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Event Details
June 1, 2023
7:00 PM EDT
VirtualScreenings:
Lower Ground//الطابق السفلي
Country: Lebanon, United Kingdom
Director: Firas Itani
Length: 13 mins
Synopsis: When a concierge begins to prepare dinner for his nephew, a resident demands his immediate assistance. The concierge finds himself torn between attending to his employer’s never-ending requests and the boy’s growing hunger. Left unsupervised, the boy sets out to make his dinner, ultimately taking a drastic turn.
The Disaster Cannot Be Contained//كان يمكن أن لا أكون
Country: Netherlands, Lebanon
Director: Diana Al-Halabi
Length: 25 mins
Synopsis: Starting with her obsessive love of ports, filmmaker Diana Al-Halabi narrates her experience on a tugboat in the port of Beirut in 2017.
Killing Bagheera//بطلان
Country: Germany
Director: Muschirf Shekh Zeyn
Length: 13 mins
Synopsis: Alan and Bekes are refugees and want to enter Europe. This simple premise forms the narrative for a claustrophobic and intense drama surrounding friendship, courage, dreams and how the other half life.
Traces//آثار
Country: Canada, Lebanon
Director: Chantal Partamian
Length: 9 mins
Synopsis: In the midst of the rubble of a torn building, a reel of film.
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Event Details
June 1, 2023
7:00 pm EDT
VirtualScreenings:
Fiasco//فياسكو
Country: Lebanon, Netherlands
Director: Nicolas Khoury
Length: 70 mins
Synopsis: The strong and, at time, dysfunctional relationship that binds Nicolas to his family after the death of his father.
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Event Details
June 1, 2023
7:00 pm EDT
VirtualScreenings:
Foragers//اليد الخضراء
Director: Jumana Manna
Length: 64 mins
Synopsis: Foragers depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine/Israel with wry humour and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee, and Jerusalem, it employs fiction, documentary, and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. By reframing the terms and constraints of preservation, the film raises questions around the politics of extinction, namely who determines what is made extinct and what gets to live on.
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Event Details
June 1, 2023
7:00 pm EDT
VirtualScreenings:
Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?//بشتقلك ساعات
Country: Egypt, Lebanon, Germany
Director: Mohammad Shawky Hassan
Length: 63 mins
Synopsis: Pop clichés are twisted with the love between two men who encounter a polyamorous chorus of lovers.
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Event Details
June 1, 2023
7:00 PM EDT
VirtualScreenings:
04.23.2018//A Hail Mary
Country: Canada
Director: Faisal Karadsheh
Length: 10 mins
Synopsis: 04.23.2018// A Hail Mary explores the intricacies and unique challenges faced by Karadsheh’s family during their immigration to Toronto, from the widely-publicized death of his grandfather to the personal experiences and intimacies of home.This film was supported by the Toronto Arab Film x Trinity Square Video Filmmaker Commission.
Simo
Country: Canada
Director: Aziz Zoromba
Length: 23 mins
Synopsis: The usual rivalries and jealousies that exist between the two teenage brothers Simo and Emad take a dangerous turn that may seriously impact the future of their family.
Space Woman//إمرأة فضاء
Country: Lebanon
Director: Hadi Moussally
Length: 20 mins
Synopsis: Maha, in her sixties, decides at the dawn of her retirement life to realize her craziest dream in her own way
Olive Planet//كوكب الزيتون
Country: Germany
Director: Shehab Fatoum
Length: 14 mins
Synopsis: Jihad, who dreams of becoming a footballer on Oliver Planet, decides to stand by the uprising against the government and the army, but of course secretly.
Back//العودة
Country: Netherlands, Syrian Arab Republic
Director: Yazan Rabee
Length: 7 mins
Synopsis: What it is like to be confronted in the dead of night with mortal fear, trauma and displacement.
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Event Details
June 1, 2023
07:00 PM EDT
VirtualScreenings:
Kingdom of Strangers//مملكة الغرباء
Country: Egypt, United States
Director: Randa Ali
Length: 15 mins
Synopsis: On the Pacific coast of Los Angeles, Ali and Yaffa struggle to remember the Arab Mediterranean cities they have left behind.
He’s Dead Now//هو ميت ألان
Country: Egypt
Director: Tarek El Sherbeny
Length: 12 mins
Synopsis: Hazem is distraught after his family secrets are made public when his mother decides to expose his late father’s sexual affairs during his funeral rites.
Crocodile Tears//تمساح
Country: Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Director: Khaled Moeit
Length: 16 mins
Synopsis: On a road that is overshadowed by its roamers, a Taxi driver takes off with his cousin who wants to deliver money to another city.
