OPENING NIGHT: "DESERT FLOWER"
New England Premiere

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 
6:30PM
Cloud Place
647 Boylston St., Boston, MA

The festival launches with a pre-release New England debut screening of Desert Flower. The film – already a hit in Europe – tells the story of a young Somali who becomes one of the world’s top supermodels. Born into a family of goat-herding nomads, Waris Dirie goes from African deserts to fashion’s hottest runways. Yet behind the glamorous façade of Dirie’s new life lies a violent childhood secret: a scarring encounter with female genital mutilation. After revealing her hidden past at the height of her career, Dirie decides to dedicate her life to fighting FGM.

A panel discussion with local anti-FGM activist Afrah Farah and Susan McLucas and a catered reception will follow this special pre-release screening. Space is limited, RSVP here.

CRITIC’S PICK: "UN PROPHETE"
Monday, April 11, 2011 
6PM
French Cultural Center
53 Marlborough St., Boston, MA

The Consul General of France and the French Cultural Center co-present this Oscar-nominated drama about a North African petty criminal thrust into a Corsican prison at age 18. With an entrepreneurial edge and an ear for languages, Malik El Djebena endures the standard brutalities of incarceration while quickly learning the "ways" of the prison, an institution torn between Arab and Corsican gangs.

AIC’s Nasser Weddady leads a Q&A following the screening. Space is limited, RSVP (617-912-0400)

LIVE MUSIC: "THE TAQWACORES"
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 
6PM
BU Central at Boston University
1 University Rd., Boston, MA

Yusuf Ali is an engineering student from Syracuse who moves off campus with a jumble of Muslim housemates. Their house hosts jam sessions, punk parties, and prayer sessions, as friends who shy away from the college’s Muslim student group find an unorthodox setting for Friday prayers. The Taqwacores tells an offbeat story of Muslim punk rockers, feminists in burqas, and young Americans struggling to be iconoclasts and Muslims at the same time.

Following the screening, Michael Muhammad Knight, author of the novel The Taqwacores,will be on hand for a brief Q&A, and Philadelphia band Sunny Ali & the Kid will perform a live set. The “urban cowboy” duo of Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Malik has earned coverage in Fader and on MTV for their artful wrangling of punk, indie, and country music. Space is limited, RSVP here.

DIRECTOR’S CUT: "SHAHADA"
Thursday, April 14, 2011
6PM
Goethe Institut
170 Beacon St., Boston, MA

The Goethe Institut and AIC co-present German-Afghani director Burhan Qurbani’s acclaimed feature debut followed by an exclusive discussion with the director. Shahada explores how the fates of three German-born Muslims collide as they struggle to find their place in contemporary Berlin society. Pulled between tolerance and radicalism, Qurbani’s characters are caught at a crossroads where alluring liberated lifestyles conflict with traditional expectations.

This is the film’s premier in Boston. Space is limited, please RSVP here.

 

ART UNDER FIRE: "OFFSIDE"
Friday, April 15, 2011
7PM
Paramount Theater
555 Washington Street Boston, MA

Despite a ban on females at football stadiums, one young fan disguises herself as a boy to see a World Cupqualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, evading ticket agents, guards and Iranian law – until she is discovered and thrown into the stadium’s holding pen with other female fans. Presented as part of the Boston Muslim Film Festival, the critically-acclaimed OFFSIDE tells the story of a young Iranian girl who, in a show of rebellion increasingly common for Muslim youth in a modern world, will stop at nothing to support the game she loves.

The Boston Society of Film Critics will present a statement in support of the release of the film's director, Jafar Panahi, imprisoned in Iran since December 2010. Space is limited, purchase tickets here, by calling 617-824-8000, or at an ArtsEmerson Box Office.

 

CYBER-DISSIDENTS: "THE GREEN WAVE" & MIDEAST VIRAL VIDEOS
New England Premier

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
6:30PM
Starr Auditorum, Harvard Kennedy School
79 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge, MA

The Green Wave opened to critical acclaim in January at Sundance and now makes its Boston premier. Ali Samadi Ahadi’s documentary integrates animation with live-action footage, activist testimonials, and posts from Iranian bloggers who dared to challenge the ruling mullahs in the wake of a stolen 2009 election. Those protests – fusing online and real-world activism – helped set the stage for the grassroots uprisings currently spreading across the Middle East and beyond.

Following “The Green Wave,” AIC’s Nasser Weddady will narrate a brief presentation of the most gripping viral videos coming from the ongoing Mideast protests. These films will then be discussed by a panel of leading social media experts, including Jillian York for Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Albert Einstein Institution's Jamila Raqib.

 

VOILA!: "MUSULMANS DE FRANCE"
New England Premier

Thursday,  April 21, 2011
6PM
French Cultural Center
53 Marlborough St., Boston, MA

Presented with the Consul General of France, Karim Miské’s acclaimed documentary Musulmans de France reopens France’s history to look back at the 20th century as lived by the country’s Muslims. The young documentarian pieces together the evolution of French Muslims’ cultural identity, including interviews with icons like Abdel Raouf Dafri, screenwriter of Un Prophete (see April 11 screening above). This New England premier screening of the documentary’s concluding section features (among other characters) an interfaith priestess, a top female Senator, and a French-Congolese rapper.

The screening will conclude with a brief Q&A, followed by a catered reception marking the close of the film festival. Space is limited, please RSVP (617-912-0400)