Safar: The Friday Forum

The Friday Forum takes popular histories of Arab Cinema as a starting point. It brings together internationally renowned experts and leaders from both the academic world and the film industry to debate the past, present and the future of Arab Cinema as a cultural form:

15:00 - 15:45: Popular Arab Cinema - academic perspectives
Speakers:
Dr Viola Shafik: freelance filmmaker, curator and the author of Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity (1999) and Popular Egyptian Cinema: Gender, Class and Nation (2007).
Dr Dina Matar: Head of the Centre of Media and Film Studies at SOAS, editor of the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication.

15:45-16:40: Arab Cinema in the uk - the present and the future
Chaired by Omar Kholeif, Curator of Safar: A Journey Through Popular Arab Cinema
Speakers:
Jason Wood: Director of programming for the Curzon Cinema Group.
Mona Deeley: Founding director of Zenith Foundation.
Ali Jaafar: Executive director of Quinta Communications’ independent film division, and programmer for the London Film Festival.

17:00-18:00: Arab Cinema - in practice
Chaired by Brian Whitaker, Former Middle East Editor of The Guardian and author of What’s Really Wrong with the Middle East (2009)
Speakers:
Hussein Fahmy, Egyptian screen icon and star of Watch Out for Zouzou (1971).
Philippe Aractingi, Lebanese film director of Bosta (2005) and Under the Bombs (2007).
Khalid Abdalla, British/Egyptian actor and star of United 93 (2006) and The Kite Runner (2007).