Screening the week of Thanksgiving, this series is a selection of the best short films from Mizna’s 2021 Arab Film Festival. Including Darine Hotait’s Tallahassee, the audience award winner for best short film, these fan favorites each demonstrate the complexity of family and belonging, and they explore the importance of communities, both made and inherited.
This shorts program is only available in the United States.
On the day of her release from a psychiatric facility, Mira, an Arab American woman, attends her grandmother’s 90th birthday — only to discover that her sister Lara has lied to the family that she was on a trip to Florida. Tallahasse is the winner of the 2021 TCAFF audience award for best short!
About the filmmaker
Darine Hotait is a New-York based American Lebanese writer and film director. Her work focuses on the politics of identity, Arab & African diaspora, and science fiction. She has written and directed a dozen award-winning narrative short films that can be seen on Sundance Channel, The New Yorker, AMC Networks, BBC, Forbes, and Outfest. Her work has received the support of The Sundance Institute, Comedy Central, The Independent Film Project, The Jerome Foundation, New York Council on the Arts, and New York Foundation for the Arts. Darine is the founder of Cinephilia Productions— a film incubator championing African and Arab filmmakers.
- Year2021
- Runtime22 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorDarine Hotait
- ScreenwriterHala Alyan
- ProducerRyah Aqel
- CastHala Alyan, Cherien Dabis, Malek Holloway, Samia Halaby, Samar El Zein
- CinematographerKalyn Jacobs
- EditorLiz Charky
- ComposerTarek Yamani
Screening the week of Thanksgiving, this series is a selection of the best short films from Mizna’s 2021 Arab Film Festival. Including Darine Hotait’s Tallahassee, the audience award winner for best short film, these fan favorites each demonstrate the complexity of family and belonging, and they explore the importance of communities, both made and inherited.
This shorts program is only available in the United States.
On the day of her release from a psychiatric facility, Mira, an Arab American woman, attends her grandmother’s 90th birthday — only to discover that her sister Lara has lied to the family that she was on a trip to Florida. Tallahasse is the winner of the 2021 TCAFF audience award for best short!
About the filmmaker
Darine Hotait is a New-York based American Lebanese writer and film director. Her work focuses on the politics of identity, Arab & African diaspora, and science fiction. She has written and directed a dozen award-winning narrative short films that can be seen on Sundance Channel, The New Yorker, AMC Networks, BBC, Forbes, and Outfest. Her work has received the support of The Sundance Institute, Comedy Central, The Independent Film Project, The Jerome Foundation, New York Council on the Arts, and New York Foundation for the Arts. Darine is the founder of Cinephilia Productions— a film incubator championing African and Arab filmmakers.
- Year2021
- Runtime22 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorDarine Hotait
- ScreenwriterHala Alyan
- ProducerRyah Aqel
- CastHala Alyan, Cherien Dabis, Malek Holloway, Samia Halaby, Samar El Zein
- CinematographerKalyn Jacobs
- EditorLiz Charky
- ComposerTarek Yamani