SOCIALS//تجمعات

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Meet the TAF community

  • TAFF2024: Closing Night Social

    Event Details
    June 30, 2024
    9:00 pm EDT
    Royal Lounge, 720 Spadina Avenue Unit 111, Toronto, ON M5S 2T9

    After the curtain close on the final screening and the awards are revealed, mark your calendars for the finale of this year’s festival at the Royal Lounge on Sunday, June 30. Join TAF and fellow film lovers for the wrap up social – a perfect opportunity to gather, reflect and toast to another year in our journey.  


  • TAFF2024: Producer Accelerator

    Event Details
    June 23, 2024
    10:00 am – 6:00 pm EDT
    Centre for Social Innovation, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2R4

    Join us for a day of immersive learning and networking at the Toronto Arab Film’s exclusive industry event, tailored specifically for directors and producers. Dive into insightful panels and connect with like-minded professionals at our networking socials. Elevate your craft, expand your network, and unlock new opportunities in the vibrant world of Arab cinema in Canada and beyond.

    10:00 am – 10:45 am Breakfast

    11:00 am – 12:00 pm Panel: Feature Film Funding in Canada

    Speakers:

    Christina Piovesan
    • Christina Piovesan

      Christina Piovesan is the founder and principal of First Generation Films, a film and tv production company based in Toronto. Past films include the Cannes Winner Amreeka directed by Cherien Dabis; The Whistleblower directed by Larysa Kondracki, Mouthpiece directed by Patricia Rozema, Paper Year, written and directed by Rebecca Addelman and American Woman directed by Semi Chellas which had its Canadian premiere as a Gala Presentation at TIFF 2019. Her collaboration with Elevation Productions, the production arm of Elevation Pictures, has Christina in post-production on The Exchange directed by Dan Mazer and French Exit directed by Azazel Jacobs. Most recently, Christina was producer on The Nest directed by Sean Durkin which had its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival

    Shant Joshi
    • Shant Joshi

      Shant Joshi is an award-winning producer and president of Fae Pictures, based in New York and Toronto, on a mission to decolonize Hollywood. His credits include award winners at Sundance (Framing Agnes), Red Sea (In Flames), Iris Prize (Scaring Women at Night), Durban (Runs in the Family), premieres at Cannes, Toronto, Canneseries (Streams Flow From A River), Aspen (I Live Here), Palm Springs (Diaspora), Hot Docs, Black Star (Noor and Layla), Bentonville, and BFI London, and nominees for the Canadian Screen Awards (Queen Tut). He was also an executive producer on Nisha Pahuja’s Academy Award ® nominated film To Kill A Tiger, an impact producer on John Greyson’s TEDDY Award-winning film International Dawn Chorus Day, and an associate producer on Ingrid Veninger’s Canadian Screen Award-nominated film Porcupine Lake.

      Shant currently sits on CMPA’s Restructuring, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Committee, and previously was Co-Chair of the BIPOC TV & Film Board, and co-founder of the Future of Film Showcase.

      He is an alum of the Canadian Film Centre, Rotterdam Lab, and Osgoode Hall Law School, and was named a MIPTV Producer to Watch, Reelworld Trailblazer, nominated for an Indiescreen Award, and to York University’s Top 30 Changemakers under 30.

    Aeschylus Poulus
    • Aeschylus Poulus

      Aeschylus Poulus launched Hawkeye Pictures as the Executive Producer on the feature film SLEEPING GIANT.  Prior to Hawkeye, Aeschylus was a Producer at Foundry Films (CAIRO TIME, THE BANG BANG CLUB), where he co-produced Ruba Nadda’s thriller INESCAPABLE, starring Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, and Kate Melville’s acclaimed PICTURE DAY, starring Sundance award-winner Tatiana Maslany; and at Blue Ice where he co-produced the mini-series The Book of Negroes and the thriller OCTOBER GALE, starring Patricia Clarkson. Aeschylus actively forges relationships with domestic and international partners, broadcasters and distributors. 

