Welcome
to Our CalendarBookGroup
Middle East/Mediterranean Calendar for April 2003
[To learn about getting events listed, email the Calendar Editor. Send all photos as small jpegs or gifs to Photos.]
April 1 (Tues.), 5:00-7 p.m.—"The Black Panthers (of Israel) Speak," A Documentary by Sami Shalom Chetrit and Elie Hamo, Follorwed by a Discussion With Sami Shalom Chetrit, at UCLA's Royce Hall 314
The uprising of the Black Panthers in the early 1970s had a radical effect on Israeli society. It signaled an awakening of Mizrahi cultural consciousness that continues to this day. The movement took the Mizrahi class struggle out of its local and nationalist Jewish framework, linking it to the civil rights struggle in the United States, Third World Marxism, and, for the first time, to the Palestinian struggle in Israel.
In this film, key leaders in the movement speak of the Mizrahi struggle in the 1970s and now, of the tragic role played by Shas in quelling that struggle, of the relationship between the occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, and the social and cultural oppression of the Mizrahim.
In Hebrew, with English subtitles. (Israel, 2003, 53 min., Beta SP).
Enter from Hilgard, free to the public, parking $7.
April 4 (Fri.), 7 pm—World Premiere screening of "The Hittites," Tolga Örnek's new feature-length
documentary film about the ancient Hittite civilization of eastern Turkey, narrated by Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons.
"The Hittites," chronicles this incredibly advanced culture that once decimated the armies of Egypt's King Ramses II, and features 23,000 historically accurate handmade props and sets, including a miniature
scale model of the ancient Hittite city; full-scale working battle chariots; and replicas of period statuary, pottery, armor, costumes and weaponry. More than 100 days of principal photography took place in 31 locations in Asia, Europe and Africa including Syria, Turkey and Egypt. The entire feature was shot on Super 35mm film. Motion control cameras and high-tech computer graphics were used to recreate the daily life of the Hittites, the most powerful people in the Near and Middle East of their time.
Free to the public! 7:00-9:00pm, screening, 9:00-11:00 pm, reception in the Academy lobby. Please arrive early, as the Academy now requires metal detector screening of all who enter the facility. Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211.
RSVP BY FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2003. Via email: screening@hankwitz.com, Via telephone: (818) 817-9693.There will also be a VIP reception at 5:00pm hosted by Tolga Örnek (the only Turkish member of the IDA) and Digital Ranch Productions. The cost to attend the reception is $95 per person. Please deliver your check or money order no later than March 28 payable to: Digital Ranch, 14110 Riverside Drive , Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. (You must pre-pay if you wish to attend the VIP reception: no money will be taken at the door.) There is no charge for the screening itself, but you must RSVP in advance in order to attend.
April 6 (Sun.), 7 p.m—Yair Dalal, Iraqi/Israeli Oud, Violin and Vocals Live in Concert
Yair Dalal, composer and performer of "Perfume Road," "Al Ol" and other recordings of Indian and Israeli-inflected Arab music, is back in Los Angeles for an exclusive concert at Kahal Joseph Congregation, the city's unique Iraqi kehila, at 10505 Santa Monica Blvd., one block west of Beverly Glen at Thayer Ave, L.A. 90025.
Dalal is a formidable oudist in the Iraqi style, as well as a virtuoso violinist. A master on the world music scene, he has played and studied with Bedouin and Arab musicians in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, and his songs are haunting and often spiritual in nature. He was last seen at the Armand Hammer's summer concert series. This concert is not to be missed; tickets are just $20 and $25. Call Melanie at 310.474.0559 for info and reservations. Click here for more about Yair Dalal.
April (Mon./Wed.), 7:30-9:30 pm, New Season of Beginning/Intermediate Levantine Conversational Arabic Begins, at Levantine Cultural Center
Learn beginning/beginning-intermediate conversational Levantine Arabic in nine weeks, totalling 36 hours. These classes are fun, motivating and enjoyable.
Says one student of this class, "I thoroughly enjoy the class and would love to continue. Nezar encourages us constantly, makes us feel comfortable so it is easy to participate. You feel satisfied with your accomplish-ments." Adds another student in the first 2003 semester, "Nezar is well-prepared, prompt and always patient. I enjoy his wide-ranging knowledge of the different Arabic dialects and social customs, and his sense of humor."
