Women’s Cinema from Tangiers to Tehran is a celebration of film by women and their representation in cinema from Morocco in the west to Iran in the east. It will be the first festival of its kind to offer audiences an opportunity to appreciate a vital aspect of international cinema, and to actively engage with an exciting and innovative selection of films.

Screenings range from the groundbreaking short, The House is Black (Iran) by visionary poet and filmmaker Forough Farrokhzad, through to the recent Caramel (Lebanon), Persepolis (France-Iran), and Cut and Paste (Egypt) featuring actress Hanan Turk. Premieres of the powerful Hidden Faces (Turkey) and the taboo breaking Samira’s Garden (Morocco) will be presented. Classics such as The Nouba (Algeria) by auteur Assia Djebar will be screened and Moufida Tlatli will present her evocative The Silences of the Palace (Tunisia), followed by a masterclass at the London Film School. A special concert and talk with singer Souad Massi and director Yamina Benguigi will take place and a party will feature the best and latest sounds from Oran to Beirut via Istanbul and Cairo with special guest DJs.


Artists:
A selection of artists’ films by Mona Hatoum, Shirin Neshat, Zineb Sedira and others will be screened and a Film Symposium will be held. London based writer Hanan Al-Shaykh will hold a talk and an Arab classical concert will end the festival - A Journey from Andalusia to Modern times. We invite you to participate in what promises to be an exciting and stimulating cultural experience.
   
Programme:
 
- Friday 22nd February:

- 6.15pm: film:  Sama
Preceded by One Evening in July

- 8.45pm: film: Caramel
Followed by Q&A with dir. Nadine Labaki. Early reservation recommended      
         
- Saturday 23rd February:

- From 10.30am: film Symposium: The representation of Women in Middle Eastern Cinema    
Co-hosted by the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World (CASAW) at Edinburgh University.
Price: £3, conc. £2, early reservation recommended.

- 1.30pm: film: A door to the Sky
Preceded by La Pelote de Laine (The Ball of Woll)

- 4.00pm: film: Mémoires d'immigrés
Introduced by dir. Yamina Benguigui
    
- 6.30pm: talk & concert: Yamina Benguigui & Souad Massi
Stars in their own fields, film and music, Yamina Benguigui and Souad Massi have collaborated together, Massi composing the music for Benguigui's films. They discuss their approaches to the creative processes of composition and filmmaking and take questions from the audience.
Followed by an acoustic concert by Souad Massi. Courtesy of Wrasse Records
Price: £7, conc. £5; with Mémoires d'Immigrés: £9, conc. £7, early reservation recommended


- 8.30pm: film: Persepolis

- 10.30pm: concert: Arabic Grooves Party
The latest sounds from Oran to Beirut via Cairo and Istanbul with special guest Djs.
Price: £5, party only; free entry and complimentary drink for ticket holders of Persepolis and/or Souad Massi Concert
In le bistrot
                    

 - Sunday 24th February:

- 2.00pm: film: The Silences of Palace
Followed by Q&A with dir. Moufida Tlatli     

- 5.00pm: film: Leila and the Wolves
     
- 8.00pm: film: Cut and paste
Followed by Q&A with dir. Hala Khalil and writer Ahdaf Soueif
                     
- Monday 25th February:

- 6.30pm: film: Z

- 7.00pm: talk: Hanan Al-Sharykh: A season of Madness
A talk with one of the leading Arab writers living in the UK. Lebanese novelist Hanan Al-Shaykh will open a discussion around her short story A Season of Madness and the film adaptation by Katja Esson, screened immediately before the talk. Hanan will then go on to talk about her beautifully written-books Only in London, Beirut Blues and other work.
Price: £3, conc. £2

- 9.00pm: film: Journey to the sun
Preceded by Poyraz (Boreas- North Wind)
                    
- Tuesday 26th February:

- 6.30pm: film: Samira's garden

- 8.30pm: film: I am the One who Brings flowers to her Grave
Followed by Q&A with dir. Hala Abdallah Yacoub

- 7.30pm: film: Mahmud Darwish      
                     
- Wednesday 27th February:

- 6.30pm: film: La nouba des femmes du Mont Chenoua

- 8.45pm: film: Hidden faces
Followed by Q&A with Handan Ipekçi
 
- Thursday 28th February:

- 6.45pm: film: The Kite
Preceded by Like Twenty Impossible

- 8.30pm: film: Dunia



- Programme:

- Monday 25th February:

- Baghdad Days + Souha + Q&A with Maysoon Pachachi. Director: Independent Film School, Baghdad
Time and Place: 7.00pm,  Ritzy Cinema
Price: £8.50, conc £7.25, memb £6.50

- Masterclass on editing with Moufida Tlatli
Time and Place: 7.00pm London Film School
Free

- Tuesday 26th February:

- Mémoires d'immigrés, (parts 1-3), p5. + Q&A with artist Zineb Sedira & Meriem Talbi
Time and Place: 7.00pm Ritzy Cinema
Price: £8.50, conc £7.25, memb £6.50

- Wednesday 27th February:

- Mahmud Darwish: As the Land is the Language
Time and Place:  6.30pm ArtsZone
Price: £4 & conc £3

- Salad House
Time and Place: 7.00pm Ritzy Cinema
Price: £8.50, conc £7.25, memb £6.50

- Thursday 28th February:

- Bitter Water + Q&A with Dir Maysoon Pachachi
Time and Place: 7.00pm Rich Mix Cinema
Price: £7, conc £6 & £5.50

- The Sleeping Child
Time and Place: 7.00pm Ritzy Cinema
Price: £8.50, conc £7.25, memb £6.50

- Friday 29th February:

Time and Place: 5.00pm Rich Mix Cinema
Price: £7, conc £6 & £5.50

- Al Khitab and special guests
Time and Place: 7.30pm Leighton House
Price: £25, £20

- Cut and Paste
Time and Place: 8.00pm Rich Mix Cinema
Price: £7, conc £6 & £5.50


For more information, please click here.