MEDIA ALERT

CONTACT JORDAN ELGRABLY, 310.402.8866
or DHIA RABIAI, 310.593.3961

FREE TUNISIA ORGANIZATION PRESENTS NEW TUNISIAN FILM FESTIVAL
IN HOLLYWOOD ON ANNIVERSARY OF REVOLUTION, JAN. 10-12, 2012

WHEN: Tues-Thurs, Jan. 10, 11, 12, 2012, 5-10 pm
WHERE: Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 90027
WHY: To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Tunisian democracy revolution
WHO: Tunisian filmmakers, artists, musicians and diplomats
HOW : Tickets are a suggested $10 donation. For tickets/reservations, call 310.657.5511 or 424.242.3856 or go online:

http://www.levantinecenter.org/event/tunisian-film-festival

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Jan 10 2012 5:45pm - Jan 12 2012 10:00pm

Price: 

Tickets $10 (suggested donation)
Seating limited, RSVPs strongly advised. Call 310.657.5511, or 424.242.3856
Click here to donate

Where: 

Barnsdall Gallery Theatre
4800 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
just west of Vermont
free parking

Read KPCC story. On the 1-year anniversary of the Tunisian uprising against an authoritarian regime—an uprising that arguably launched a revolution that continues to shake the world—comes the first film festival dedicated to Tunisian cinema. Following the Tunisian revolution, which after just 28 days saw the departure of dictator President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Free Tunisia.org team met around this unique idea to bring Tunisian cinema and culture to the great city of Los Angeles. Cosponsored by New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema.

By Tony Litwinko

Samir Twair, Syrian activist, journalist and correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, spoke at the Levantine Center on Sunday, November 6, 2011, about the history of and current situation in Syria.

The talk was one in the series "Progressive Conversations on Israel/Palestine and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East," sponsored jointly by the Levantine Center, LA Jews for Peace, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Friends of Sabeel Los Angeles and Orange County.

By Dana Siegelman

Much of what Americans think of the Middle East and our foreign policy toward it over the past ten years has been a response to 9/11. This is understandable. President Bush's neoconservative approach to the "War on Terror" was advocated by those who believed spreading democracy was essentially spreading peace. In a 2003 speech, Bush assessed that "Stability at the expense of freedom, has brought us neither stability nor freedom."  In other words, supporting corrupt dictators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) did not create friendlier or stronger economic partners (except when that partnership centered around oil.)

By Youssef Ait Benasser

The other day, a big wig in the Moroccan blogosphere asked in one of his articles: what has changed in our lives? This question reflects the preoccupation of Moroccan society as a whole with the adoption of the new constitution, which passed on July 2nd, 2011 with a 98% approval rate. The referendum woke up the whole country from an era of political quietism, thus raising people's hopes and expectations for a better tomorrow. Two months have passed since then, and for many, it is now time for assessment, following the popular saying "a good dinner frees its scent as of the early afternoon."

For Immediate Release [Los Angeles May 20] The wave of revolutions that has swept over North Africa and the Middle East has come as a shock to many people in the world. These revolutions that spread over the region have been coined the term Arab Spring. What exactly is the Arab Spring and what does it hold in store for the future? In "Rocking the Casbah: Morocco and the Arab Spring," writer and professor Laila Lalami will discuss the North African uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, before focusing on the case of Morocco, which has experienced its own unique response to this unexpected era of change. The lecture will happen June 2, 2011, at the Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, 90035.

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Jun 2 2011 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Price: 

$12 general admission, $10 members, $5 students with I.D.
to buy tickets call: 310.657.5511 or Click here
free light refreshments

Where: 

Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035
between La Cienega and Fairfax
ample street parking
or in the CVS underground lot (closes 10 pm)

In "Rocking the Casbah: Morocco and the Arab Spring," writer and professor Laila Lalami will discuss the North African uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, before focusing on the case of Morocco, which has experienced its own unique response to this unexpected era of change.

In a letter titled "Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011," published on the Mideast web site 972mag.com, young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel posted the following letter to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa on April 24, 2011.

We, as the descendents of the Jewish communities of the Arab and Muslim world, the Middle East and the Maghreb, and as the second and third generation of Mizrahi Jews in Israel, are watching with great excitement and curiosity the major role that the men and women of our generation are playing so courageously in the demonstrations for freedom and change across the Arab world. We identify with you and are extremely hopeful for the future of the revolutions that have already succeeded in Tunisia and Egypt. We are equally pained and worried at the great loss of life in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and many other places in the region.

[Los Angeles, Apr 4]—Want satirical insights on the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East? Need a fresh and funny perspective on American and Middle Eastern life? Want to laugh about it all? The Sultans of Satire show features some of the best stand-up comedians today who happen to be of Arab, Iranian, Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Middle Eastern Jewish heritage. In "Sultans of Satire Celebrate the Egyptian Revolution," Sultans regulars Mike Batayeh, Noel Elgrably and Elham Jazab, plus Nadine Rajabi, Ara Basil and Sheno Khal will perform live on April 28, 2011, 8:00 pm, where they'll offer their own brand of outrageous comedy. Sultans will perform at the Madrid Theatre, 21622 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA, 91303.

By Chris Cryer

T. E. LawrenceWho has time to read during a revolution? Certainly nobody at Tahrir Square and nobody picking up the pieces in Tunisia or busy in Libya, or in Yemen trying to evaluate government statements of long-term support versus immediate need. I'd say we're the ones with time to read and maybe we should. This may be the best time ever to pull out writers both classic and new who address Middle Eastern history. We can peruse the messages they've left the people that we see rebounding now in terms of revolutionary change.