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Event Details
June 2, 2023
6:45 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
Mediterranean Fever//حمى البحر المتوسط
Country: Palestine, France, Germany, Qatar, Cyprus
Director: Maha Haj
Length: 108 mins
Synopsis: Waleed develops a close relationship with his neighbor, a small-time crook with an ulterior plot in mind that leads them into a journey of dark encounters.
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Event Details
June 3, 2023
1:00 PM EDT
1411_D, 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit D, Toronto, ON M6H 4CScreenings:
Hamza: Chasing the Ghost Chasing Me
Country: Palestine| 2022
Director: Ward Kayyal
Length: 18 mins
Synopsis: After recovering from his illness, Hamza returns to the forest to hunt a vicious lion that devours his memory.
Paradiso, XXXI, 108
Country: Palestine, Germany
Director: Kamal Aljafari
Length: 19 mins
Synopsis: Nothing can be heard anymore; the roar of our plane absorbs every other sound. We are heading straight to the world’s biggest display of soundproof fireworks, and soon we will drop our bombs.
Buzz
Country: Sudan
Director: Mohamed Fawi
Length: 20 mins
Synopsis: As her health deteriorates, a mother watches her son and daughter prepare for her inevitable passing and their new reality.
The Window//ما بعد آب
Country: Lebanon
Director: Sarah Kaskas
Length: 16 mins
Synopsis: A year after Beirut’s port explosion, Basma and Mariam reunite in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship.
Memory’s Consolation//في عزاء الذاكرة
Country: Lebanon
Director: Chadi Hazime
Length: 18 mins
Synopsis: After Hilton’s door had been closed for many years, the light was finally seen when the director decided to send a public invitation to watch his Big Show inside the ancient art shelter “”Hilton Cinema – Al-Mreijeh District””. As soon as the show began, he was surprised by another realistic show, to explore the past and history of Hilton Cinema, which was the silent witness to many of the harsh circumstances that occurred in this region
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Event Details
June 3, 2023
2:30 – 4:00 PM EDT
1411_D, 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit D, Toronto, ON M6H 4C7We want to hear from you – our audience, the filmmakers, the aspiring creatives who want to contribute to shaping what TAF could be in the future. Join us to think and strategize about the potentialities and possibilities of how we can better serve our various stakeholders.
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Event Details
June 4, 2023
3:00 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
04.23.2018//A Hail Mary
Country: Canada
Director: Faisal Karadsheh
Length: 10 mins
Synopsis: 04.23.2018// A Hail Mary explores the intricacies and unique challenges faced by Karadsheh’s family during their immigration to Toronto, from the widely-publicized death of his grandfather to the personal experiences and intimacies of home.This film was supported by the Toronto Arab Film x Trinity Square Video Filmmaker Commission.
45th Parallel
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Length: 15 mins
Synopsis: 45th Parallel focuses on the Haskell Free Library and Opera House—a unique municipal site between the jurisdictions of Canada and the United States.
Leila and the Cigarette//ليلى و السيجارة
Country: Canada, Lebanon
Director: Leah Manasseh
Length: 15 mins
Synopsis: In 2011, Leah decided to go to Lebanon to film with her grandmother. Two weeks after the shoot, her grandmother died of metastatic lung cancer. It took her 12 years to get the courage to revisit their last conversations.
Simo
Country: Canada
Director: Aziz Zoromba
Length: 23 mins
Synopsis: The usual rivalries and jealousies that exist between the two teenage brothers Simo and Emad take a dangerous turn that may seriously impact the future of their family.
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Event Details
June 4, 2023
8:00 PM EDT
Innis Quad, 111 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2E8This is a free screening! No tickets required. First come, first served. Please note that the venue can only accommodate 120 people. This is an outdoor screening. Audiences are required to bring their own seating, camping chairs or blankets.
Screenings:
Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo
Country: Canada
Director: Marya Zarif, André Kadi
Length: 72 mins
Synopsis: Forced to leave Syria because of the war, Dounia and her grandparents go in search of a new safe haven.
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Event Details
June 5, 2023
6:00 – 9:00 PM EDT
Goethe Institute, 100 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5J 1V6This workshop will demystify the process of marketing films in the digital age. Dive deep into the principles of positioning, social media marketing, and branding, and learn how to apply these principles to your film promotion strategy. With expert guidance, you’ll learn to position your film, leverage social media to engage and attract audiences, and build a compelling brand that reflects your film’s essence. Whether you’re in pre-production, production, or post-production, this workshop will provide the marketing tools you need to bring your film to market.
Facilitator:
Carolina Oliveira
Carolina Oliveira is Marketing Director at Entertainment One, where she oversees global marketing strategy for digital, physical, AVOD, and FAST. Originally from Brazil, she has been working in the film industry in Canada for the past 15 years. Carolina is passionate about developing innovative campaigns for independent films, mentoring future marketing superstars, and learning about plants.
