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    Academy Contender "Monsieur Lahzar" Stars Mohamed Fellag
    film opens on 50th anniversary of Algeria's independence; Fellag, best known for his comedic performances, brings sober drama to life
    From our neighbors up north comes Monsieur Lazhar, a French-Canadian film starring Algerian actor Mohamed Fellag. The film is set in a Montreal public school, where the sixth-grade class has just lost their teacher to suicide. As the story begins, two of the kids discover the teacher's body hanging from the ceiling of their classroom.
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    "London River" Asks Us to Reconsider the "Clash of Civilizations"
    Rachid Bouchareb's quiet drama dissects Islamophobia across the pond
    Not a whole lot happens in London River, which sets it apart from Rachid Bouchareb's other recent films - sweeping epics like Days of Glory and Outside the Law. Here, the Franco-Algerian director has elected to work on the other end of the scale, and the result is a small, subtle piece that nevertheless packs a hefty emotional punch.
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    The Everyday Muslim in America Comes to Cable
    TLC's "All American Muslim"
    The Learning Channel's new reality show, All American Muslim, comes along at just the right time to counter Fear, Inc.'s river of anti Arab/Muslim rhetoric. While right-wing pundits like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch make a living spewing anti-Islam epithets, 1.7 million Americans tuned in to watch TLC's first episode take take fear out of the equation by following the mundane lives of several Lebanese Muslims of Dearborn, who turn out to be your everyday, garden-variety Americans.
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    Arab Documentary on Theatre Stands Out in Festival
    Shakespeare's "Richard III" as seen through Arab eyes
    The 15th annual Arab Film Festival made its way from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles for the fourth time on the weekend of October 21, bringing a wide range of narrative and documentary features and shorts. While much of the hoopla revolved around the opening night and centerpiece film (Mohamed Amin's Egyptian Maidens) as well as epics like Rachid Bouchareb's Outside the Law, other films played to smaller but equally enthusiastic audiences.
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    "Circumstance" Reviewed
    Risqué Iranian-American production veers into melodrama
    Set in contemporary Iran in the unseen world of Iranian youth culture, filled with underground parties, sex, drugs and defiance, "Circumstance" is the story of two vivacious young girls -- wealthy Atafeh and orphaned Shireen -- discovering their burgeoning sexuality and, like 16 year-old more »girls anywhere, struggling with their desires and the boundaries placed upon them by the world they were born into.
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    "Cultures of Resistance" Documents Peoples' Movements
    doc travels the globe observing grassroots rebellion from South America to the Middle East
    "Cultures of Resistance," directed by Iara Lee, bills itself as a documentary that "highlights the work of artists, musicians, and dancers throughout the world who are working for peace and justice, and are re-conceiving resistance as a fundamentally creative act." Starting in 2003, Ms. Lee traveled across the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions, documenting grassroots movements for change within various countries.
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    The Dictator's Son: A Familiar Figure Brought to Life by Dominic Cooper
    International cast recreates the opulent years of a decadent regime
    The international independent feature "The Devil's Double" comes off as a sort of glossy Middle Eastern gangster epic replete with blazing guns and psychotic outbursts. The film offers a highly stylized yet emotional experience of the years when Saddam Hussein's evil empire was characterized by the long Iran-Iraq war, the invasion of Kuwait, the Gulf War, and the dastardly exploits of his spoiled and dangerous son Uday.
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    "The Taqwacores" Sheds Light on Mixed Identities in Muslim World
    Novel-turned-film looks at the volatile cocktail of punk and Islam
    When it was released (barely) in theaters last year, Eyad Zahra’s film "The Taqwacores" met with reviews that were tepid at best. I missed the film in that go-round but caught it on DVD (just released) and once again found myself disagreeing with mainstream critics.
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    "God Went Surfing With the Devil"
    new documentary follows surfers in Gaza and their Israeli supporters
    Despite what its title might suggest, God Went Surfing With The Devil is not a horror spoof nor an epic surf flick. It's a documentary look at the Arab-Israeli ‘situation' by first-time director Alexander Klein, a young American skateboarder-turned-filmmaker.
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    "Incendies" is an East-West Tale of War, Love and Exile
    Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal shines as young and middle-aged Nawal
    Rarely has a story about modern war and civil strife so powerfully traversed generations and continents as the Canadian-Arab feature “Incendies.” Montreal-based director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s three-and-a-half-hour play, currently in U.S. theaters, clinched an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film earlier this year. The film took home 8 Geni awards in Canada, including Best Actress for Lubna Azabal. “Incendies” features a little-known Canadian and Arab cast, yet tells a gut-wrenching tale that takes no prisoners.
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