Mondays and Wednesday evenings,7:30 to 9:30 pm, starting April 21:
• 18 intensive workshops
• Tuition just $300 (book and tapes not included) and no parking fees
• Small class size (15 students or less) allows for more personalized instruction
Nezar Andary is a writer and translator who travels frequently back and forth to the Middle East. He has lived in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and has written for a number of publications. He first began teaching Arabic as a student at Columbia University. Currently he is finishing his Ph.D. at UCLA, where his focus is Arabic and English literature, cultural studies, film and theatre. Nezar Andary teaches the class with a strong focus on art, music, theatre, travel and film.
Register now by calling for a form by fax, or click here to download the form. Call 323.650.7010.
April 19 (Sat.), 3 pm—"Turkey, East or West," An Exclusive Screening of Binnur Karaevli's "Searching for Paradise" followed by a Public Dialogue and Open-Bar Reception at LACMA's Bing Theatre
Poised at the edge of the Levant and Europe simultaneously, Turkey has been in the news again lately not only because of its drive to become a member of the European Union, but because the U.S. requested Turkey's assent in its proposed war on Iraq. Join a large turn-out for this timely and stimulating event followed by a reception. A film screening and public dialogue, featuring the award-winning documentary by Binnur Karaevli, "Searching for Paradise," along with special guest speakers Alev Lytle Croutier, Gabriael Piterberg and moderator Gloria Goodale, with celebrity host TBA.
At LACMA's Bing Auditorium. Organized by Levantine Cultural Center in cooperation with G.R.I.T. (Girls Reeling It Together), with special support from Kaya & Mary Tuncer of the Global Friendship Through Space Education.
At Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theatre, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90036. Tickets $6.
To RSVP, call 323.650.7010. For more details, visit the Turkey, East or West page.
April 20 (Sun.), 4 pm—Moroccan Poet/Novelist Abdellatif Laâbi Reads on Sunday at Dawson's
Bookshop
Abdellatif Laâbi was born in 1942 in Fès (Morocco). In 1966 he founded the magazine Souffles which would play an important role in the renewal of Moroccan cultural life. He created the publishing house called Atlantes and also the Association de Recherche Culturelle - the activities of which did not please the Moroccan government. Abdellatif Laabi was arrested and spent eight years in jail from 1972 to 1980. He settled in France in 1985. He has published both fiction and poetry and is being translated into English. He has published Le Soleil se meurt in 1992, L'Etreinte du monde in 1993 and Le Spleen de casablanca in 1996. His novel, Rue du retour, has been translated into English and published by Readers International. In 1999 he was awarded the Fonlon Nichols Prize by the African Literature Association and the Wallonie-Bruxelles poetry prize.
The World's Embrace, from City Lights, is his latest book in English.
For more on Laabi,. see his Swarthmore entry.
Read some of his Poetry (in French)This eading takes place at Dawsons Book Shop on April 20th at 4pm. Dawson's Book Shop is located at 535 N. Larchmont Blvd between Beverly Blvd and Melrose Blvd in the Larchmont district south of Hollywood, CA. Laabi will be reading with Ryoko Sekiguchi.
Apri 24 (Thurs.), 8 pm—Levantine BookGroup Reads Crescent, the new novel by Diana Abu-jaber.
Join the Levantine BookGroup when we discuss Diana Abu-Jaber's new novel, Crescent (W.W. Norton, April 2003). Copies are in stores now.
"—An Iraqi love feast spiced with despair; a culinary romance set in a Middle Eastern cafe..."
The story takes place in Los Angeles, but like the rest of us at the moment, every character is fixated on the Middle East.
Read a review by Ron Charles in the Christian Science Monitor
Read more about Diana Abu-Jaber.
Check out a Q & A.
Go to our BookGroup page.
RSVP for the BookGroup: 323.650.7010.
We meet from 8-9:30 pm at the Levantine Cultural Center, 10469 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90025. Street parking.
Diana Abu-Jaber appears at the Center on Wednesday, May 7, 8:30 pm, for a reading and booksigning.
April 27 (Sun.), 6:30 pm—Critical/Progressive Israeli Novelist Oz Shelach Reads From New Novel Picnic Grounds at Levantine Cultural Center
Oz Shelach was born in West Jerusalem in 1968. He has been a journalist and editor for Israeli radio and magazines, and runs a small web site: oznik.com. He has long been a critic of his own country. Says Sarah Coleman, "Writer Oz Shelach has spent much of his life trying to make sense of his native land. Born in West Jerusalem in 1968, Shelach followed the prescribed route from school to military service, then became disenchanted when the first Intifada broke out during his time in the army. Working as a journalist and editor for Israeli army radio at the time, he was involved in “editing problematic material, and sometimes airing lies”—an experience which, along with many others, informs his recently-released first work of fiction, Picnic Grounds.