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Event Details
June 7, 2023
6:00 – 8:00 PM EDT
VirtualRewriting is an essential element in a screenwriter’s toolkit. Understanding why screen stories work and don’t work helps a writer develop their ability to improve their own work. In this workshop, participants will delve into the intricacies of story editing and explore the fundamental principles that make screen stories truly resonate. We will touch on how to work with a story editor and when along the process of writing should you start story editing.
Facilitator:
Abdul Malik
Abdul Malik is a Canadian-Pakistani screenwriter based out of Toronto and Edmonton. He dropped out of film school to pursue the political, spending his twenties working in the labor movement, participating in worker struggles across Canada as an organizer and photojournalist. Abdul returned to the film industry, starting as the co-writer of the Telefilm-funded PEACE BY CHOCOLATE, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Recently, Abdul’s written on Season Three of CTV’s TRANSPLANT, the upcoming Telefilm-funded feature QUEEN TUT, and was Executive Story Editor and a Producer on the Super Channel digital series STREAMS FLOW FROM A RIVER. He is currently a Supervising Producer on a to-be-announced CBC drama, and has a bevy of projects in development with companies such as Shaftesbury, Husk Media, Lark Productions, and Sphere, alongside a first-look deal with Neshama Entertainment. Abdul is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada.
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Event Details
June 8, 2023
6:00 – 7:30 PM EDT
Goethe Institute, 100 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5J 1V6There are many entry ways into the film industry as an emerging filmmaker, whether you want to direct, write, produce or work below the line. This panel focuses on three particular Canadian institutions: Reelworld Institute, Toronto Arts Council and Director’s Guild of Canada. Representatives from each organization will outline the opportunities available to those who want to work in the industry and answer your questions about any of the programs they run.
Speakers:
Safia Abdigir
Safia Abdigir is a Toronto-based arts culture worker specifically interested in the facilitation of diverse perspectives in the Canadian film/visual arts industry. Currently, she’s the Industry Programming Manager at the Reelworld Screen Institute, where she manages the programming of the film festival and runs the year long Producer Programs.
Timaj Garad
Timaj Garad is an Ethiopian-Harari Toronto-based multidisciplinary storyteller (poet, actress, singer-songwriter), arts educator, and community organizer. She works at Toronto Arts Council, where I develop and manage the Black Arts program for Black artists and Black-led organizations. She creates music with genre-bending mix of spoken word poetry, hip-hop, and R&B, soul, afro-jazz, and dance. In 2017, she founded LUMINOUS Fest, Canada’s first Black Muslim arts festival, and later co-founded The Sisters’ Retreat, a retreat series hosting arts-based wellness retreats for Muslim Women.
Marwa Siam Abdou
Marwa Siam Abdou is a film director, a writer and freelance journalist. She is currently the National Outreach manager at the Directors Guild of Canada, a union representing members in the areas of direction, design, production and editing in the country. At the Guild, she oversees and manages equity-focused initiatives and campaigns that amplify the voices of racialized members. Her professional and creative work align, as she is also focused on portraying and telling the stories of people of colour, and particularly women, in her films.
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Event Details
June 10, 2023
1:00 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
The Desert Rocker
Country: Algeria, Morocco, Canada, France
Director: Sara Nacer
Length: 75 mins
Synopsis: The Desert Rocker is an intimate, witty and profound portrait of the extraordinary Hasna El Becharia, a pioneer Gnawa artist.
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Event Details
June 10, 2023
4:00 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
Streams//أطياف
Country: Tunisia
Director: Mehdi Hmili
Length: 122 mins
Synopsis: Amel is released from prison after an adulterous affair. In the violent streets of Tunis, she seeks her missing son Moumen, a young football player destroyed by the scandal.
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Event Details
June 11, 2023
4:00 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
The Lebanese Burger Mafia//مافيا البرجر اللبنانية
Country: Canada, Lebanon
Director: Omar Mouallem
Length: 103 mins
Synopsis: The meaty saga of a rogue fast- food chain with mysterious origins, a cult following, and a secret pathway to the immigrant dream.
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Event Details
June 11, 2023
7:00 PM EDT
The Revue, 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M9Screenings:
A Gaza Weekend
Country: United Kingdom, Palestine
Director: Basil Khalil
Length: 90 mins
Synopsis: When a mutant virus known as ARS breaks out in Israel, people are desperate to get out of the country. Among them are Englishman Michael and Israeli Keren, a wealthy couple who find themselves stranded amidst lockdown. Their only hope is to smuggle their way into the Gaza Strip, which, due to the separation wall, is ironically “the safest place in the world.”
2023 FESTIVAL//مهرجان ٢٠٢٣
PROGRAMME//برنامج
