Director: Amr Salama

Film Synopsis:
May is a girl who had a relationship with a guy in 2006 that ended with his death in an accident. In 2007 she met another guy (Yasser) falling in love with him but she discovered that everything that happened with the new guy was very similar to everything that happened with her former lover. She met him on the same day that she met her former lover, fell in love, and confessed her love on the same days as well. This makes her terrified that he will die on the same day as her former lover, so she is determined to save his life – somehow.

Runtime: 95 minutes

Language: Arabic with English Subtitles

Director: Amr Salama

Film Synopsis:
May is a girl who had a relationship with a guy in 2006 that ended with his death in an accident. In 2007 she met another guy (Yasser) falling in love with him but she discovered that everything that happened with the new guy was very similar to everything that happened with her former lover. She met him on the same day that she met her former lover, fell in love, and confessed her love on the same days as well. This makes her terrified that he will die on the same day as her former lover, so she is determined to save his life – somehow.

Runtime: 95 minutes

Language: Arabic with English Subtitles

Tomorrow 6:30

Gilles Tarazi

Gilles Tarazi was born in Lebanon in 1980. He studied theater and film in Beirut, and specialised in documentary filmmaking at the Superior School of Cinematographic Studies (ESEC) in Paris.

In Tomorrow, 6:30 his first film as a director, Gilles decided to treat a theme that is very representative of the chaotic Lebanese life: The youth’s exile.
Synopsis

It’s Farid’s last evening before sailing off from his native Lebanon. He wants to celebrate this event he’s been waiting for a long time. But things aren’t that easy. A one-night journey before the big jump.

“About those who are gone”

Ali Hammoud

Ali Hammoud was born on April 5th, 1972 and raised in Kuwait. He studied Communication Arts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA and worked for a number of projects in Chicago, Illinois.

He has served as artistic director for the Beirut International Documentary Festival since 2004.
Synopsis

Following the 2005 assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Beirut erupted into violence. This poignant film tells of those who perished in the troubles.

Hold on my glamorous

Shirin Abi Shaqra

Shirin finished a masters in history (2004) and a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in political science (2006) in Saint Joseph University Beirut. She worked for eight years researching socio-cultural changes in the Contemporary Arab World. She is currently studying in Fresnoy National Studio for Contemporary Arts in France where she just finished a poetic essay on Arab Diva ‘Wadad’ called Hold on my Glamourous (Un Instant mon Glamour).

Synopsis

At one point, Wadad’s voice was heard almost daily on Arab radio stations. However, for several reasons, she was steadily pushed towards anonymity.

Off War Beirut

Myriam El Hajj

Myriam el Hajj was born in Lebanon in 1983. She studied theatre and cinema in Beirut and is now a student in cinema at the University of Paris 8 Saint Denis in France. She also worked as an actress.

Her Filmography Includes:

2009 Je n’ai pas vu la guerre à Beyrouth (Off War Beirut Nights) (22 min., 35mm, fiction)
2005 Ne nous soumets pas à la tentation (Don’t Lead Us To Temptation) (20 min., DVCam, fiction) European Film Festival – Beyrouth 2006

Synopsis

Lebanon teeters on the brink of civil war. Three characters theatre director Ziad, his wife Sarah and actress Anna, are in a parallel state of turmoil.

Shankar Ramakrishnan

Shankar Ramakrishnan is the chief operating arm of Ranjiths’ Capitol Theatre. He started his career as a content programmer with a regional television channel and ventured into film making through independent advertising productions. After graduating in Law in ’99 and completing his Masters in International Advertising and Communication, he joined The Times of India. Meeting Ranjith briefly after the release of the cult film Nandanam, was a turning point in his career and he collaborated with the film maker in designing the “Malabar travel mart- Cultural repertoire” organized by the Govt. of Kerala. Shankar took a call to join Ranjith and Capitol Theatre and is with the production platform since its inception in 2005. The films include Prajapathi, Kayyoppu, Rock’n Roll, Anubhav (with Famous Studios), Thirakkatha, Kerala Café and Paleri Manikyam. Kerala Café showcases his debut film segment, ‘Island Express’– which discusses the trail of a mosaic of disaster victims. The film features Prithviraj in the lead role.

