After 800 people from the VCU and Richmond community attended the festival last year, co-coordinators Hanan Abed and Jaime Bennett decided to turn it into an annual event. The Second Annual Arabic Film Festival will take place at the Grace Street Theater this weekend.
“It was amazing,” Abed said of last year’s festival. “We had such a good turnout. It was really great to see so many people turn out and expand their awareness about Arab culture.”
Bennett, coordinator of last year’s festival, said she initially became interested in having the festival after she traveled through several Middle Eastern countries. The experience allowed her to see the differences between the area and how it is portrayed in the media.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions about what life is like in the Middle East,” Bennett said. “There was a desire on my part to show what isn’t shown on the news every day.”
Abed said she feels the high profile the Middle East has received in recent years has increased interest among students. She said the number of people who attended the festival last year is a reflection of the interest people have in the Middle East. The general public isn’t willing to accept the stereotypes of Arabs in the media, Abed said.
“Three hundred and sixty-three days out of the year, you’re getting a stereotyped image of Arab culture,” she said. “For two days out of the year, when we have this film festival, it serves as a reminder of how rich and how different Arab culture is from how mainstream media shows it to be.”
Both Abed and Bennett selected the films.
“Each film that we show has a purpose,” Abed said. “We’re not just picking random movies.”
Bennett said, “Variety was a big deal for us. Almost every film is from a different country. We probably screened 40 different films and (chose them) if they grabbed us on some level. I definitely have a connection to each of them.”
Among the 13 films being screened, Abed said she thinks the short films being shown Saturday stand out.
“The shorts are all good,” she said. “The one that I personally like the best was ‘Planet of the Arabs.’ It’s a documentary spoof showing all the negative stereotypes of Arabs in the media. It’s the most eye-opening presentation we have that weekend.”
Bennett said she hopes their choice in films will showcase the wide variety of cultures and areas within the Middle East.
“We want people, if they stay for the two days, to feel like they’ve done a lot of traveling,” she said.
The festival will begin tomorrow at 6 p.m.
A reception at 5 p.m. Saturday will feature Arabic food and live music. More information about the films and their show times can be found at www.arabicfilmfestival.com.