The 7th ARAB Film Festival
Focus 2018: Rise Up, Speak Out
This year, ARAB Film Festival presents a special section, “Focus 2018: Rise Up, Speak Out” to pay attention to contemporary Arab women’s voices. We have witnessed how the global phenomenon of social media campaign called #MeToo has changed our society by unveiling the hidden violence against and repression of women. Social inequality and the consequent misconceptions about women often force Arab women to hide themselves behind the veils without the right to speak. ARAB Film Festival has been introducing diverse women characters and addressing current challenges facing them by featuring films about women who lost the chance for higher education due to early marriage; who live under repression without being able to make a political statement or contribution during the age of revolution; who survive in a male-dominated sports world; and who become the victims of violence against women despite their social position as a talented woman with a brilliant career.As the world changes, this year in “Focus 2018: Rise Up, Speak Out” we aim to take one more bold step forward by calling attention to sexual violence hidden for the sake of the social oppression and maintaining the system; challenging misogyny that creeps into our everyday lives; and raising voices to unveil the reality where women are constrained and silenced by isolation. This section features a total of three films: Beauty and the Dogs, one of the most controversial films of 2017 that addresses the unacceptable reality of Tunisian woman facing inequality and repression in an episode taking place in one night; Challat of Tunis that follows a misogynistic hate crime and reveals the truth behind antipathy and hostility towards women; and The Poetess, a documentary about a courageous woman who denounces religious extremism through her poems. By doing so, it intends to invite you to listen to the voices of women who dare to open their eyes and speak up so that they could keep their dignity intact, claim their rights, address what is wrong and unfair, and eventually call for change. It is also worth noting that Kaouther Ben Hania, the director of Beauty and the Dogs and Challat of Tunis will attend the festival to discuss her films in depth as well as Arab women’s movement calling for change.
FILMS
Beauty and the Dogs
- Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Qatar, Switzerland
- 2017
- 100min
- DCP
- Color
- Fiction
- Arabic
- 15+
2017 Dubai International Film Festival
2017 Cannes Film Festival
During a student party, Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, meets the mysterious Youssef and leaves with him. A long night will begin, during which she’ll have to fight for her rights and her dignity. But how can Justice be made when it lies on the side of the tormentors?
Director
Kaouther Ben Hania
Kaouther Ben Hania studied cinema at the Sorbonne and La Fémis in Paris, France after enrolling in Ecole des Arts et du Cinéma (EDAC) in Tunisia. She directed several short films including Me, My Sister and the Thing (2006) and Wooden Hand (2013) that had a successful and long run on the international film festival circuit. In 2014, as her first feature film, Challat of Tunis, shot in a documentary style was chosen for the official selection of the Cannes, she became one of the most globally recognized women directors. Her other works include Imams Go to School (2010), Zaineb Hates the Snow (2016), and Beauty and the Dogs (2017) which received positive reviews from numerous renowned international film festivals such as the Cannes (Un Certain Regard) and Dubai International Film Festival.
| Seoul |
6.2(Sat) 14:00 6.4(Mon) 19:30 
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| Busan |
6.3(Sun) 14:30 6.5(Tue) 16:10 |
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Challat of Tunis
- Tunisia, France, Canada, Qatar, UAE
- 2014
- 90min
- DCP
- Color
- Fiction
- Arabic
- 15+
2014 Dubai International Film Festival
2014 Cannes Film Festival – ACID
A man on a motorbike, razor blade in hand, prowls the streets of Tunis slashing women’s buttocks. They call him The Challat, aka “The Slasher”, and the mere mention of his name provokes fascination and terror. Is he a lone criminal, an urban legend, or could he be the creation of a political group or religious fanatics? 10 years later, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, a stubborn young female director sets out on an investigation to unravel the mystery and discover the true Challat of Tunis...
Director
Kaouther Ben Hania
Kaouther Ben Hania studied cinema at the Sorbonne and La Fémis in Paris, France after enrolling in Ecole des Arts et du Cinéma (EDAC) in Tunisia. She directed several short films including Me, My Sister and the Thing (2006) and Wooden Hand (2013) that had a successful and long run on the international film festival circuit. In 2014, as her first feature film, Challat of Tunis, shot in a documentary style was chosen for the official selection of the Cannes, she became one of the most globally recognized women directors. Her other works include Imams Go to School (2010), Zaineb Hates the Snow (2016), and Beauty and the Dogs (2017) which received positive reviews from numerous renowned international film festivals such as the Cannes (Un Certain Regard) and Dubai International Film Festival.
| Seoul |
6.3(Sun) 11:30 6.5(Tue) 17:30 |
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| Busan |
6.2(Sat) 13:00 6.4(Mon) 20:30 |
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The Poetess
- Saudi Arabia, Germany
- 2017
- 88min
- DCP
- Color, B&W
- Documentary
- Arabic, English, French
- 12+
Asian Premiere
2017 Locarno International Film Festival
2017 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Hissa Hilal is the voice from behind the veil: Her weapon is her word. Hissa is a self-taught writer and she says what she thinks. She decides to take part in the Million's Poet show, an Abu-Dhabi based Multi-Million Dollar TV show. It is the Arab world's biggest poetry competition, and it is dominated by men. Hissa works herself up, becoming the first woman in the finals. In her poems she criticizes the patriarchal Arab society. We’ll never see Hissa's face. Like the majority of Saudi women, Hissa is covered from head to toe. How did she gain the knowledge and the courage to step on stage and risk her life? This is Hissa's story.
Director
Stefanie Brockhaus
Stefanie Brockhaus is an independent filmmaker from Munich, Germany. In 2002 Stefanie graduated from London College of Communications, University of the Arts with a BA in Film and Television. In 2016 Stefanie received her diploma in documentary directing from the Munich University of Television and Film. Her feature directed films are On the Other Side of Life (2010) and The Poetess (2017) which she co-directed with Andreas Wolff, and Some Things are Hard to Talk About (2017).
Director
Andreas Wolff
Andreas Wolff enrolled at USC's Graduate School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles. He continued his studies at HFF University for TV and Film Munich. His documentary debut On the Other Side of Life, which he co-directed with Stefanie Brockhaus, won Main Feature Film Awards at Milan, Ronda and Camden International Film Festivals. The same year Wolff and Brockhaus also won two emerging director awards. The Poetess which he co-directed with Stefanie Brockhaus will premiere at Locarno International Film Festival in 2017.
| Seoul |
6.1(Fri) 14:00 6.6(Wed) 17:30 |
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| Busan |
6.1(Fri) 16:30 6.3(Sun) 18:00 |
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