The Cinema and Media Studies Program, the Jewish Studies Program, the Middle East Center, and the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department at the University of Pennsylvania, are pleased to present the 2017 edition of NEW MIDDLE EAST CINEMA. Recently released feature films have been selected to represent Middle Eastern societies and cultures through cinema. Each film will be introduced by a presenter with special knowledge of the country, culture, and issues addressed in the film.

 

Our festival is free-admission and open to all!

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Monday, 27 March @ 6:30pm | Introduction: Inbal B. Lessner


Natalie Portman
, 2015 | Israel
The story of Amos Oz’s youth. The film details the young man’s relationship with his mother and his beginnings as a writer.
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Tuesday, 28 March @ 6:30pm | Introduction: Mahyar Entezari


Jafar Panahi
, 2015 | Iran
Jafar Panahi is banned from making movies by the Iranian government, he poses as a taxi driver and makes a movie about social challenges in Iran.
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Wednesday, 29 March @ 6:30pm | Introduction: Ezgi Cakmak


Deniz Gamze Ergüven
, 2015 | Turkey
When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
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Thursday, 30 March @ 6:30pm | Introduction: Rabih Moussawi


Jihane Chouaib
, 2015 | Leabanon
Nada is going home but she is a foreigner in her own country.
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Friday, 31 March @ 6:30pm | Introduction: Huda Fakhreddine


Hany Abu-Assad
, 2015 | Palestine
Mohammed Assaf, an aspiring musician living in Gaza, sets a seemingly impossible goal: to compete on the program “Arab Idol.”