Calendar Editor: Goli Kamran. Email for details on listings and special outreach opportunities.
Photo Editor: Benjamin Kanafani . Send all photos as 150 x 190 pixel jpegs or gifs.


March 7 (Thurs.) 8 pm—Ali Jihad Racy Ensemble

Near East Music at UCLA The Near East Ensemble, directed by Ali Jihad Racy, presents music from the Arab world, including old court music genres, mystical works, modal & drum improvisations, nightclub pieces, & songs from rural folk celebrations. Gamelan Room, Schoenberg Music Bldg, UCLA. 310/206-3033



March 7 (Thurs.) 8:00 pm—Eyal Sela and Darma, World Music From Israel

The Skirball Cultural Center's 2002 World Mosaic concert series continues with the Israeli ensemble Eyal Sela and Darma: World Music from Israel. This acclaimed ensemble interweaves the melodies and rhythms of the Mediterranean with India and the Balkans, revitalizing old and nurturing new sounds. Tickets are $21 General, $18 Skirball Members, and $15 Students. Tickets are available through Tickets L.A. Call: (323) 655-8587.

"For me, life in Israel is a daily interaction between different nations, religions and ethno-musical cultures. This reality offers an opportunity to create a musical mosaic in which the West and the East can live together in peace. That which is different becomes familiar and friendly. I hope that the mosaic that we present to the listener will contribute to the tranquility, color, and joy which is found in the Israeli musical experience created here."

Sela is one of the most influential Israeli artists in world music and the founder of Darma (meaning "the right path" in Sanskrit). He has performed and recorded with leading world music artists such as Israeli oud player/violinist Yair Dalal & Al Ol Ensemble, and Palestinian oud player Adel Salameh. He has performed internationally, including at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo. Sela currently teaches Turkish, Balkan, and Indian music at the Music Academy of Jerusalem. With Darma, he creates original contemporary Mediterranean music with an eclectic mix of traditional Eastern and Western instruments.

March 8 (Fri.) 12:30-2 pm—"Maryam" (America-Iran) Opens at Laemmle's Beverly Hills, Wilshire & Doheny

This feature directed by Ramin Serry runs for several nights and stars several Iranian-Americans living in Los Angeles, among them Mariam Parris, Shaun Toub, Maziyar Jobrani & Shohreh Aghdashloo. The film centers on a 17-year-old high school student, Maryam, and her family living in New Jersey in 1979. When Maryam's pro-Khomeini cousin, Ali, comes to stay with her family as anti-Iranian sentiment sweeps across the U.S., Maryam and her family are forever changed. It has received high marks for realism and artistry. Visit the producers' web site.



March 11 (Mon.) 12:30-2 pm—"Two Women" (Iran)

Women¹s History Month at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Screening of "Two Women," a movie made in Iran about a patriarchal society that puts limits on the freedom of women to lead independent lives. LaCorte Hall A103, Cal State Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria, Carson. 310.243-2589

March 14 (Thurs.) 7:30 pm—Levantine BookGroup meets at the Historic Culver Hotel

The Levantine BookGroup has been meeting monthly, every second Thursday of the month, since September, to discuss Mideast fiction and the many issues novels from this region raise. This month unusually the BookGroup will discuss a nonfiction book, the memoir Searching For Hassan.

Author Terence Ward and his three brothers grew up in Iran in the 1960s, when their father was an economic adviser to the National Iranian Oil Company. Thirty years later, they returned to search for their beloved Persian "father," Hassan Ghasemi and his wife Fatemeh, who were their housekeepers. Hassan in Ward's memory was their chef, caretaker, magician, storyteller, shaman, wart-curer, teacher and a profound influence on the three Ward boys. Notes Adrienne Miller, Esquire magazine's literary editor, "Who had a childhood like this? Other than Nabokov..." Writes Joe Klein in The New Yorker, "This is a lovely book—part memoir, part family odyssey, but, most important, a wise and lyrical appreciation of one of the world's great cultures." Click here to read an interview with Terence Ward in USA Today.

Levantine Cultural Center's Middle East Bookgroup meets at the Culver Hotel in Culver City, 9400 Culver Blvd., at the intersection of Washington Bd., for dinner (optional), drinks and booktalk. Please join us.

Previous books we have discussed are:

This Side of Innocence (Lebanon), by Rachid al-Daif
Days of Miracles and Wonders, The New World Disorder (Israel), by Simon Louvish
The Abductor (Algeria), by Leila Marouane
Anthology of Arab Women Poets, edited by Nathalie Handal
The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist, by Emile Habiby

The Bookgroup includes a diverse group of Angelenos, spanning a wide range of ages, backgrounds, professions and cultures who are setting out to explore the excellent adventures of Middle Eastern fiction writers, from countries including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Palestine, Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, but also minority cultures including Kurdish, Armenian, and others.

Click for more about the BookGroup.


