"I Save Babylon" Benefit Concert Features World Music

Features house/electronica DJ's including Algeria's DJ Pheeko Dubfunk Trio.

I Save Babylon is the first of an ongoing annual concert event whose mission is to raise money to provide instruments to community outreach and youth centers for the children of Iraq. Some Iraqi children have never touched a musical instrument due to devastating effects of poverty and ongoing conflicts. This concert was created in the hope of bringing inspiration to the children of Iraq so they can envision a brighter future for themselves and their community through unity and music.

When asked about the purpose of the concert, MC Rai stated that "...having an opportunity to express myself musically while growing up in Tunisia gave me the ability to adapt to different cultures and understand the real meaning of tolerance. This is why I wanted to create an evening of not only sharing the music of Cheb Khaled and North Africa, but also an opportunity to give back to young people that need the hope that musical expression creates."

After the Cup posterThe documentary After The Cup begins with a huge victory, the kind that is usually saved for the end of a sports film: the professional soccer team B'nei Sakhnin ("Sons of Sakhnin") has just won the Israeli cup, and everyone is celebrating; it's a storybook underdog triumph pulled off by the poorest team in Israel's premier league, and one expects the film to backtrack and tell the tale of how the team got there.

Instead we get a different story, though one that's no less compelling—an account of the year that follows that championship season. Filmmakers Alexander and Christopher Browne have fashioned an all-access pass into the B'nei Sakhnin—truly a united-nations of a soccer club, fielding Arab, Jewish, and foreign-born players, owned by an Arab (Mazen Ghanayem) and coached by a Jew (Eyal Lachman)—as it tries to live up to its newly-gained status.

Orphan WhispersOn Saturday, May 1st, the organizers of Orphan Whispers present their debut event to raise awareness about their work on behalf of orphans in Iraq. The Saadoun Albayati Ensemble, Wael Kakish and members of Kan Zaman, the Unison Interfaith Choir, as well as a children's "blind" choir and kirtan drummers are donating their time, in a dynamic concert to raise funds for Iraqi orphans.

Order tickets from unisonchoir.org.

The mission of Orphan Whispers is to aid orphans in conflict and post-conflict societies by providing basic necessities, educational scholarships and leadership development in order to rebuild communities.

Be the change you want to see in the world. —Mahatma Gandhi

Istanbul cityscape

LATAA School has two classes:

1 - Kids class: ages 5-11
2 - Adult class: 13 and up

This Year LATAA School continues its classes at Levantine Cultural Center.

When Tupac Shakur spit tracks in the ‘90s about American racism, poverty, social injustice, and life in the hood, he probably had no idea that he would later become one of the most revered cultural icons for thousands of young Palestinians.

Slingshot Hip Hop, the DVD: $25 per copy for personal home use only"Slingshot Hip Hop," a 2008 documentary from the New York-based director, producer and editor Jackie Reem Salloum, follows the burgeoning Palestinian hip hop scene from the mixed (Arab and Jew) cities in Israel to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The documentary focuses on the members of the first Palestinian hip hop crew, DAM, who describe how they learn English by translating 2Pac's lyrics into Arabic. [Levantine Cultural Center was the first organization to bring DAM to Southern California for a live performance, back in 2007.]

Love Park: your purchase benefits in part LCC (click image to buy)
Love Park may be for the City of Brotherly Love what cult classic Confederacy of Dunces was to the Big Easy. At first glance, LOVE Park is a timeless coming of age story in which the angst-ridden protagonist struggles to find his way. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the stage for this modern day Greek tragedy, though at times it might have been the ancient Philadelphia of Asia Minor. The University of Pennsylvania and Temple University are akin to Dunces' Tulane University and the University of Louisiana, and Greek Orthodoxy rather than Catholicism explains the religious zeal and anguish.

Fictional Peter Pappas is the middle son in a Greek-American family ingrained in Old Country ways, yet vested in American pop culture. He lives with his priest father, mother and extended family-a family intent on keeping secrets in the name of tradition and sanctity. Both Peter and the plot itself straddle a ubiquitous midpoint. Details like Peter's July 4th birth date serve to accentuate the central Greek-American theme.

Levantine Cultural Center is pleased to sponsor a new project that builds bridges between Americans and the Middle East through both art and youth.

The Wedding SongWe saw an early screening of the latest film from writer/director Karin Albou (a progressive French Algerian Jewish filmmaker) and highly recommend "The Wedding Song" or "Le Chante des mariés." The two young women playing Nour and Myriam are both excellent, as are Simon Abkarian and Karin Albou herself. —Editor.

Tunis, 1942. Nour and Myriam, 16, have been friends since childhood. They share the same house in a modest neighborhood where Jews and Muslims live in harmony. Each one secretly desires the other girl's life: while Nour regrets that she doesn't go to school like her friend, Myriam dreams of love. She is envious of Nour's engagement to her cousin Khaled, a sort of fantasy of the charming Arabian prince that they both share. (See trailer below.)

Dismantling the Axis of Evil (new)

This program includes a brief review of roles in film and television, followed by a spirited dicussion, and questions from the audience. Panelists include Ahmed Ahmed, comedian and actor, Reza Aslan, author of No God, but god and How to Win a Cosmic War; John Tehranian, attorney and author of Whitewashed: America's Invisible Middle Eastern Minority; Maz Jobrani, actor and comedian ("Axis of Evil Comedy Tour"; "The Interpreter"); and Shiva Rose, actress ("David & Layla," "CSI Miami"), activist and playwright.