    12:15 pm – 01:15 pm Panel: Producer Development in Canada & Beyond

    Speakers:

    Shonna Foster
    • Shonna Foster

      Shonna Foster is a highly visual director whose work truthfully centers story and character. She is passionately invested in telling stories that prioritize, investigate, and celebrate Black and POC experiences, and which explore universal themes through relatable characters with strong points of view. 

      A graduate from York University’s Creative Ensemble Theatre Conservatory (BFA Honors), Shonna is described as an ‘actor’s director’ who is all-in, highly committed and collaborative in her approach to the work. She is known for her ability to direct raw talent in scenes with high emotional stakes, and has a strong ability to create compelling imagery through her work in scripted narrative, documentary and branded content. In addition, her passion combined with her reputation for working closely with writers elevates her tenacity for discovering and leaning into compelling stories that lift off the page.

      Shonna made her directorial debut with the short film Residue which debuted at the Reelworld Film Festival, and was also licensed for national television broadcast and streaming through CBC’s Gem. Residue was featured on Breakfast Television, CBC Arts, CHCH TV, TO Indie and Black on Both Sides. Her second film Mothers: Out of A Pandemic, a documentary short Executive Produced by Jennifer Podemski and Lauren Grant is currently in the 2023/2024 festival circuit and won the “Best Long Form Short Documentary Film” at the Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival. Shonna has also directed impactful branded content, including the Gold Series x Pantene campaign which won MLS and Procter & Gamble the Grocer Impact Award.

      As a director, Shonna has successfully completed one-on-one mentorships and director observer-shadowing positions with some of the industry’s leading directors and producers in Canada and the US on various television and film productions.  Her impressive resume highlights almost two decade of key positions and executive positions she has held at award-winning production companies, distribution companies and deeply rooted organizations in Canada’s film and television industry. Shonna has worked on productions for Paramount Pictures/Elevation Pictures, Sony Pictures/Lifetime, Warner/OWN, CBC, Reel One Entertainment, Pier 21 Films, and Bell Media. As a highly regarded team member and sought after asset, Shonna’s all encompassing employment experiences have made her a director who comes with a thorough understanding of the production process and pipeline.  A producer’s dream! 

      Shonna credits her parents’ and Grandparents love of film, television, and music for planting the seed in her developing an understanding of storytelling and deep appreciation and passion for the art of the moving image from a very young age. Whether she was engaged in an extracurricular creative activity or working on set as a child actor, Shonna would watch performers, directors, and crew work at their craft with both intrigue and fascination. She knew from a young age that the world of film and television was where she felt most at home.

      Shonna deeply loves the process of creating and feels equally at home in rehearsal, on set, in a writers room, and in an editing suite. She hopes to leave this world with a body of work that is impactful, motivating, transcends time, elevates the Black community and shifts the world just a little bit. She believes this is best achieved through fostering truthful and meaningful connections with other human beings globally and through the process of collaborating on important works of art – one episode, film, and commercial at a time.

    Coral Aiken
    • Coral Aiken

      Coral Aiken is a director, producer, and hobby gardener based in Toronto. Through her company Aiken Heart Films (AHF), founded in 2014, Coral has been supporting Canadian filmmakers to create short films and narrative features for over a decade.

      Coral’s films have screened in competition at Cannes Cinéfondation, TIFF, Sarajevo, Seattle, Buenos Aires, in the Locarno Academy, and on Nowness.com. AHF is currently in post on The Well, the highly anticipated, narrative feature debut from Oscar-nominated director Hubert Davis. The Well will be released globally by XYZ Films.

      Directed by the acclaimed Canadian director Valerie Buhagiar, Carmen (2022) is Aiken Heart’s first international co-production. Shot in Malta and starring Natascha McElhone, Carmen premiered at the Whistler Film Festival in 2021 winning best cinematography in the Borsos competition, and was a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

      Coral Aiken studied as a director at York University, MFA and at Berlinale Talents. She is an alumna of TIFF Studio, and EAVE. Coral teaches at LIFT, York University and the Canadian Film Centre. 

      Coral is represented by the United Talent Agency as a line producer and has worked for clients including Lionsgate, Elevation Pictures, Lisa Pictures, Discovery Channel, National Film Board of Canada, Scythia Films, Film Forge, MDFF, and Babe Nation Creations.

