Access and post more content, build your own profile page -

Iraqi

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, A Memorial Reading

Date/Time: 
Mar 24 2010 7:15pm - 9:00pm
Price: 
Free to the public, donations welcome, books available for purchase
Where: 
Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts
Loyola Marymount University
University Hall, 3rd Floor
Los AngelesCA 90045
The Third Area presents "Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, a Memorial Reading" as part of LA of the Land 2010: Transnational City:

The History, Politics & Future of Arab Jews with Rachel Shabi

Date/Time: 
Mar 10 2010 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Price: 
Free to the public, donations or book purchase suggested. Doors open at 7 pm.
Where: 
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035
street parking and in the underground lot
at the CVS across the street (until 10 pm only)


Arabs Jews, a Critical PresentationArabs Jews, a Critical PresentationVisiting Author Rachel Shabi Presents Her Book We Look Like the Enemy: the Hidden Story of Israel's Jews of Arab Lands

Jordan Elgrably introduces the evening with personal stories and a visual presentation.

"Niloofar", Director's Screening in New Voices Series

Date/Time: 
Mar 18 2010 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Price: 
$12 general, $10 Levantine members & students, includes Q/A and reception
Click here to buy tickets
Where: 
Levantine Cultural Center @ the Goethe-Institut Cinema
5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100
Los Angeles CA 90036
free parking after 6 pm
Reservations by phone: 310.657.5511
"New Voices" Film Series Screens Franco-Lebanese-Iranian Feature


"Niloofar""Niloofar"Levantine Center presents an exclusive director's screening of Niloofar, the acclaimed directorial debut by Franco-Lebanese director Sabine El Gemayel. Filmed in the Khuzestan Province of Iran, near the Iraqi border, this movie is in Persian with English subtitles (82 minutes). This is third film to screen in the New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema series, which takes place every third Thursday of the month. A Q & A with writer/director Sabine El Gemayel will follow the screening.

Niloofar is a twelve-year-old girl whose dream is to read and write, but she lives in a village where education is only for boys. Her mother, a well-known midwife, insists that Niloofar become her apprentice. While assisting her mother during a delivery, Niloofar meets a feminist woman who undertakes to teach her in secret. Unfortunately, in exchange for a palm tree field, Niloofar's father promises her in marriage to an older man once she becomes a woman.

Horrified by this notion, Niloofar does everything in her power to postpone her first periods. Eventually, the inevitable occurs. However, Niloofar, who is determined to keep her freedom as long as possible, arranges to conceal the fact from her family for another two years until the truth can no longer be hidden. Then, rather than live in a marriage without love, Niloofar runs away with her friend. Shocked, her family considers itself dishonored and sends her step-brother to track her down.

Race Matters: Are Middle Easterners Really White?

Subtitle: 
"Whitewashed: America's Invisible Middle Eastern Minority" by John Tehranian

Reviewed by Afsaneh Ashley Tabaddor

What does it mean to be "White" in America today?

War Is Always Bad for Women

Subtitle: 
"Sisters in War" from Christina Asquith Tells Iraq Stories

Reviewed by Sarah Holswade

"The Quiet American" or The Disaster of Our Foreign Policy

Subtitle: 
Israel's eminence grise has a clear vision of the way forward

By Uri Avnery

"Haji Hunting" in Iraq with "The Hurt Locker"

Subtitle: 
Why Are We There?
Omid ArabianOmid ArabianReviewed By Omid Arabian


Awards season is in full swing, and the most lauded film of 2009 appears to be Kathryn Bigelow's actioner The Hurt Locker. It has appeared on almost everyone's best-of-the-year list, and even made it to some best-of-the-decades (Roger Ebert, Time Magazine, etc.) The film follows a trio of U.S. Army officers assigned to bomb-diffusion duty (official euphemism: Explosive Ordnance Disposal) in the heyday of the Iraqi resistance, and there is no denying that it's a top-notch piece of craftsmanship. Eschewing the usual big battle scenes, cartoonish CGI, and deafening sound design, and shooting mostly hand-held, Bigelow and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd take us in with the soldiers as they perform their hair-trigger job in perilously unfamiliar and often hostile surroundings, always an inch away from being blown to bits. The tension level starts already cranked up to 11, and rarely relents.

Yuval Ron Ensemble Performs Mystical Mideast Fusion

Date/Time: 
Jan 31 2010 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Price: 
Suggested donation $20 (includes reception with the artists)
Where: 
All Saints Episcopal Church
132 North Euclid Avenue
Pasadena 91101

Yuval Ron Ensemble: with guests Najwa Gibran, Norik Manoukian, Miriam Peretz, Maya KarassoYuval Ron Ensemble: with guests Najwa Gibran, Norik Manoukian, Miriam Peretz, Maya Karasso


The Yuval Ron Ensemble will perform mystical music and dance of the Middle East. Celebrating the ancient cultures of the three Abrahamic faiths, this concert features musical director Yuval Ron on oud and Norik Manoukian on duduk and woodwinds, with Palestinian vocalist Najwa Gibran, and folkloric dancers Maya Karasso and Miriam Peretz.

Tickets available at the Middle East Ministry Table on Sundays or call 626.583.2734 and speak to Norma Sigmund.

Listen to music sample.

Creative Writing Classes, Saturdays at Levantine Cultural Center

Date/Time: 
Jan 9 2010 2:15pm - Mar 20 2010 5:15pm
Price: 
$120 for four workshops
Where: 
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035
one block east of Crescent Heights, between Fairfax & La Cienega
ample street parking

Levantine Cultural Center in association with The Writing StudioTM offers ongoing classes in creative writing,

Slingshot Hip Hop

Subtitle: 
Word Projectiles for Peace

Reviewed by Jen Reinhardt


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 onlySlingshot 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.]