Synopsis

On the common theme of journeys, each filmmaker presents their cinematic impression of contemporary times in Kerala.The independent narratives integrate when, during these journeys, their characters pass through KERALA CAFE – a quaint railway cafeteria; thereby creating a joint mosaic of issues and impressions; in a symbiotic space and time .Kerala CAFÉ will have one signature song which brings together the behind-the-scenes making of the different films using the footage of the crew. The song is an ode to Thunchath Ezhuthachan’s famous verse” Kathaya mama, Kathaya mama, Kathakalathisadaram…:”a story, it is a story, stories that salutes the time…”

Testimonials
Renjith Kumar
Thank you for inviting me to the screening of ‘Kerala Cafe’. I already registered for a membership in the The Scene Club. Because……..I Love It!

Joshy Paul
Me and my wife Teresa wish to thank you for your kind gesture and we really enjoyed ‘Kerala Cafe’. Wishing you and your team every success.

29th October 2009

PHD in Philosophy at the University of Sorbonne, film critic in several revues, Olivier Mille first teached cinema and literature at the University of Basel (Switzerland) from 1981 to 1987. In 1986 he established his company Artline Films, and since then he has been a film director and independent producer. He directed over 20 documentaries and produced around 150 films (features for cinema and TV as well as documentaries). After 23 years, Artline Films is now a well-known production company working with all major French channels and regularly co-producing with international partners and broadcasters such as PBS, BBC, ZDF, YLE, CBC, RTBF, NHK, TSR, NPS, TVOntario, SBS, WDR etc… Today, Artline shares its activity between important productions with a strong international potential, feature films projects with distribution to movie theatres, and more intimate films, new talents’ first films or confirmed directors’ « essays ». Olivier Mille was president of the PROCIREP Commission (Société des Producteurs de Cinéma et de Télévision) from 2007 to 2008 and is now president of the FIPA (International TV Film Festival in Biarritz).
Synopsis

Over the course of a century, these images narrate the thwarted destiny of a pivotal nation, caught between archaism and modernity, secularity and religion, submissiveness and independence, East and West.

A crossroad country, a nation divided, Iran is on the rise after a century of political upheaval. The nuclear crisis has revealed to the world its goal: to become a world power. For the first time ever, this film will look back over 100 years of Iranian history to the veritable wellsprings of the confrontation between Iran and the western powers.

From 1908 to 2008, from the discovery of oil reserves to the nuclear crisis, we present a spectacular voyage to the heart of a country and a people, a colorful fresco focusing on real-life stories, interviews with prominent personalities (such as former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, politicians Zbigniew Brzezinski, Hubert Védrine…), unveiling archive images and authentic documents, and giving eyewitnesses – Iranian men and women – a chance to speak. A crisscrossing gaze, free of both prejudice and compromise: how they see us, how we see them.

27th August 2009

PHD in Philosophy at the University of Sorbonne, film critic in several revues, Olivier Mille first teached cinema and literature at the University of Basel (Switzerland) from 1981 to 1987. In 1986 he established his company Artline Films, and since then he has been a film director and independent producer. He directed over 20 documentaries and produced around 150 films (features for cinema and TV as well as documentaries). After 23 years, Artline Films is now a well-known production company working with all major French channels and regularly co-producing with international partners and broadcasters such as PBS, BBC, ZDF, YLE, CBC, RTBF, NHK, TSR, NPS, TVOntario, SBS, WDR etc… Today, Artline shares its activity between important productions with a strong international potential, feature films projects with distribution to movie theatres, and more intimate films, new talents’ first films or confirmed directors’ « essays ». Olivier Mille was president of the PROCIREP Commission (Société des Producteurs de Cinéma et de Télévision) from 2007 to 2008 and is now president of the FIPA (International TV Film Festival in Biarritz).
Synopsis

Over the course of a century, these images narrate the thwarted destiny of a pivotal nation, caught between archaism and modernity, secularity and religion, submissiveness and independence, East and West.

A crossroad country, a nation divided, Iran is on the rise after a century of political upheaval. The nuclear crisis has revealed to the world its goal: to become a world power. For the first time ever, this film will look back over 100 years of Iranian history to the veritable wellsprings of the confrontation between Iran and the western powers.

From 1908 to 2008, from the discovery of oil reserves to the nuclear crisis, we present a spectacular voyage to the heart of a country and a people, a colorful fresco focusing on real-life stories, interviews with prominent personalities (such as former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, politicians Zbigniew Brzezinski, Hubert Védrine…), unveiling archive images and authentic documents, and giving eyewitnesses – Iranian men and women – a chance to speak. A crisscrossing gaze, free of both prejudice and compromise: how they see us, how we see them.