    Dan Montgomery
    • Dan Montgomery

      Dan Montgomery, b. 1985, is a Toronto-based producer of film and commercials. In 2009 he co-founded the production company MDFF. His short and feature length films have screened at some of the world’s top festivals including: the New York Film Festival, Cannes Critics’ Week, Berlinale, Venice, Locarno, SXSW and TIFF. His 2022 feature, THE MAIDEN, premiered in competition as part of Giornate degli Autori at the 79th Venice Film Festival where it won the Cinema of the Future Award. His most recent feature MATT AND MARA had its world premiere at the 74th Berlinale as part of the competition program Encounters.

      As a freelance commercial line producer, he has worked for such production companies as Animals, Merchant, CANADA, Radioaktivefilm, Eleanor, Smuggler, Steam, Colossale, OPC,  Furlined, Love Song, Tool of North America, Revolver, Asymetric, Suneeva, as well as various ad agencies: Energy BBDO, Preacher, Rethink, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Deutsch LA, GUT, TBWA\CHIAT\DAY, Cossette, FCB, Leo Burnett, Anomaly, Juliet, The Hive, lg2, Wunderman Thompson, Motive, TAXI, Erich & Kallman, among others.

      In addition to producing films, he has also co-run a monthly screening series in Toronto since 2013, MDFF Selects now presented at the TIFF Lightbox.

    01:15 pm – 02:15 pm Lunch

    02:15 pm – 03:15 pm Mentorship Meetings

    Filmmakers interested in applying to the mentorship meetings must indicate their interest via this form. Limited spaces available.

    3:30-4:30pm: Panel: Impact Producing & the Power of Community

    Speakers:

    Sholeh Fabbri
    • Sholeh Alemi Fabbri

      Sholeh Alemi Fabbri has been producing award-winning content for two decades and has received three Canadian Screen Award nominations. For seven years as the Executive Producer of Entertainment Tonight Canada, Sholeh built the ET Canada brand for broadcast and online. Her award-winning special Canada Together: In Concert showcased superstars including Shania Twain, Lady A, and Christopher Plummer raising over $300,000 for Food Banks Canada and music industry personnel impacted by the Covid-19 shutdowns. Working with HitPlay Productions on Last of the Right Whales about the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, marks Sholeh’s return to documentary storytelling. She is currently developing Eclipse, a feature film with co-producer Heather Haldane (Maudie) as well as other projects on her growing slate. Sholeh sits on two boards including Story Money Impact, a charity which connects mediamakers to changemakers and Artists for Peace and Justice (Canada), a non-profit organization that supports access to education for impoverished youth in Haiti. Being able to transform inspiration into impact is incredibly rewarding and why Sholeh launched Good Measure Productions.

    Anna Fahr
    • Anna Fahr

      Anna Fahr is a multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker, educator, and founder of Morning Bird Pictures Inc. (formerly Sepasi Films, est. 2003), a production company dedicated to creating films with social impact that focus on the contemporary Middle East and its diaspora.

      Anna’s last narrative short, Transit Game examines the refugee crisis in Lebanon against the backdrop of the Syrian war. The film screened in over fifty international festivals since premiering in the fall of 2014, winning prizes in Berlin, San Francisco and Florence, among others.

      Anna’s first independent feature-length documentary, Khaneh Ma: These Places We Call Home, examines questions of cultural identity and dual-nationality from the vantage point of three generations of Iranians living in Iran, Canada, and Germany. The film screened in international festivals worldwide and was theatrically released in Montreal.

      Anna’s latest projects include two interactive web documentaries that focus on experiences of exile and migration through a female lens. Migrant Mothers of Syria was financed by the Bell Fund and produced in collaboration with Emmy award-winning new media company, Stitch Media. The webdoc recently premiered as part of the Academy Award qualifying Doc Edge Festival’s Exhibition program and won a Golden Sheaf Award for Best Digital Media at the 2020 Yorkton Film Festival. My Life in Limbo was financed by the Canada Council for the Arts and premiered at Montreal Digital WebFest 2020, winning the Jury Prize.