Anton Shammas, author of Arabesques, writes of Picnic Grounds, “There's something so captivating about these ‘fragments,’ about their beguiling simplicity, about the things they so eloquently withhold, something so pure and unpretentiously fresh. Oz Shelach is probably the most relentlessly restrained cartographer of the current Israeli scene, and this novel is the most intricately subtle commentary on that unsettled scene that I've read in years. A stunning literary achievement.”
David Plante, author of The Age of Terror, notes, "Oz Shelach has managed, by pinpointing minutes, to evoke hours, days, years, a whole history. The very pauses in his extraordinary novel are filled with more width of understanding, more depth of compassion than would be possible in a book many times its length.”
And Ammiel Alcalay, author of After Jews and Arabs, writes, "Taking responsibility for the destruction of Palestine is a pill still far too bitter for most Israelis to swallow. Oz Shelach takes us on an eerie journey through the archaeology of complicity and denial. Deeply personal, Picnic Grounds is also a profoundly political document that forces us to confront, as James Baldwin put it, ‘the price of the ticket,’ the heavy debt a state can exact from its people.”
Oz Shelach reads at Levantine Cultural Center, 10459 Santa Monica Blvd., N. 789, Los Angeles 90025, 6:30 pm. Open bar and bookstore. To RSVP, call 323.650.7010.
Read the Oz Shelach interview in the World Press Review.
May 17 (Sat.), 7:30 pm—"iFrom Uzbekistan to Morocco: Dance of the Islamic World" at Levantine Cultural Center
Featuring Robyn Friend, Helene Eriksen and Neil Siegel. At Levantine Cultural Center. Now is your chance to see the fabulous Helene Eriksen perform! She will be appearing together with Robyn Friend and Neil Siegel in "From Uzbekistan to Morocco," featuring music and dance from the Islamic World, including dances and songs from Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco, a show that has delighted audiences in Europe and the United States since 1990. Neil Siegel performs on Persian tar, Azeri tar, Turkish baglama, oud, and ney, with percussion by Susan Rudnicki and Catherine Alexander.
"A master instrumentalist...wonderful performances." (Munich)
"Spirited and elegant dancing." (Frankfurt.)
"Outstanding...the singing was rich and expressive...lovely...sinuous." Los Angeles Times
Tickets $15, $12 members. Limited seating, advance reservations required. Book your seats now, call 323.650.7010.
And Save the Date...
Special Announcements
Learn Levantine Arabic at Levantine Cultural Center!
We currently offer a beginning conversational Levantine Arabic (spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan) class, through March 31. Beginning in April, we'll offer both the beginning conversational Levantine Arabic class, and a beginning/intermediate level, both taught by Nezar Andary, an excellent instructor who has lived in Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Students love this class! All classes take place at the center, 10469 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90069.
Watch for upcoming announcement about the orientation event at Levantine Cultural Center!
Board of Directors Meets Most Saturdays for LunchLevantine Center's Board of Directors is currently in formation, and welcomes inquiries—we are actively searching for more people with our passion and conviction! The board consists of diverse members of the community who are of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean heritage or who have a strong professional or artistic interest in furthering our mission. As directors, board members represent the organization officially, are responsible for its financial health, and make the priority strategic decisions, with counsel from Advisory Board members where possible. Board members work with activists heading specific committes, including the Film/Video, Literary, Education Performing Arts and Membership Committees.
Our Advisory Board is also in formation. Advisory board members are known professionally in their own communities and offer valuable counsel and services to the organization; they are eligible to attend the organization's annual retreat and receive other benefits.
To attend, you must RSVP for address and time. 323.650.7010.
Submit your calendar listings to our calendar editor now.
To subscribe to our listserve, send a message to: LevantineCulturalCenter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to Levantine Center updates, simply go to our signup page and fill in the blanks; or send an email with "subscribe me" in the subject or message box to info@levantinecenter.org
LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean
10469 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90025 [facilities]
8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N.789, West Hollywood CA 90069 [office and mailing address]
323.650.7010, info@levantinecenter.org
Levantine Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean contemporary arts and traditional cultures. We present or cosponsor programs of music, literature, art, film/video, publications, new media and more, often from educational and historical perspectives. While acknowledging the value of entertainment, we emphasize scholarship and substance. We are strongly multidisciplinary and non-sectarian, do not embrace any political or religious doctrine, and are committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation. We support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East/West Asia/Levant, as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent in diaspora.
See what Levantine Center has been up to and take note of other recent cultural events.
See what Levantine Center was up to during our pre-opening season, late in '01.