March 16 (Sat.) 7:00 pm—One Woman Show, "Stop it at it's Source" by Amitis Motevalli

A multimedia experience. Reception 8-11 pm, Deep River Gallery, 712 Traction avenue, Los Angeles. 213.625.2958.

Gallery hours Sat/Sun 12-5 pm, through April 15.



March 19 (Tues.) 7:00 pm—Middle East Peace Network Screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Promises" on Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the eyes of children

Middle East Peace Network presents a special screening of 74th Annual Academy Award® nominee ³PROMISES,² an award-winning documentary film by Justine Shapiro, B. Z. Goldberg and Carlos Bolado. Reception 7:00 pm, screening 7:30 pm, followed by public dialogue with Hanna Elias (filmmaker), Gina Ross (trauma therapist with Israeli/Palestinian project) and others. Skirball Cultural Center, Magnin Auditorium. Free parking. Tickets $30. Proceeds benefit online educational projects between Jews and Palestinians schools in Israel, at SchoolsOnLine.org.

RSVP by email, indicating your full name, telephone number and number attending. Better yet, RSVP by phone to the Middle East Peace Network, 818.325.8988.

"Extraordinary... an intensely personal and insightful documentary that... demonstrates the unusual power of thoughtful, subjective filmmaking."
-New York Times

Rather than focusing on political events, the seven children featured in Promises offer a compelling human portrait of the Israeli & Palestinian conflict. The film draws viewers into the hearts and minds of Jerusalem¹s children by giving voice to those captured by the region's hatreds as well as those able to transcend them. These seven children are between the ages of 9-13, an age group that rarely has the opportunity to speak for itself. They are less self-conscious and polite than teenagers and adults. They speak directly and without self-censorship and are both true mirrors of their cultures and spokespeople for future generations of Israelis and Palestinians.

Each child offers a dramatic, emotional and sometimes hilarious insight into what it¹s like to grow up in the charged and complex city of Jerusalem. Audiences will engage with Palestinian & Israeli kids, coming to know them as multi-dimensional people, not as simple stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media. Though they live only 20 minutes apart, the seven children exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep. The ability to have dialogues with anyone, in a way that breaks through prejudices, is surely a prerequisite for peace in the region. And yet hardly anyone has such conversations.

The filmmakers were able to confront and overcome these obstacles, but could these children ever do the same? Promises explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.



March 21 (Thurs) 8:00—Middle East Video Night in Celebration of Persian New Year, Norouz

At Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center in Venice. Diverse new and recent shorts by younger artists of Persian and other Middle Eastern origin, including Lida Abdullah, Omid Arabian, Farzad Karimi, Maryam Keshavarz, Houman Mortazavi and Jessica Shokrian.

Click here to read more about the videos/films, read artists biographies, see photos!

"Middle Eastern Video Artists" takes place at 8:00 pm in the Beyond Baroque theatre, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291. Directions: Take the 10 Freeway west toward Santa Monica, exit at Lincoln, go south to Venice Blvd., turn right west) and go 3/4 of a mile. Tickets are $5, free to members of LCC and BB. Bar opens at 7:30 pm. For more info on this program call 323.650.7010.

This event is one in a series participating with the Center for Nonviolence's Season for Nonviolence-Los Angeles 2002. Nonviolence works! Click for details.

[Levantine Cultural Center partners with Beyond Baroque each third Thursday of the month to focus on Middle East/Mediterranean arts and cultures. Save the date of April 18 (Israeli-Palestinian cultures), plus "Exile and Coming Home," a night of monologues and short plays performed in May.]

March 27 (Thurs.)—Omar Faruk Tekbilek and EnsembleCANCELLED

Conga Room 5364 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 323.938.1696.

Great Turkish/Middle Eastern world music. Faruk fans include die-hard Middle Eastern music aficionados, spiritual seekers, KCRW devotees, belly dancers, Sufists and all manner of ethnic Americans. Faruk's latest albums, all fine, are "One Truth," "Dance Into Eternity," and "Alif" and all available at Virgin, Borders and most indie stores as well. This is Faruk's only major concert in Southern California this year and is timed to celebrate the release of a new CD. Call for ticket information.

Board of Directors Meets Every Sunday for Brunch

Levantine Center's Board of Directors is currently in formation, and welcomes inquiries. Our board consists of diverse members of the community who are of Middle Eastern 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.

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&Mac185;s annual retreat and receive other benefits; and they maintain Associate level membership.

To attend, you must RSVP for location and time. 323.650.7010.

April events will be posted shortly. Submit your listings to our calendar editor now.

SAVE THE DATE OF APRIL 18 for an evening of Palestinian and Israeli culture at Beyond Baroque at 8 pm.

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LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean 2002
8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N.789, West Hollywood CA 90069
323.650.7010, info@levantinecenter.org

Levantine Cultural Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures and arts. The Center exists to promote music, literature, art, film/video, new media and history through advocacy, education, scholarship and entertainment. We are strongly committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation, and support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent.

 
See what Levantine Center was up to during our pre-opening season.