      Anna is currently in post-production on the feature-length narrative film, Valley of Exile (Prod. Morning Bird Pictures, Six Island Productions, Hawkeye Pictures) with financing from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council and in development on Places in Between (Prod. Clique Pictures, Rep. Great North Artists Management) with financing from the Harold Greenberg Fund and Telefilm Canada.

      Anna holds a BFA in Film Production from Concordia University in Montreal, an MFA in Screenwriting from Hollins University in Virginia and an MA in Film and Middle Eastern Studies from New York University.

      For more information about Anna’s current projects in development, please contact: info@annafahr.com

    Chrisann Hessing
    • Chrisann Hessing

      Chrisann Hessing is a documentary filmmaker and impact producer based in Toronto. She has produced award-winning short films that have screened at Hot Docs, RIDM, Global Impact Film Festival and the London Asian Film Festival. Her work has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Inspirit Foundation, BravoFACT! Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent and Telefilm Canada.

      Chrisann’s short film, Turning Tables, won Best Short Documentary at the 43rd American Indian Film Festival, and has screened in over 30 film festivals internationally.

      Her debut feature, We Will Be Brave, premiered at the Calgary International Film Festival and won Audience Choice Feature Film at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival in 2023.

      She is passionate about using visual storytelling as a tool to educate, raise awareness, and inspire positive change, and has collaborated with a number of community arts organizations including TIFF, JAYU, and the Doc Institute. She currently sits on the board of POV Magazine.

      She previously worked as Festival Manager at Breakthroughs Film Festival, the only festival in Canada devoted exclusively to short films made by emerging women & non binary directors

      Currently, Chrisann works as an Associate Impact Producer at Ring Five Impact Docs, a boutique impact producing and grassroots distribution company based in Toronto.

    Yazmeen Kanji
    • Yazmeen Kanji

      Yazmeen Kanji is a Muslim Indo-Caribbean filmmaker, the Advocacy and Outreach Lead at BIPOC TV & Film, as well as the founder of Films With A Cause – a consulting startup for authentic storytelling practices. She graduated as a Dean’s Scholar from the University of Toronto in 2020, where she studied Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity and Cinema Studies. Throughout her undergrad, Yazmeen was offered grants to work on research projects exploring the social and political consequences of misrepresenting marginalized communities. Yazmeen is a Hot Docs Accelerator Fellow, a member of the Transmedia Zone and Social Ventures Zone at TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University) and a cohort member of Inspirit’s Narrative Change Lab alongside other Muslim creatives and content creators.

      Her first documentary, From Syria To Hope (2019), explores the resettlement of Syrian refugee families and was awarded Best Short Doc at the 2019 Toronto Short Film Festival. Yazmeen directed With Love From Munera (2020), about a young storyteller’s healing journey, which premiered at the 2020 Inside Out Film Festival and was an official selection at TIFF Next Wave 2021 and the 2021 Breakthroughs Film Festival. With Love From Munera won the Audience Choice Award at the Breakthroughs Film Festival and Yazmeen was a guest on CBC Metro Morning to discuss the film’s success. With Love From Munera is available to stream on the digital TIFF Bell Lightbox site and has screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox numerous times. Yazmeen has directed video series for organizations including World Table (2020) about refugee chefs for Matthew House and an anti-hate series for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, highlighting Muslim women and non-binary people who have faced discrimination within and beyond their communities. Yazmeen also directed Eadie’s first music video, L.O.E (Loyalty Over Everything), released in June 2021.  

      Yazmeen supported Charles Officer’s production company, Canesugar Filmworks, and projects directed by the Oscar nominated Sami Khan. Yazmeen has worked on CBC original series including The Porter and Zarqa as the Social Media Manager, as well as a cultural consultant on a number of documentaries.

      Yazmeen’s first narrative short about an Indo-Caribbean Muslim teen who daydreams throughout her day will be released in the Fall of 2023, partially funded by the Ontario Arts Council. Yazmeen is in development on her first feature film funded by the Hot Docs Cross Currents Fund and executive produced by Charles Officer and Jake Yanowski – a documentary following the journey of one of the first recipients of a Bone Marrow Transplant to be potentially cured of Sickle Cell Disease in Canada.

