile". A nonprofit initiative in East and North Africa, aiming to help writers, directors and producers to find their own individual voices as filmmakers.

Tala'vision

Trapped in a war ridden reality, a young girl finds solace and freedom in a forbidden television.

Set in the historical Old City, in Ibb, Yemen, IN THE LONG RUN is built around a simple premise: burdened by the nearing arrival of guests, a housewife sends her kid to buy bread before lunch. But this errand soon transforms into a wondrous adventure. As Seven-year- old Ahmed runs determinedly through the alleyways—constantly distracted by the people and events (or perhaps non- events) around him—his journey becomes both a delicate observation of the familial community of Ibb, and an intimate voyage through the Old City’s endangered architecture and beautiful landscape. While Ahmed plays beads with other kids, stumbles into a funeral, and listens to folktales narrated by an 82-year-old, the looming question of whether he’ll make it home before lunch grows larger. Performed by city locals, IN THE LONG RUN presents gentle conversations about fear, fate, and faith. Yet, most importantly, it is a story of a child’s imagination, curiosity and wonder. About the filmmaker: <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/bb6c525dd318ba71c1cc4f7421bb8900.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="146">Yousef Assabahi is a Yemeni writer and director based in Los Angeles. Assabahi’s work explores the place of memory, imagination, play, and work of culture in sites of ruin and exile. In 2018, he graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television with an emphasis on Directing. Assabahi’s work follows examples of filmmakers who have had to deal with filmmaking in make-shift fashion with untrained actors in and aftermath of political uprisings and instability. Influenced by neorealism, his upcoming work attempt to capture Yemeni traditions of orality, play, theatre, and spontaneous poetics as expressions of the self. In 2020,&nbsp;Assabahi returned to his hometown in Ibb, Yemen to produce a short film exploring the rich and historical architecture of his neighborhood that is at risk of demolition and erasure due to the bombing campaigns, looting, and absence of state governance through the eyes of a seven-year-old sent to fetch bread for afternoon lunch. While in Yemen, he also wrote and directed television commercials that draw on Yemeni customs and cultural imagery, involving local untrained actors.&nbsp;Amongst his early work is a senior project and fictional film,&nbsp;A Patriot Act, which captures the struggles of an undocumented FBI informant; his ambivalence and involvement in an entrapment case, showcasing the power dynamics between the state and vulnerable communities that internally shatter social relations. After graduating, Assabahi participated in the highly-selective Gold Program with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receiving enhancement training from top industry professionals. Working between Yemen and Los Angeles, Yousef&nbsp;continues to write and strive to tell stories.

In the Long Run

In Almadineh, an old city in Yemen, a mother sends her forgetful kid in a time- sensitive mission to the bakery before lunch.

Rayan, a poor Syrian child with a great love for music walking in the streets of Syria with his old harmonica, he sees a young woman playing accordion so he starts chasing her and trying to make any contact with her accordion, the events lead him to get into an art institution where the young woman plays music and he could see all kinds of arts inside. finally he makes contact with the accordion and with the help of the young woman he starts learning music and make his dream of being an accordion player on stage come true! in the end, everything turns out to be just an illusion in the child's mind which came to him while he was selling books with his father in the streets and trying to survive from the cruel reality of living inside of Syria after war&nbsp; About the filmmaker:<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/9ea57790e0e0aa322107baadcfa4fda2.png" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="164">My passion as a filmmaker comes from my desire to tell stories, especially those related to Syria and the Syrian people. From a young age, I played music and music was my first step into the arts. Yet I felt I had so much to say and that music alone would not fully express my thoughts and feelings. As a result, I decided to combine my passion of storytelling and my experience as a musician with my love of motion pictures in order to make short films about Syrian people and their daily struggles to live normal lives after 11 years of war.&nbsp; Relating the inner feelings of Syrian affected by war through music and pictures brings me enormous satisfaction, because words alone are not enough to describe what happened in Syria anymore.&nbsp;In 2012, I was displaced from my hometown of Aleppo because of the war. I went to Latakia with my family, where I earned a bachelor's degree in architecture. During my college years, I volunteered with local humanitarian agencies and worked with thousands of displaced people. I had a daily connection with the cruel reality of war, and also a clear vision about what I want to do with that knowledge: I wanted to talk about Syrian people in my own way.&nbsp; I began my career by composing and playing music, and then I had a chance to write the screenplay for my first music video, SIEGE. I had my first experience as a director, for my second music video VOID. My short film debut is entitled, “HIBERNATE”.&nbsp; All my works are independent and self-produced and that is one of the most rewarding experiences anyone can have, because arts always are about expressing yourself with freedom and independence.&nbsp;

Hibernate

A child running after his dream in a place where dreams are banned.

Nine-year-old Aya is too young to understand the politics of occupation but faces the restrictions of not being able to play outside anymore. One night soldiers raid Aya’s home, leaving her younger brother trembling behind their bedroom door. It is this night that Aya attempts to muster up the courage to face her monsters to liberate herself from the barricades that surround her. About the filmmaker:<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/4bbeb80f87a13212d78b1a2133a13323.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="132">Jude Elziq has completed a BA with a double major in Film and New Media and Social Research and Public Policy from New York University Abu Dhabi. Jude is a Palestinian that has grown up around the world having lived in 9 different countries. She was drawn to the art of filmmaking not only because of her creative inclinations but primarily because of the immense power that she believes film can hold as a catalyst for positive social change. She seeks to combine her interest in both the arts and the social sciences to create films that are centered around social justice and development.

Between the Barricades

In the midst of a military curfew, young Aya must find the courage to keep her passion for soccer alive.

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Shorts: Childhood Imagination

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North America's oldest and largest festival of Arab films. The flagship event of the Arab Film and Media Institute, the festival's mission is to present the richness of Arab culture through authentic narratives and images, providing insight into the beauty and complexity of the Arab world.

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