This year, AFMI is proud to showcase a collection of work by talented Arab directors, writers, producers and actors based in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Ali, a young Egyptian living in self-exile in Los Angeles is visited by a memory of an old friend. Together they try to make sense of a past haunted by trauma and a present that makes no sense. About the filmmaker:<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/1e06ecd2106f4d2bbe08e10ae20aba4a.jpg" width="144" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Randa Ali is a writer and director working between Los Angeles and Cairo. She is a 4th year MFA candidate at UCLA’s directing program, where she is a recipient of the Hani Farsi scholarship, a full-ride award to female filmmakers from the Arab world. Randa’s work often explores themes of alienation, defeat and the desire to connect in a continuously changing world. She is interested in telling stories of individuals through their relationship with their cities. In 2022, Randa was a recipient of the Delia Salvi Memorial Award for Directing the Actor. She is currently in post-production for her latest short film, Mango, and in development for her first feature film project, Gigi. In addition to making films, Randa was a journalist in Egypt for nearly 8 years.

Kingdom of Strangers

A young man is visited by a memory of an old friend. Together they try to make sense of a past haunted by trauma and a present that makes no sense.

High school dropout Karim El Hadi faces a bleak future. Six years after the Tunisian Revolution and the chants of "work, freedom, national dignity," little has changed in the border town where he lives with his working-class father, Houssem, and kid sister, Lilya. His creativity and passion for design continues to stagnate, his longtime friends still spend their days chasing dreams that don't exist, and after suffering a string of personal tragedies his family has become cold and distant. Everything changes for Karim when he learns of a way out. The plan is risky and could make him a target of the local police and criminal underbelly. But the question before Karim is, what does he have left to lose? As he advances his plan, and as the bonds of friendship and family are tested, he may not like the answer. Festivals &amp; Awards: Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France 2022Les Nuits MED Film Festival in Corsica 2022Arab Film Festival&nbsp;@Arab American Museum in Dearborn, MI 2022Montecatini International Short Film Festival in Italy 2022Rabat International Author Film Festival in Morocco 2022Carthage Film Festival - Horizons of Tunisian Cinema 2022 About the filmmaker: <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/e77c1d86bee78f37d6306644c134279d.jpg" width="135" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Born On October 7, 1984 in Sfax, Tunisia, Ihsen Kammoun is a Tunisian-American a producer, director and writer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Linguistics. In 2009, he sparked a music video production trend in the independent Tunisian music scene. With life travels that allowed him to explore a richness of perspectives of human experiences, he founded the motion picture production company EQLAE PICTURES in 2019. His work is a portrayal of stories that inspire discovering what is beneath differences and encourage people to exercise their humanity.

Road to El Kef

With his mother and brother gone, a vulnerable teenager living in northern Tunisia charts a path that threatens to tear apart what remains of his family.

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.

Setup in San Francisco, following the 2011 Arab Spring that left Egypt in political unrest. Simsim—a young Egyptian immigrant with a wooingly contagious laugh seeks asylum in the United States. Out of fear of the outcome of the revolution, he escapes to San Francisco leaving behind his aging mother. Like a fish out of water Simsim seeks guidance from his greedy lawyer Dale. At a mature age, Dale never loses touch with his redneck persona and never gives a damn about his clients, but he’s affordable. He tolerates Simsim, because he pays in cash. Simsim believes that his immigration hearing in a week is the only barrier before he eases into a new tranquil and prosperous life. And so he catches a public-transit bus to see Dale for a final prep meeting, but soon he realizes that there’s more in store for him, when he encounters the enigmatic absurdity of this surreal version of the American Dream. About the filmmaker: <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/ca1b011ae6845685602c2693d21bfe99.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="131">Amir is an Egyptian filmmaker based in San Francisco. He strives to create unconventional stories that can echo unheard voices, while drawing inspiration from the extremely rich culture of his native Egypt. Amir's directorial debut film 'The Initiation' won multiple awards at film festivals locally in the United States and internationally, including Best Narrative Short Film at the 2020 Oakland International Film Festival and Best Director at the 2020 Oregon Short Film Festival.

The Laughing Woo Woo

A lonesome Egyptian battles his bizarre misfortunes as he seeks asylum in San Francisco.

SHARE THE PIE is about Reem, an award-winning Palestinian chef who is caught between the media hype and the brutal inequality of the restaurant industry. After the pandemic and government inaction left her beloved bakery scrambling to survive, Reem surprises a prestigious award ceremony by taking a risky stand for her fellow small business owners, her workers - and herself. SHARE THE PIE is episode 4 of <a href="http://www.offsidesproductions.org/portfolio/normal-aint-normal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NORMAL AIN'T NORMAL</a>, a scripted episodic series based on real people's stories, that explores the struggles, absurdities, and surprising possibilities of working-class people navigating the strange, "post" COVID terrain across the United States. Dramatic, captivating, and darkly comedic, the series follows colorful characters who offer a unique, intimate glimpse inside the U.S.'s growing fault lines of race, class, and extreme inequality. About the director:<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/4695e596281d1b21764fbabf17c96e81.jpg" width="124" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Yvan Iturriaga&nbsp;is an Oakland, CA-based writer/director who spent his childhood border crossing through Latin America, living in the extended Chilean exile community.&nbsp;&nbsp;He co-directed the documentaries A Photographer’s Journey for the PBS American Masters series, and Fantastic Negrito: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?&nbsp;Yvan also wrote and directed the narrative shorts Sui Generis, Beep and Aparecides. Most recently, Yvan directed the anthology mini series Normal Ain't Normal, executive produced by Rosario Dawson. About the writers:﻿Reem Assil&nbsp;is a&nbsp;two-time&nbsp;James Beard Award semifinalist&nbsp;for Best Chef: West, a James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Chef, and the owner of Reem’s California, a bakery with locations in Oakland and San Francisco. She was also the opening chef for Dyafa, an Arab fine-dining restaurant that was awarded a coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand in its first year. She has established herself at the intersection of food, Arab culture, and social justice. She recently published her first book&nbsp;Arabiyya: Recipes From the Life of an Arab in Diaspora. Josh Healey&nbsp;is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and co-executive producer with Offsides Productions.&nbsp;A regular performer on&nbsp;NPR’s Snap Judgment, Healey&nbsp;wrote and produced two seasons of&nbsp;The North Pole, a comedic web series featuring Boots Riley and W. Kamau Bell about gentrification, global warming, and gluten-free donuts.&nbsp;Together with Yvan Iturriaga, he created and co-wrote the&nbsp;new digital series&nbsp;Normal Ain't Normal&nbsp;with Rosario Dawson, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Reem Assil.

Share the Pie

Reem, an award-winning Palestinian chef who is caught between the media hype and the brutal inequality of the restaurant industry.

Shorts: Local Talent

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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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