From Maria Gueriera

By Mischa Geracoulis

"La Graine et le Mulet" by Abdellatif KachicheLevantine Cultural Center presents an exclusive screening and discussion of the critical hit that took France by storm in 2008, winning a César for Best Film, from writer/director Abdellatif Kachiche (Tunisia). 

In this complex and moving portrait of a North African immigrant family in a southern French city, aging protagonist Slimane Bejii is a divorced father down on his luck who seeks to change his fortunes by opening his own restaurant, serving his ex-wife's famous fish couscous. The family rallies around this common cause, despite the financial hurdles they must overcome, and the racial and class discrimination from local officials.

"The Secret of the Grain" is an extraordinary film from Tunisian-born writer/director Abdellatif Kachiche whose cinematic eye successfully enters into the most intimate parts of his characters in a style akin to Italian Neo-Realist films of the 1940s and 1950s. Little wonder the film picked up a César for Best Film and appeared on numerous critics' top ten lists for 2008, including that of A.O. Scott of the New York Times.

A post-film audience discussion will be led by Levantine Cultural Center's artistic director, Jordan Elgrably, whose family emigrated from Morocco to France, and Pani Norindr, Associate Professor of French & Comparative Literature, and Chair of the department of Comparative Literature at USC. Dr. Norindr received his doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. He is the author of Phantasmatic Indochina: French Colonial Ideology in Architecture, Film, and Literature (Duke University Press). He focuses his research on French, Francophone, and Southeast Asian cinema. He has recently published an essay on Rachid Bouchareb's "Days of Glory" in Yale French Studies.

Tickets available here online, or at the door but subject to availability (space is limited).

"The Secret of the Grain" is the first in Levantine Cultural Center's series this year, "New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema", which takes place the third Thursday of each month. The February selection on Feb. 19, 2010 is Amin Matalqa's "Captain Abu Raed."

Read a review of this highly-lauded film in the Levantine Review.

 "La Graine et le Mulet" by Abdellatif Kachiche: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural CenterReviewed by David Shasha

The precarious status of North African immigrants in France grounds the complex family drama that is "The Secret of the Grain." Taking its title from the savory fish couscous that is a signature dish of North African Arabs and Jews, the movie enters into the difficult world of one family led by a broken patriarch named Slimane.

Slimane works on the docks of an unnamed French city where his time as a laborer is about done. After working for over 30 years at the same place, he is now being moved out as labor costs are being slashed and he is now over 60 years old. We quickly learn that Slimane is divorced from his wife Souad and has a whole bunch of children and grandchildren. The film shows us a paterfamilias who is worn out, his family bursting at the seams and tensions everywhere. Souad complains that he is late with the alimony checks and his daughter Karima is fighting mightily with her two-year-old daughter to get her potty trained.

Arabic instructor Dina Abou-SalemRegister Today To Learn Conversational Levantine or "Shami" Arabic Using Dive

By Tamim Ansary

Review by Tara Marie Good

A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes: your purchase benefits in part Levantine Cultural CenterIn 1940 Walter Benjamin wrote, "To articulate what is past does not mean to recognize ‘how it really was.' It means to take control of a memory, as it flashes in a moment of danger." For the German-Jewish Marxist philosopher that moment of danger was the Nazi march on Europe. The moment of danger that inspired Afghani born Tamim Ansary to articulate Islamic history in Destiny Disrupted was September 11th.

Destiny Disrupted is a historical narrative of the Islamic world addressing the chasm seen to separate Western and Middle Eastern histories. The main thesis presented by Ansary is that the history of Islam and the West are two parallel histories, which overlap at points, but are fundamentally separate. Claiming to represent a general Muslim perception, Ansary charts Middle Eastern history from the ancient world to the western colonial and economic expansion in the modern era.

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.

The Wedding Song

The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and Levantine Cultural Center Present a Special Director's Screening of Karen Albou's "The Wedding Song," About Muslim and Jewish Friends in Tunisia

Written and Directed by Karin Albou
2008 | France, Tunisia |100 minutes

Q & A with Karin Albou to follow screening

Language: Arabic, French, German, with English Subtitles.

Viewer Discretion: Explicit nudity.

Seating is limited. Purchase advance tickets here.

Or order tickets by phone from Brown Paper Tickets: 800.838.3006.

Synopsis