      Alongside her filmmaking work, Yazmeen publicly speaks about the importance of representing communities of her intersections and works in consulting capacities on productions to ensure stories and marketing campaigns portray historically marginalized communities in meaningful ways.

    04:30 pm – 06:00 pm Social

    Breakfast & lunch included

    Special thanks to our community partner DGC Ontario and venue partner Centre for Social Innovation

    DGC Ontario Logo
    Centre For Social Innovation (CSI) Logo

  • TAFF2024: Opening Social

    Event Details
    June 21, 2024
    9:30 pm EDT
    Pamenar, 307 Augusta Avenue, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2

    Calling all art and film enthusiasts! Come together with us as we celebrate the opening of the 5th annual Toronto Arab Film Festival on Friday, June 21st, at Pamenar. Mark your calendars and join the festivities as we mark a milestone in TAF’s young but significant history – our 5 year anniversary of celebrating Arab film and filmmakers.


  • TAFF2023: Community Conversation

    Event Details
    June 3, 2023
    2:30 – 4:00 PM EDT
    1411_D, 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit D, Toronto, ON M6H 4C7

    We 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.


  • Mix & Mingle + Panel on “Creative Vision vs. Industry Expectations”

    May 5, 2023
    7:00 pm EDT
    Hale Coffee, 300 Campbell Avenue, Toronto, ON M6P 3V6

    An evening of networking, food, and music at Hale Coffee. An opportunity to meet filmmakers, industry professionals and film enthusiasts all in one fun evening, including a panel on “Creative Vision vs. Industry Expectations: A conversation about how to be the most important voice in the work you do” with Tamara Mariam Dawit, Aisha Jamal, Jude Chehab and Sherien Barsoum, moderated by Rolla Tahir.

    Panel:

    Creative Vision vs. Industry Expectations: A conversation about how to be the most important voice in the work you do

    An intimate conversation on “Creative Vision vs. Industry Expectations: A conversation about how to be the most important voice in the work you do” with special guests: filmmaker and industry executive, Tamara Mariam Dawit, filmmaker and programmer, Aisha Jamal, Lebanese-American filmmaker, Jude Chehab and filmmaker Sherien Barsoum. Moderated by filmmaker and TAF’s co-founder Rolla Tahir.

    Moderator:

    Rolla Tahir, Filmmaker, TAF Co-founder & Artistic Director
    • Rolla Tahir

      Rolla Tahir is a filmmaker and director of photography based in Toronto. She’s lensed short, narrative and experimental films, which screened across Canada and internationally, including the UK, Germany, and the United States. Obsessed with the durability, longevity and spontaneity of the analog film medium, Rolla has worked with Super 8, 16mm and 35mm to explore the analog process and its possibilities.

    Speakers:

    Tamara Mariam Dawit, filmmaker and industry executive
    • Tamara Mariam Dawit

      Tamara Mariam Dawit is an Ethiopian-Canadian award-winning filmmaker and arts industry executive. She has experience producing arts content and campaigns for organizations, including Save the Children, Girl Effect, Keep a Child Alive, and Make Poverty History. She has a long history of managing training labs and export missions and has advised on programs and policies to support the screen sector for DW Akademie, UNESCO, Afreximbank, EUNIC, Canada Media Fund and the Ethiopian government. 

      Tamara is an alumnus of the Berlinale and Durban Talents and has been awarded fellowships by Docs in Progress, Logan Nonfiction and TIFF. Her film Finding Sally won the Doc Institute Vanguard Award, Adiaha Award and the Gordon Parks Award, among others. Tamara, a 2023 Chalmer Arts Fellow, is producing a slate of Ethiopian films.

    Jude Chehab, Lebanese-American filmmaker
    • Jude Chehab

      Jude Chehab is a Lebanese-American filmmaker based between New York and Beirut. Her cinematic interests have drawn her to the exploration of the esoteric, the spiritual and the unspoken. A richly layered visual and intimate personal shooting style developed under the mentorship of Abbas Kiarostami’s final student group; Jude has been credited in collaborations with the BBC, Refinery29, Oxfam GB, and Doctors Without Borders. She has worked as a DP internationally, on films in Somalia, Sudan and Pakistan and was an AP on Sesame Street’s Ahlan Simsim. Her work has been awarded fellowships through: CAAM, BGDM, NeXtDoc, Points North Institute, Firelight Media, Close-Up and Chicken & Egg. Jude is currently in post production on her first feature documentary and has been supported by: IDA, ITVS, TFI, and Sundance. In 2021, Filmmaker Magazine named her one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Her short film 300 Days of Sun, will be screening at this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival. And her debut feature, Q, will be screening at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. judechehab.com

    Aisha Jamal, filmmaker and programmer
    • Aisha Jamal

      Aisha Jamal is a filmmaker and film programmer based in Toronto, Canada. Her films have played venues and festivals world wide. Her work often centers on people and their resilience in life. Aisha’s feature film debut A KANDAHAR AWAY, about her family’s connection the small Saskatchewan, Canada hamlet of Kandahar, premiered in 2019 at the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in Toronto, Canada and is currently available to stream on CBC Gem and playing on television on the documentary channel. Her previous short films include the award winning THE LONG WAY HOME (2017) and SEEDS OF THE PAST (2016). She recently directed, co-produced and co-wrote the documentary web series HOW WE DIE, an eleven part series about rethinking our relationship to death and dying. Aisha’s short, Field Notes, will be screening at Hot Docs Film Festival this year. aishajamalfilms.com

    Sherien Barsoum, Filmmaker
    • Sherien Barsoum

      Sherien Barsoum is a producer with the National Film Board of Canada. As an independent filmmaker she directed and produced CynaraRide for Promise and Player Zero, winning the Hot Docs Short Film Pitch and Best Canadian Documentary at NorthWest Fest. She was the producer of Dreams in Vantablack and Babe, I Hate To Go, which played top festivals internationally and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. Sherien was also the story consultant on the Oscar-shortlisted Frame 394 and co-produced House of Z, the first feature bought and distributed by Condé Nast, now on Netflix. Sherien is a founding member of the Racial Equity Media Collective, which uses research to advocate on behalf of racialized creators in Canada. She is also the former Director of Programming for the Reelworld Film Festival and served as a board member of the Documentary Organization of Canada.

    ​Sincerest thanks to Hale Coffee for making this event possible and their continuous support.

    Hale Coffee Logo

  • TAFF2022: Closing Night Party

    Event Details

    May 29, 2022
    9:00 pm EDT
    Little Sito, 840 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6G 1M2

    Join us for the closing night party, mix and mingle with Festival attendees and filmmakers at Little Sito.


  • TAFF2022: Opening Day Lunch

    Event Details

    May 26, 2022
    3:00 pm EDT
    Little Sito, 840 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6G 1M2

    Join us for the opening day event party,  a meet and greet lunch hosted at Little Sito.


  • TAFF2020: Closing Night Party

    Postponed due to COVID-19

    April 26, 2020
    8:30 pm EST
    Centre for Social Innovation, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2R4

    Join us for the closing night party and awards ceremony.


  • TAFF2020: Bazaar

    Postponed due to COVID-19

    April 26, 2020
    4:00 pm EDT
    Innis Town Hall Theatre, 2 Sussex Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5

    Join us for a market showcasing local vendor arts and crafts.


  • TAFF2020: Opening Night + Iftar

    Postponed due to COVID-19

    April 23, 2020
    8:30 pm EDT
    Innis Town Hall Theatre, 2 Sussex Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5

    Join us for an informal meet and greet Iftar following the opening night screening.


  • TAFF2020: Launch Party

    Postponed due to COVID-19

    April 9, 2020
    7:30 pm EDT
    Hale Coffee, 300 Campbell Ave Unit, Toronto, ON M6P 3V6

    An evening of food, entertainment and mingling with film lovers and industry professionals to celebrate the launch of the inaugural Toronto Arab Film Festival.